Partridge Senpai's 2026 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
* indicates a repeat
1. Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
2. We Were Here (Steam)
3. We Were Here Too (Steam)
4. Tales of Graces f (PS3) *
5. Retro Game Challenge (Switch) *
6. We Were Here Forever (Steam)
7. Tales of Hearts R (PSVita) *
8. Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered (PC)
9. Mega Man 11 (PC)
10. Gravity Circuit (PC)
11. Mario Party DS (DS)
12. Ghost of Tsushima (PS5)
13. Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island (PS5)
14. Astro's Playroom (PS5)
15. Michael Jackson: The Experience (PSP)
16. Sackboy: A Big Adventure (PS5)
17. Control (PS4)
18. White Album (PS3)
19. Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (GBA)
20. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)
21. Breath of Fire III (PSP)
22. Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (PS2) *
I last played through this game over a decade ago well before I started writing reviews or whatever. I remember liking it quite a bit, even 100%-ing it (save for the time trials), but I never continued the series. Sly 2 was just too different from what Sly 1 had led me to expect from the series, so I put it down and just never got back to it. I had wanted to take another look at the series in the meanwhile, but Sly 3 actually never came out here, and the PS3 trilogy (which did) was far too rare and expensive for me to possibly warrant spending that much money on. Fast forward to now, and my wonderful wife gave me the lovely present of her old childhood PS2 and some games. Among those games were the old Sly Cooper trilogy, so this seemed like a great time to finally look back at this and give the trilogy a proper play through. Going back through this first game, I didn't bother to 100% the optional stuff at all, but it took me around 7 or so hours to play through the English version of the game.
Sly Cooper 1 (which I will refer to as Sly 1 from here on out for the sake of brevity) follows the titular character and his gang of thieves. Sly comes from a very long line of thieves, and their secrets of stealth and thievery have been recorded for many generations in the titular tome: The Thievius Raccoonus. However, when Sly was just a boy, a powerful criminal gang known as the Fiendish Five stormed their home, killed Sly's parents, and stole the Thievius Raccoonus for themselves. In the orphanage Sly was sent to afterwards, he ended up meeting his lifelong friends and future partners in crime Bently (the brains) and Murray (the brawn). This tale sees them out an adventure to finally recover the Thievius Raccoonus from the evildoers who've been abusing its secrets in the intervening years.
As a set up for a platformer game, it's a fine enough story. It's mostly just a bit dull for how long a time you spend with the gang. All 3 of our main thieves are quite flat character-wise, and the villains aren't much better either (aside from when they're gallivanting about as distasteful racial stereotypes as Sucker Punch so frequently love indulging in). I also don't really care for the larger premise in terms of how it engages with "crime" as a larger topic. Sly and his crew only really engage in stealing for the challenge. It's just a game for them to steal from other criminals, because they say that there's no fun or honor in stealing from normal folks (despite that fact that various cutscenes show them stealing from normal people and public property without issue, but never mind little hypocrisies like that :/ ). The story spends the time to detail how most of the Fiendish Five come from disadvantaged and/or traumatized upbringings that pushed them into these lives of crime they now lead, but there's never any attempt to reckon with the larger systemic issues that cause people to be outsiders, "criminals" in the way the Fiendish Five are rather than the seemingly criminals entirely by choice like Sly and his crew are. The whole thing really reeks of something between poverty tourism and copaganda to me, making the story feel not just boring but gross too :/
The gameplay is a series of linear stage-based 3D platforming levels that try to mix elements of stealth and parkour into more typical platformer aspects like jumping and collecting goodies. You'll have to sneak around tough opponents, steal treasure, and fulfill heist-like objectives at times to get to the end of each stage. Collecting all the special clue pickups in a stage will even let you unlock a safe hidden in each level for an extra Thievius Raccoonus page to unlock new moves or new powerful passives. The new moves are rarely all that useful, granted, but it's something neat to hunt for, especially for powerful extra passives like immunity to being killed by falling in water.
These stealth or stealth-adjacent aspects tend to be more success than they are misses. The platforming isn't Super Mario-levels of smooth and slick, but the flow of levels tends to be pretty good outside of the clunky combat and the parkour mechanics occasionally freaking out. Basically all of Sly's moves that center around leaping onto spires or climbing up poles are activated with the O button. This is mostly fine, because it mostly works, but sometimes the game just has a mind of its own and will not actually activate the special platforming move because it decided you weren't in *quite* the right place for it to activate properly. Hell, there were plenty of times where it seemed like it just ate a jump input and sent me down to my death too, and that can get *really* annoying in a game with one-hit kills like this.
Collecting 100 coins gives you a lucky charm that will let you take one extra hit before dying. You can also rarely find lucky charms on their own as pickups in stages, and you can even stack two of them at a time, but this is of little help when you're on an actually challenging section of the game. The game mostly operates around extra lives, and while dying enough times in a row will start spawning you with a free lucky charm (or even two if you die enough) upon respawn, check points are infrequent enough that this rarely matters all that much, and bosses basically never have checkpoints at all. Bosses are more often annoying misses than they are wins, and they are a HUGE pain to redo the significant sections of if you have the misfortune of dying near the end of a fight (particularly the rhythm game boss in world three).
The really big missteps, however, come from the special vehicle stages and mini-game stages. Some of the mobile gun bike ones as Sly aren't too bad, but the races or defense missions based around Murray or any time-limited ones are awful tedium. They work around very particular mechanics that are rarely all that intuitive, and they just become an exercise in draining your extra lives as you go through the trial and error of learning whatever specific strategies they intend for you to use to beat them. They are tolerable at best, and dreadfully tedious at worst, and friends I talked to about the game universally agreed them to be the game's weakest sections.
Aesthetically, the game is just fine for an early-ish PS2 game. The sort of cell shaded look on the graphics gives everything a nice comic book-style vibe, which fits really well with the comic book-like cutscenes before and after new worlds, and helps everything feel that much more cartoony. Animations can look quite clunky and robotic quite frequently, however, and there's definitely an aspect of janky charm of early 6th gen gaming in them. The music is fine, but it was nothing that stuck with me terribly much. I honestly started putting on MP3s to listen to while I played after a while, so I think that in and of itself speaks volumes of just how much the game's music was failing to grab me very much ^^;
Verdict: Not Recommended. This game isn't awful, and it's far from even the worst earlier PS2 3D platformer. This game is way better than Jak & Daxter, for example, but that's really just damning with faint praise. While I think it definitely would've been more appealing when it came out, especially on Sony's console rather than Nintendo's (where the competition was just not as high for a compelling 3D platforming experience), Sly 1 is just not that fun a game to go back to. The story has aged quite poorly, and the mechanics are not nearly polished enough to warrant going back to, imo. When the game's good, it's fine, but when it's bad, it's *dreadful*, and there's just no way I can recommend a game like that in good conscience.
Games Beaten 2026
- PartridgeSenpai
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Re: Games Beaten 2026
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: Games Beaten 2026
1. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (FPS)(PC)
2. Doom 3 (FPS)(PC)
3. V Rising (Adventure)(PC)
4. Teardown (Action)(PC)
5. Control: Ultimate Edition (Action)(PC)
6. Peak (Adventure)(PC)
7. The Exit 8 (Horror)(PC)
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (RPG)(PC)
9. Killing Time: Resurrected (FPS)(PC)
10. Darkenstein 3D (FPS)(PC)
11. Metal Garden (FPS)(PC)
12. Caput Mortum (Horror)(PC)
Yes, I beat a lot and failed to post. My fault. I'll keep this short.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I have beaten the Special Edition version before, but I decided to go back and completely playthrough the original release and its DLC expansions. I like Skyrim, more than Oblivion, less than Morrowind, though that is in part due to nostalgia. The Skyrim expansion where I return to Solstheim is my favorite part of the game, if only because I get Morrowind music again, and Morrowind had wonderful music. But I digress.
Yes, I did all the big stuff: main plot, thaneships, winning the civil war, Thieves Guild, Companions, Mages College, Dark Brotherhood. I did all the Daedric quests, maxed out my vampire and werewolf skills, built three mansions, so on and so forth. And I did it on the version of Skyrim for PC that is buggier and uglier than the rest, because Bethesda loves its bugs, and because later releases improved the graphics. And I still had fun.
Is it perfect? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. Did I abuse the skill systems to make myself stupid powerful? Oh God yes. What more could I want from an Elder Scrolls game?
Killing Time: Resurrected
Nightdive Studios has got to be running out of ideas for remasters, because Killing Time was never on the top of my list for things to expect. Yet they did, and I'm happy, because Killing Time does NOT play well with modern computers. I'm glad I could finally play this and finish it, yet another '90s FPS done for me.
Rich people on an island try to make themselves immortal through ancient Egyptian magic and 1920s hedonism. What could go wrong? Well, pissing off the gods, for one. And also turning everyone on the island into weird, idiotic zombies. Or clowns. Clown zombies that try to tickle you. I'm so glad this game has a decent shotgun.
Killing Time is most notable for having a persistent world to explore, so enemies do not respawn. If you kill a foe, they stay dead. Also, you can explore at your leisure, because the game is generally not linear. While there are certain things to do in a general order, eventually you're going to be wandering all over this place, and the game gives you a pretty free hand at checking everything out. Not all of it is necessary, but I still took my time and enjoyed it. Not a great game, in particular due to the hamminess of digitized sprites of actors doing some awful acting jobs (the hunter takes the cake for me), but I found it fun.
Darkenstein 3D
Ok, so this game takes elements of Wolfenstein 3D, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and all the seriousness of Serious Sam, then slaps on a really bad plot about a hobo wanting to kick Hitler's ass for taking his dog. Add in a time traveling pot head and the Hitler Mobile, as well as some aliens, and a LOT of bugs, and you have Darkenstein 3D, the first game to ever declare that someone is as soft as piss-soaked pie. Seriously, that's an insult your hobo shouts.
If you want deep, insightful commentary on WWII tactics, combat, strategy, this isn't the game for you. Now if you want to chug some German beer and throw a rat at a Nazi's face right before you walk up and kick him to death, then this is more your style. Keep your tongue firmly in your cheek here, because the dev definitely did. Also, he's new to Unity, so the game has some glaring flaws, but hopefully they get ironed out over time as he learns more. Also, it's free, so I'm not complaining. I got my money's worth.
Metal Garden
This is an FPS fused with a walking simulator, with platforming thrown in. You're a nomad in a constructed world of steel sky, trying to make your way through scavengers, corporate guards, mercenaries, and so on, while also looking to see if there is any way out of this absolutely massive building you're in. And it is massive, so much so that it has its own ecosystem and weather.
The lore of Metal Garden is interesting, getting into artificially manufactured anchor worlds being built in a solar system entirely constructed by outside forces and then seeded with life and abandoned. The shooting isn't as interesting, but there is a health system I liked. When you run out of health, you don't immediately die; instead, you get a injury that can do things such as remove your target reticle, remove your ability to run, lowe your max health by a third, etc. Get enough injuries, and you're just dead, but the random nature of how bad things can suddenly get makes for a nice gamble when weighing whether to heal or let it ride.
With only a couple of enemy types, the game also relis heavily on land mines and platforming, which more than once made my palms sweat, as checkpoints are few and far between, and they're on the only way to save. Not my favorite thing, but I enjoyed the slower, meditative nature of the game.
Caput Mortum
In the 16th century France, you arrive at a rotting village with a tower overlooking the dying landscape. It was once run by alchemists, who have all vanished. Going inside, you start finding their corpses. Keep going, and you find the horrors they were working on. Because these alchemists were studying how to make a homunculus that could perform human tasks, but the ones they did make became disturbingly more "human" while not quite getting it right. Some of them are violent. Some of them are going through the motions, not understanding why they do their tasks, just doing them. And some have figured out alchemy, and they're actually not bad at it...
And all of it is manipulated through your right hand, which you move about the screen to hover over objects so you can interact with them. This makes for some fascinating moments, such as the first hostile homunculus that plays a sick copycat game with you where you have to match his movements, otherwise he'll beat you to death. Don't worry, you'll see worse by the end.
My biggest complaints with Caput Mortum are its reliance on checkpoint saving and its incredibly short length. My first time through was around 2 hours. I have at least one more playthrough to do, but still, that's a short and straightforward experience for something that calls Kings Field an influence. Yet I'm also glad I played it. I had a great time while it lasted.
2. Doom 3 (FPS)(PC)
3. V Rising (Adventure)(PC)
4. Teardown (Action)(PC)
5. Control: Ultimate Edition (Action)(PC)
6. Peak (Adventure)(PC)
7. The Exit 8 (Horror)(PC)
8. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (RPG)(PC)
9. Killing Time: Resurrected (FPS)(PC)
10. Darkenstein 3D (FPS)(PC)
11. Metal Garden (FPS)(PC)
12. Caput Mortum (Horror)(PC)
Yes, I beat a lot and failed to post. My fault. I'll keep this short.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I have beaten the Special Edition version before, but I decided to go back and completely playthrough the original release and its DLC expansions. I like Skyrim, more than Oblivion, less than Morrowind, though that is in part due to nostalgia. The Skyrim expansion where I return to Solstheim is my favorite part of the game, if only because I get Morrowind music again, and Morrowind had wonderful music. But I digress.
Yes, I did all the big stuff: main plot, thaneships, winning the civil war, Thieves Guild, Companions, Mages College, Dark Brotherhood. I did all the Daedric quests, maxed out my vampire and werewolf skills, built three mansions, so on and so forth. And I did it on the version of Skyrim for PC that is buggier and uglier than the rest, because Bethesda loves its bugs, and because later releases improved the graphics. And I still had fun.
Is it perfect? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. Did I abuse the skill systems to make myself stupid powerful? Oh God yes. What more could I want from an Elder Scrolls game?
Killing Time: Resurrected
Nightdive Studios has got to be running out of ideas for remasters, because Killing Time was never on the top of my list for things to expect. Yet they did, and I'm happy, because Killing Time does NOT play well with modern computers. I'm glad I could finally play this and finish it, yet another '90s FPS done for me.
Rich people on an island try to make themselves immortal through ancient Egyptian magic and 1920s hedonism. What could go wrong? Well, pissing off the gods, for one. And also turning everyone on the island into weird, idiotic zombies. Or clowns. Clown zombies that try to tickle you. I'm so glad this game has a decent shotgun.
Killing Time is most notable for having a persistent world to explore, so enemies do not respawn. If you kill a foe, they stay dead. Also, you can explore at your leisure, because the game is generally not linear. While there are certain things to do in a general order, eventually you're going to be wandering all over this place, and the game gives you a pretty free hand at checking everything out. Not all of it is necessary, but I still took my time and enjoyed it. Not a great game, in particular due to the hamminess of digitized sprites of actors doing some awful acting jobs (the hunter takes the cake for me), but I found it fun.
Darkenstein 3D
Ok, so this game takes elements of Wolfenstein 3D, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and all the seriousness of Serious Sam, then slaps on a really bad plot about a hobo wanting to kick Hitler's ass for taking his dog. Add in a time traveling pot head and the Hitler Mobile, as well as some aliens, and a LOT of bugs, and you have Darkenstein 3D, the first game to ever declare that someone is as soft as piss-soaked pie. Seriously, that's an insult your hobo shouts.
If you want deep, insightful commentary on WWII tactics, combat, strategy, this isn't the game for you. Now if you want to chug some German beer and throw a rat at a Nazi's face right before you walk up and kick him to death, then this is more your style. Keep your tongue firmly in your cheek here, because the dev definitely did. Also, he's new to Unity, so the game has some glaring flaws, but hopefully they get ironed out over time as he learns more. Also, it's free, so I'm not complaining. I got my money's worth.
Metal Garden
This is an FPS fused with a walking simulator, with platforming thrown in. You're a nomad in a constructed world of steel sky, trying to make your way through scavengers, corporate guards, mercenaries, and so on, while also looking to see if there is any way out of this absolutely massive building you're in. And it is massive, so much so that it has its own ecosystem and weather.
The lore of Metal Garden is interesting, getting into artificially manufactured anchor worlds being built in a solar system entirely constructed by outside forces and then seeded with life and abandoned. The shooting isn't as interesting, but there is a health system I liked. When you run out of health, you don't immediately die; instead, you get a injury that can do things such as remove your target reticle, remove your ability to run, lowe your max health by a third, etc. Get enough injuries, and you're just dead, but the random nature of how bad things can suddenly get makes for a nice gamble when weighing whether to heal or let it ride.
With only a couple of enemy types, the game also relis heavily on land mines and platforming, which more than once made my palms sweat, as checkpoints are few and far between, and they're on the only way to save. Not my favorite thing, but I enjoyed the slower, meditative nature of the game.
Caput Mortum
In the 16th century France, you arrive at a rotting village with a tower overlooking the dying landscape. It was once run by alchemists, who have all vanished. Going inside, you start finding their corpses. Keep going, and you find the horrors they were working on. Because these alchemists were studying how to make a homunculus that could perform human tasks, but the ones they did make became disturbingly more "human" while not quite getting it right. Some of them are violent. Some of them are going through the motions, not understanding why they do their tasks, just doing them. And some have figured out alchemy, and they're actually not bad at it...
And all of it is manipulated through your right hand, which you move about the screen to hover over objects so you can interact with them. This makes for some fascinating moments, such as the first hostile homunculus that plays a sick copycat game with you where you have to match his movements, otherwise he'll beat you to death. Don't worry, you'll see worse by the end.
My biggest complaints with Caput Mortum are its reliance on checkpoint saving and its incredibly short length. My first time through was around 2 hours. I have at least one more playthrough to do, but still, that's a short and straightforward experience for something that calls Kings Field an influence. Yet I'm also glad I played it. I had a great time while it lasted.
Re: Games Beaten 2026
prfsnl_gmr wrote: ↑Sun Mar 29, 2026 9:26 pm These are the Kirby games I’ve beaten: Adventure, Dream Land 1-3, Super Star, 64, Epic Yarn, Amazing Mirror, Nightmare in Dreamland, Triple Deluxe, Forgotten Land, and Fighter’s Deluxe. All of them are good; none of them are great (although Adventure and Super Star are close). What am I missing?
Gonna have to disagree on Adventure. I rate Kirby's Adventure as top tier NES gaming. It's got lots of variety and is super fun.
- prfsnl_gmr
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Re: Games Beaten 2026
That’s fair.
It is definitely peak NES gaming, and it is very good. When I
Think of the best NES games, though, it isn’t one of the first to come to mind, and until I put together that list, I’d forgotten about it (even though I’ve beaten it more than a few times!). Accordingly, I’m still hesitant to call it a “great” game. That’s just my (admittedly unpopular) opinion, though.
……
1. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (Switch)
2. Metroid Prime 4 (Switch)
3. Darkwing Duck (Gameboy)
3. DuckTales (Gameboy)
4. DuckTales 2 (Gameboy)
5. Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Sega Master System)
6. Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Switch)
7. Depths of Sanity (Switch)
8. Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition (Switch)
9. Ghostrunner II (Xbox)
10. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo (Switch)
11. Hudson Selection Vol. 4: Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island (GameCube)
12. Adventure Island (Java)
13. Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island (MSX)
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo is an absolute peak Zelda-like. In it, you play as a little bat attempting helping his villainous aunt recover parts of her soul from four other, equally villainous capitalists. Ditching the high-fantasy trapping if its forebears, the adventure takes you across four boroughs in a modern, but pretty junky, city populated with anthropomorphic animals, dragons, slimes, etc., and the four main dungeons are a shopping mall, a construction site, a soccer stadium, and a music festival. The game’s aesthetics are inspired by Nintendo’s GBA, most specifically LoZ: The Minish Cap and Mother 3, and the game looks best, IMO, with LCD and backlight filters.
The unique setting, great music, and stellar pixel graphics are great, but the gameplay is where the game really shines. First, the combat is intense, and the game’s upgrade system - more on that later - provide ample opportunities for experimentation. The overhead platforming is also frequently challenging, and you will see the “game over” screen a lot. Fortunately, the game checkpoints at every room, and while there is a small penalty for dying, the game is never frustrating or punishing (i.e., it respects your time). Second, the game’s vast world is absolutely packed with puzzles, items, and secrets, some of which are incredibly well-hidden. The game encourages you to experiment with your abilities in way that threaten to take you off the map or push the game’s boundaries, and like the best metroidvanias, you’re rewarded generously for exploration. (The world just keeps going, and you can even revisit previously completed dungeons with new abilities to find even more treasure, upgrades, etc.).
Finally, the game’s unique upgrade system make the already stellar gameplay even better. Like other Zelda-likes, you can find items to increase your abilities and life meter, and you receive both combat and mobility upgrades at set points as you move through the story. You also hunt down “badges” that can be equipped to change your abilities, and each badge can be upgraded to change them further. The most unique aspect, however, is the game’s debt system. After finding a certain NPc, you can go into debt to unlock a node on a skill tree. While you’re in debt, you receive the skill tree upgrade, but you are also penalized in some way. (For example, an upgrade may increase your attack power by one point, but dock you two life points.) While you’re in debt, half of the money you acquire goes to paying off the debt, and once the debt is paid, you keep the upgrade, but the disability is removed. At that point, you can advance to the next node on the skill tree. This upgrade system encourages exploration of the both the game’s world and its other systems, and it requires you to think strategically about what upgrades to pursue at different points in your adventure.
As I noted in another context, if Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo was reskinned and had the word “Zelda” in the title, it would probably be considered one of the very best LoZ games. It’s a travesty more people haven’t played it; it’s GOTY material for me; and I cant recommend it highly enough.
Hudson Selection Vol. 4: Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island is a Japan-only, seventh generation remake of Hudson’s Adventure Island. The graphics and sound have had a bit of an overhaul, and not necessarily for the better…The muddy 2.5D graphics frequently obscure obstacles, and the synthesizer music sounds “cheaper” than the original’s iconic 7-but tunes. The gameplay tracks pretty closely to the original game, though. Master Takahashi runs from left to right, dodging obstacles, throwing axes, and eating fruit to keep up his rapidly depleting energy. The game has frequent checkpoints, which keep the steep difficulty manageable, and the remake, thankfully, has more enemy, level, and weapon variety than the incredibly repetitive original. The game controls are just as frenetic and slippery as the original, and if you like Adventure Island games, like me, you’ll probably like this game too. (It’s way better than Wonder Boy Returns, at least.) Everyone else can pass.
Adventure Island for Java is an abbreviated version of Adventure Island for the NES meant to be played on Nokia phones with one hand. The graphics are upscaled slightly, though certainly not to 16-but standards, and the difficulty is toned way down. The base gameplay is the same, though, with all the same power ups and hazards, but the game is only half as long as Adventure Island on the NES. There are unlimited continues, frequent checkpoints, and since the game is designed to be played with one hand, Master Higgins throws axes automatically and continuously. The game auto saves between levels, and you can select any beaten level from the title screen. It’s pretty easy, and you can beat it in 15-30 minutes. Not bad.
Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island for the MSX is an abbreviated, downscaled version of Adventure Island for the NES. The graphics are worse; the music is even more repetitive; the controls are even more slippery; and the scrolling is really choppy. The game also features only eight stages spread across two levels, making it approximately 1/8 the length of the NES game. The game compensates for this by removing all checkpoints within each level and, later, with some questionable design decisions that capitalize on the game’s poor controls and choppy scrolling to artificially inflate the game’s difficulty. Still, there are unlimited continues and despite some frustration, the game can still be completed in less than an hour. This is probably the worst version of Adventure Island, and I recommend it only to series completionists.
It is definitely peak NES gaming, and it is very good. When I
Think of the best NES games, though, it isn’t one of the first to come to mind, and until I put together that list, I’d forgotten about it (even though I’ve beaten it more than a few times!). Accordingly, I’m still hesitant to call it a “great” game. That’s just my (admittedly unpopular) opinion, though.
……
1. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (Switch)
2. Metroid Prime 4 (Switch)
3. Darkwing Duck (Gameboy)
3. DuckTales (Gameboy)
4. DuckTales 2 (Gameboy)
5. Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Sega Master System)
6. Aerial_Knight’s Never Yield (Switch)
7. Depths of Sanity (Switch)
8. Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition (Switch)
9. Ghostrunner II (Xbox)
10. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo (Switch)
11. Hudson Selection Vol. 4: Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island (GameCube)
12. Adventure Island (Java)
13. Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island (MSX)
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo is an absolute peak Zelda-like. In it, you play as a little bat attempting helping his villainous aunt recover parts of her soul from four other, equally villainous capitalists. Ditching the high-fantasy trapping if its forebears, the adventure takes you across four boroughs in a modern, but pretty junky, city populated with anthropomorphic animals, dragons, slimes, etc., and the four main dungeons are a shopping mall, a construction site, a soccer stadium, and a music festival. The game’s aesthetics are inspired by Nintendo’s GBA, most specifically LoZ: The Minish Cap and Mother 3, and the game looks best, IMO, with LCD and backlight filters.
The unique setting, great music, and stellar pixel graphics are great, but the gameplay is where the game really shines. First, the combat is intense, and the game’s upgrade system - more on that later - provide ample opportunities for experimentation. The overhead platforming is also frequently challenging, and you will see the “game over” screen a lot. Fortunately, the game checkpoints at every room, and while there is a small penalty for dying, the game is never frustrating or punishing (i.e., it respects your time). Second, the game’s vast world is absolutely packed with puzzles, items, and secrets, some of which are incredibly well-hidden. The game encourages you to experiment with your abilities in way that threaten to take you off the map or push the game’s boundaries, and like the best metroidvanias, you’re rewarded generously for exploration. (The world just keeps going, and you can even revisit previously completed dungeons with new abilities to find even more treasure, upgrades, etc.).
Finally, the game’s unique upgrade system make the already stellar gameplay even better. Like other Zelda-likes, you can find items to increase your abilities and life meter, and you receive both combat and mobility upgrades at set points as you move through the story. You also hunt down “badges” that can be equipped to change your abilities, and each badge can be upgraded to change them further. The most unique aspect, however, is the game’s debt system. After finding a certain NPc, you can go into debt to unlock a node on a skill tree. While you’re in debt, you receive the skill tree upgrade, but you are also penalized in some way. (For example, an upgrade may increase your attack power by one point, but dock you two life points.) While you’re in debt, half of the money you acquire goes to paying off the debt, and once the debt is paid, you keep the upgrade, but the disability is removed. At that point, you can advance to the next node on the skill tree. This upgrade system encourages exploration of the both the game’s world and its other systems, and it requires you to think strategically about what upgrades to pursue at different points in your adventure.
As I noted in another context, if Pipistrello and the Cursed Yo-Yo was reskinned and had the word “Zelda” in the title, it would probably be considered one of the very best LoZ games. It’s a travesty more people haven’t played it; it’s GOTY material for me; and I cant recommend it highly enough.
Hudson Selection Vol. 4: Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island is a Japan-only, seventh generation remake of Hudson’s Adventure Island. The graphics and sound have had a bit of an overhaul, and not necessarily for the better…The muddy 2.5D graphics frequently obscure obstacles, and the synthesizer music sounds “cheaper” than the original’s iconic 7-but tunes. The gameplay tracks pretty closely to the original game, though. Master Takahashi runs from left to right, dodging obstacles, throwing axes, and eating fruit to keep up his rapidly depleting energy. The game has frequent checkpoints, which keep the steep difficulty manageable, and the remake, thankfully, has more enemy, level, and weapon variety than the incredibly repetitive original. The game controls are just as frenetic and slippery as the original, and if you like Adventure Island games, like me, you’ll probably like this game too. (It’s way better than Wonder Boy Returns, at least.) Everyone else can pass.
Adventure Island for Java is an abbreviated version of Adventure Island for the NES meant to be played on Nokia phones with one hand. The graphics are upscaled slightly, though certainly not to 16-but standards, and the difficulty is toned way down. The base gameplay is the same, though, with all the same power ups and hazards, but the game is only half as long as Adventure Island on the NES. There are unlimited continues, frequent checkpoints, and since the game is designed to be played with one hand, Master Higgins throws axes automatically and continuously. The game auto saves between levels, and you can select any beaten level from the title screen. It’s pretty easy, and you can beat it in 15-30 minutes. Not bad.
Master Takahashi’s Adventure Island for the MSX is an abbreviated, downscaled version of Adventure Island for the NES. The graphics are worse; the music is even more repetitive; the controls are even more slippery; and the scrolling is really choppy. The game also features only eight stages spread across two levels, making it approximately 1/8 the length of the NES game. The game compensates for this by removing all checkpoints within each level and, later, with some questionable design decisions that capitalize on the game’s poor controls and choppy scrolling to artificially inflate the game’s difficulty. Still, there are unlimited continues and despite some frustration, the game can still be completed in less than an hour. This is probably the worst version of Adventure Island, and I recommend it only to series completionists.
Last edited by prfsnl_gmr on Mon Mar 30, 2026 12:08 pm, edited 6 times in total.
- RobertAugustdeMeijer
- 64-bit
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2022 10:15 am
Re: Games Beaten 2026
19: Neo Turf Masters
I only have a primitive understanding of golf games, perhaps there's depth to be found in later titles that the true golf aficionado demands from computer simulations. But for the layman who just wants a quick round of driving and putting, this just might be the perfect game. It's stylish, clear, snappy, has a good mix of challenging courses, and four different golfers to try out. But no matter how you slice it, it's still all a bit brain-dead. It's the apex of the evolution that started with NES Golf in 1984, but it's still fundamentally the same game.
7/10
I only have a primitive understanding of golf games, perhaps there's depth to be found in later titles that the true golf aficionado demands from computer simulations. But for the layman who just wants a quick round of driving and putting, this just might be the perfect game. It's stylish, clear, snappy, has a good mix of challenging courses, and four different golfers to try out. But no matter how you slice it, it's still all a bit brain-dead. It's the apex of the evolution that started with NES Golf in 1984, but it's still fundamentally the same game.
7/10
Re: Games Beaten 2026
Any sense of joy in your life.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
- prfsnl_gmr
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 12409
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2026
- Markies
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1608
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2026
Markies' Games Beat List Of 2026!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***
1. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
2. Knights of the Round (SNES)
3. Fight'N Rage (NS)
4. Time Stalkers (SDC)
***5. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS3)***
6. OutRunners (GEN)
***7. Midtown Madness 3 (XBOX)***
8. Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II (GCN)
9. Pikmin 3 (WiiU)
10. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)

I beat Valkyria Chronicles on the Playstation 3 this evening!
Back when I beat my Backlog and I was able to buy games for my new PS3, one of the first games I bought for the system was Valkyria Chronicles. In fact, it was one of the main reasons I wanted the system in the first place. The setting and art style of the game were absolutely beautiful in my opinion. It sat on my shelf for a while because I had heard it was quite long and hard. Also, I really wanted to co-op play it with a friend of mine. I then realized that it is technically a strategy game and you are able to grind, so I thought it would be perfect for my Monday game to play while watching Backloggery streams. So, I finally got around to playing it and I finally beat it after starting it at the beginning of the year.
I can safely say that the setting and art style are still absolutely beautiful and my favorite part of the game. They decide to use a WWI/WWII setting and I think it works perfectly. The technology hasn't upgraded too far and you aren't dropping nukes on each. Plus, as a history buff, I loved seeing what they could do with that time period. For the art style, they did a cell shaded look that still holds up to this day as I think it looks beautiful. Also, I kind of grew to love the characters by the end. Most of them are very likable and I liked the comradery of the team. The game is more 3rd Person shooter than strategy, but I think that works well in most spots. You can't go guns blazing, but you still need quick reflexes and accuracy.
With that mind, this was an awful Monday game. I needed to highly focus on the game, so it was incredibly hard to do two things at once. Also, the game is incredibly hard! You can save in battle, but you can also put yourself in a corner. The battles are really long, so you could lose an entire hour's worth of progress for one dumb mistake. By the end of the game, I was cheesing the battles by following short videos on how to beat missions in a matter of minutes. It kind of lessened my experience by the end.
Overall, I would say I mostly enjoyed my experience with Valkyria Chronicles. I think if I played it regularly, I might enjoy it a little more though that difficulty is also a big hurdle. However, I think the good outweighs the bad here. The setting, art style and characters will make me have fond memories of the game and forget about the difficulty. Great for fans who want a challenging shooter!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***
1. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (GBA)
2. Knights of the Round (SNES)
3. Fight'N Rage (NS)
4. Time Stalkers (SDC)
***5. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS3)***
6. OutRunners (GEN)
***7. Midtown Madness 3 (XBOX)***
8. Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II (GCN)
9. Pikmin 3 (WiiU)
10. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)
I beat Valkyria Chronicles on the Playstation 3 this evening!
Back when I beat my Backlog and I was able to buy games for my new PS3, one of the first games I bought for the system was Valkyria Chronicles. In fact, it was one of the main reasons I wanted the system in the first place. The setting and art style of the game were absolutely beautiful in my opinion. It sat on my shelf for a while because I had heard it was quite long and hard. Also, I really wanted to co-op play it with a friend of mine. I then realized that it is technically a strategy game and you are able to grind, so I thought it would be perfect for my Monday game to play while watching Backloggery streams. So, I finally got around to playing it and I finally beat it after starting it at the beginning of the year.
I can safely say that the setting and art style are still absolutely beautiful and my favorite part of the game. They decide to use a WWI/WWII setting and I think it works perfectly. The technology hasn't upgraded too far and you aren't dropping nukes on each. Plus, as a history buff, I loved seeing what they could do with that time period. For the art style, they did a cell shaded look that still holds up to this day as I think it looks beautiful. Also, I kind of grew to love the characters by the end. Most of them are very likable and I liked the comradery of the team. The game is more 3rd Person shooter than strategy, but I think that works well in most spots. You can't go guns blazing, but you still need quick reflexes and accuracy.
With that mind, this was an awful Monday game. I needed to highly focus on the game, so it was incredibly hard to do two things at once. Also, the game is incredibly hard! You can save in battle, but you can also put yourself in a corner. The battles are really long, so you could lose an entire hour's worth of progress for one dumb mistake. By the end of the game, I was cheesing the battles by following short videos on how to beat missions in a matter of minutes. It kind of lessened my experience by the end.
Overall, I would say I mostly enjoyed my experience with Valkyria Chronicles. I think if I played it regularly, I might enjoy it a little more though that difficulty is also a big hurdle. However, I think the good outweighs the bad here. The setting, art style and characters will make me have fond memories of the game and forget about the difficulty. Great for fans who want a challenging shooter!
Re: Games Beaten 2026
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
1. Dead Space (2023) - PC
2. Dead Space 2 - PC
3. Dead Space 3 - PC
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon - PS5
5. Stellar Blade - PS5
6. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined - Switch
7. Silent Hill 2 (2024) - PC
8. Silent Hill f - PC
9. Resident Evil Requiem - PC
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis
11. Sins of a Solar Empire II - PC
12. Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! - PC
13. Gauntlet Dark Legacy - GC
14. A Street Cat's Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous - Switch
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time - SNES
16. Dragon's Crown - PS3
Dragon's Crown is Vanillaware's take on the Capcom Dungeons & Dragons beat 'em ups. The head of Vanillaware worked on Tower of Doom back in the day and wanted to recreate that gameplay feeling. It builds on the RPG trappings of the D&D games and turns them into actual RPG elements, and gives the player a lot of options with how to approach things.
The game is your basic fantasy "adventurers come to the town, slowly solve problems" story. As you progress through the various stages you will discover a bigger plan to revive the ancient dragon, and that ends up being the final boss of the game. There's also a bunch of side quests available that fill out the world's lore, which generally consist of revisiting a stage and doing some task. Fortunately, you can exit a stage early and still get credit for completion.
The game gives you six characters, each of which handles very differently. Additionally, you gain levels as you progress through the game, and those levels will give you skill points you can spend on abilities. These are a mixture of passive buffs and access to limited-use skills. Each character has an inventory, which is a combination of their equipped items (weapons and armor) and consumable items and skills. The latter is your health potions, strength potions, and those skills from your skill points. This all provides actual RPG elements that the D&D games pretended to have, and extends the inventory system of Shadow Over Mystara. While your equipment can still break, now it's a Diablo-style durability system, rather than a random chance every time you're hit (and broken gear can still be repaired).
The game first takes you through nine stages in sequence, using this to teach you various elements of the game. Once you do all nine you are told that you need to collect nine amulets to weaken the ancient dragon enough to fight it. This requires you to go back to the nine stages and take an alternate route (which is presented partway through). Additionally, you have to defeat the B route bosses within a time limit; if you take too long something will happen that causes the end of the fight to be "you escaped from the boss" rather than "you defeated the boss", and thus you can't get the amulet. Once you have all nine amulets you can go fight the final boss.
The game has NPC-controlled allies that can sub in if you don't have people to play with. They aren't great, but they aren't deadweight. Each character added increases enemy HP, but in general the damage increase of the extra characters outweighs it. It can cause things to be a bit chaotic, and it's easy to lose track of your character. Figuring out when to go solo and when to have help is important.
Overall, it's a really fun beat 'em up that has smooth gameplay and gorgeous art. The latter half of the game mixes up a lot of how bosses act to keep you on your toes. Once you roll credits you unlock the next difficulty, which lets you keep grinding through, but there isn't new content to be had.
1. Dead Space (2023) - PC
2. Dead Space 2 - PC
3. Dead Space 3 - PC
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon - PS5
5. Stellar Blade - PS5
6. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined - Switch
7. Silent Hill 2 (2024) - PC
8. Silent Hill f - PC
9. Resident Evil Requiem - PC
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis
11. Sins of a Solar Empire II - PC
12. Starship Troopers: Ultimate Bug War! - PC
13. Gauntlet Dark Legacy - GC
14. A Street Cat's Tale 2: Outside is Dangerous - Switch
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time - SNES
16. Dragon's Crown - PS3
Dragon's Crown is Vanillaware's take on the Capcom Dungeons & Dragons beat 'em ups. The head of Vanillaware worked on Tower of Doom back in the day and wanted to recreate that gameplay feeling. It builds on the RPG trappings of the D&D games and turns them into actual RPG elements, and gives the player a lot of options with how to approach things.
The game is your basic fantasy "adventurers come to the town, slowly solve problems" story. As you progress through the various stages you will discover a bigger plan to revive the ancient dragon, and that ends up being the final boss of the game. There's also a bunch of side quests available that fill out the world's lore, which generally consist of revisiting a stage and doing some task. Fortunately, you can exit a stage early and still get credit for completion.
The game gives you six characters, each of which handles very differently. Additionally, you gain levels as you progress through the game, and those levels will give you skill points you can spend on abilities. These are a mixture of passive buffs and access to limited-use skills. Each character has an inventory, which is a combination of their equipped items (weapons and armor) and consumable items and skills. The latter is your health potions, strength potions, and those skills from your skill points. This all provides actual RPG elements that the D&D games pretended to have, and extends the inventory system of Shadow Over Mystara. While your equipment can still break, now it's a Diablo-style durability system, rather than a random chance every time you're hit (and broken gear can still be repaired).
The game first takes you through nine stages in sequence, using this to teach you various elements of the game. Once you do all nine you are told that you need to collect nine amulets to weaken the ancient dragon enough to fight it. This requires you to go back to the nine stages and take an alternate route (which is presented partway through). Additionally, you have to defeat the B route bosses within a time limit; if you take too long something will happen that causes the end of the fight to be "you escaped from the boss" rather than "you defeated the boss", and thus you can't get the amulet. Once you have all nine amulets you can go fight the final boss.
The game has NPC-controlled allies that can sub in if you don't have people to play with. They aren't great, but they aren't deadweight. Each character added increases enemy HP, but in general the damage increase of the extra characters outweighs it. It can cause things to be a bit chaotic, and it's easy to lose track of your character. Figuring out when to go solo and when to have help is important.
Overall, it's a really fun beat 'em up that has smooth gameplay and gorgeous art. The latter half of the game mixes up a lot of how bosses act to keep you on your toes. Once you roll credits you unlock the next difficulty, which lets you keep grinding through, but there isn't new content to be had.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2026
Dragon's Crown REALLY needs a port to modern consoles. I bet it'd sell like hotcakes on the Switch 2.

