Games Beaten : 2011

[noiseredux]

1. Mercs (PS2)
2. Darkstalkers 3 (PS1)
3. House Of The Dead Overkill (Wii)
4. Mega Man 3 (PS2)
5. Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (PS2)
6. Halo 2600 (Atari 2600)
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
8. Castlevania Chronicles (PS1)
9. Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2)
10. Capcom Vs. SNK Pro (PS1)
11. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark Of The Millennium (PS2)
12. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
13. Mobile Light Force (PS1)
14. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (PS3)
15. Galaga Arrangement (PSP)
16. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (PS3)
17. Mr. Driller (PS1)
18. Dead Or Alive (PS1)
19. Mamoru-kun (PS3)
20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Reshelled (PSN)
21. Ridge Racer (PS1)
22. Mega Man X4 (PS1)
23. Rapid Angels (PSN)
24. Catherine (PS3)
25. Let's Go Jungle! (arcade)
26. Super Puzzle Fighter II: For Matching Service (DC)
27. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (DC)
28. Dead Or Alive 2 (DC)
29. Gunbird 2 (DC)

I beat the first Gunbird earlier this year on PS1 and loved it. Gunbird 2 is even better. It's everything I loved about Gunbird plus it has Morrigan!

I used to beat shmups the first time around by quarter-feeding my way through. My new process is to start on Easy and beat it the first time, then try to keep beating it at a harder level. I like this new way of doing it, as I feel like it helps me progressively get better at the game. Beating Gunbird 2 on the easiest level, I didn't even use a single continue. I think I died once or twice.

My copy of Gunbird 2 is Japanese, so I have no idea what happens at the end. But it looked weird.

[final fight cd]

castle of illusion - sega
disney's aladdin - sega
the lion king - sega
mickey mania: the timeless adventure of mickey mouse - sega
mickey mania: the timeless adventure of mickey mouse - sega cd
disney's the jungle book - sega
dungeon explorer - sega cd
phelios - sega
doom - 32x
kolibri - 32x
mega turrican - sega
bc racers - sega cd
bloodlines x2 - sega
3 ninjas - sega cd
die hard arcade - saturn
final fight cd - sega cd
quackshot - sega
hyperstone heist - sega
streets of rage 2 - sega
twin gadgets x2- sega
gex - saturn
mario 3 - snes via mario all stars
mario - snes via mario all stars
double dragon - sega
sonic cd - sega cd
robo aleste - sega cd
snatcher - sega cd
mercs - sega
sonic - sega
symphony of the night - ps1
altered beast - sega
insector-x - sega
thunder force III - genesis
lightening force - genesis
gaiares - genesis
sol-feace - sega cd
steel empire - genesis[/b

a shmup i beat the first time playing it. i didn't even use a continue. but it was fun. the slow down is absolutely horrendous, however. there were a few milliseconds in the game that allowed enemy bullets to move at normal speed, and boy, they were moving fast. the slow down made the game a lot easier.

[alienjesus]

1. Mercs (PS2)
2. Darkstalkers 3 (PS1)
3. House Of The Dead Overkill (Wii)
4. Mega Man 3 (PS2)
5. Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (PS2)
6. Halo 2600 (Atari 2600)
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
8. Castlevania Chronicles (PS1)
9. Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2)
10. Capcom Vs. SNK Pro (PS1)
11. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark Of The Millennium (PS2)
12. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
13. Mobile Light Force (PS1)
14. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (PS3)
15. Galaga Arrangement (PSP)
16. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (PS3)
17. Mr. Driller (PS1)
18. Dead Or Alive (PS1)
19. Mamoru-kun (PS3)
20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Reshelled (PSN)
21. Ridge Racer (PS1)
22. Mega Man X4 (PS1)
23. Rapid Angels (PSN)
24. Catherine (PS3)
25. Let's Go Jungle! (arcade)
26. Super Puzzle Fighter II: For Matching Service (DC)
27. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (DC)
28. Dead Or Alive 2 (DC)
29. Gunbird 2 (DC)

I beat the first Gunbird earlier this year on PS1 and loved it. Gunbird 2 is even better. It's everything I loved about Gunbird plus it has Morrigan!

I used to beat shmups the first time around by quarter-feeding my way through. My new process is to start on Easy and beat it the first time, then try to keep beating it at a harder level. I like this new way of doing it, as I feel like it helps me progressively get better at the game. Beating Gunbird 2 on the easiest level, I didn't even use a single continue. I think I died once or twice.

My copy of Gunbird 2 is Japanese, so I have no idea what happens at the end. But it looked weird.

Haha, are you playing through the list of games you were hopingfor for next years together retro but didn't make it?

[alienjesus]

Donkey Kong Jr. e-Reader
Riviera: The Promised Land GBA
Super Mario Bros. 2 Wii
King of Fighters R2 NGPC
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn DS
Metal Slug 2nd Mission NGPC
Pocket Tennis Colour NGPC
Metroid GC
Super Mario Bros. 3 Wii
Probotector 2 Game Boy
A Boy and his Blob Wii
Pokemon White DS
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa VC
Kirby's Dream Land 3 VC
Bomberman '93 VC
Super Probotector: Alien Rebels VC
Wonder Boy in Monster Land VC
Pilotwings Resort 3DS
Deja Vu Casebook 1: A Nightmare Comes True GBC
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg GC
Starfox Command DS
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies Wii
Deja Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas GBC
Virtual On Cyber Troopers Saturn
Virtua Fighter Saturn
Athlete Kings Saturn
Guardian Heroes Saturn
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters Game Boy
StreetPass Quest 3DS
Face Raiders 3DS
Dead or Alive: Dimensions 3DS
Wonder Boy in Monster World VC
Final Fantasy III DS
Ghost Trick DS
Banjo Kazooie N64
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 101: Culture Shock PC
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 102: Situation Comedy PC
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 103: The Mole, the Mob and the Meatball PC
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 104: Abe Lincoln Must Die PC
Panzer Dragoon Saturn
Punch-Out!! NES
Blazing Lazers TG16
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 105: Reality 2.0 PC
Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 106: Bright Side of the Moon PC
Final Fantasy IX PS1
Crash Bandicoot PS1
Advance Wars 2 GBA
Super Punch-Out!! SNES
Secret of Mana VC
Fantasy Zone SMS
Balloon Fight 3DS VC
Ice Climber 3DS VC
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link 3DS VC
Mario Golf: Advance Tour GBA
Phantasy Star SMS
Ninja Gaiden VC
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D 3DS
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Episode 201: Ice Station Santa PC
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Episode 202: Moai Better Blues PC
Monster Hunter Tri Wii
Game & Watch Gallery 3 GBC *NEW*
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes DS *NEW*
Meteos DS *NEW*
Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels Wii *NEW*
Total: 64

Game & Watch Gallery 3 was quite fun. It contains 5 games which have remade modern versions: Egg, Mario Bros, Turtle Bridge, DK Jr. and Greenhouse. There's also unlockable versions of the original Spitball Sparky, Lion, DK II, Judge and Flagman. As usual, some are better than others. I love the modern versions on egg, turtle bridge and mario bros, and the classic versions of mario bros, flagman and lion. I hate the DK games though. Good fun overall.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes is a fun SRPG/match 3 puzzle game. It's got a very interesting battle system which involved matching 3 same-coloured soldiers in vertical (attack) or horizontal (defence) formations. When matched, units start charging an attack to hit the opponents side of the battle field, and hopefully break through to hit the HP of their commander. Different units have different attack and defence stats and special abilities which make for interesting matches with lots of strategy. The story is a bit lacking, and it can get a bit repetitive, but overall it's a great game worth picking up. It's on XBLA too.

Meteos is a fun little puzzler, but it can get a bit confusing. There's a whole load of planets which change the game mechanics in different ways, and it's hard to get to grips with the mechanics when they change so regularly! However, it's fast paced and fun, and I'm sure once I get more to grips with it, I'll enjoy it a lot. I got 3 endings so far.

The Lost Levels is not very good tbh. I never liked the physics from the original mario bros that much compared to later releases. The level design was just mean, and things like backwards warp zones and random hidden blocks with poison mushrooms in just serve to punish the player. You never feel rewarded for good play, just forced to endure more annoying level design. The last level in particular sucked, as did the (many) occasions you had to make a blind jump, land on an off-screen koopa and bounce to a platform you can only reach when said koopa is at the top of his flight pattern - basically boiling these occasions down to luck - if the paratroopa is in the right spot, you'll pass, if not, you're screwed. There were some good moments - levels that felt a little like Ninja gaiden when you just ran as fast as you could and jump at just the right times to zoom through the levels, but for the most part, I really wasn't a fan. It's at the bottom of my mario platformer list. Now I only need to beat Galaxy 2 to have played every main game in the series.

Next Up: Something out of Tony Hawks 4, Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid Prime 2 and Panzer Dragoon Zwei.

[Croooow!]

Trax for Gameboy
Super Mario RPG for SNES
Ikaruga for Gamecube
Mercs for Arcade
A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! for PSP
Psychonauts for PS2
Firemen for SFC
Crash Bandicoot for PS1
Outrun SP for PSP
Raiden II for PS1
Kirby's Adventure for NES
After Burner: Black Falcon for PSP
Yoshi's Story for N64
Metroid Fusion for GBA
Little Big Planet for PSP
Street Fighter II Champion Edition for Arcade
Burnout Legends for PSP
Castlevania Chronicles for PS1
Eco Fighters for Arcade
Sonic 2 for Genesis
Super Mario Bros 2 for GBA
Killzone: Liberation for PSP
King of Fighters '94 for Neo Geo
Donkey Kong Country II for SNES
Knights of the Round for Arcade
Super Mario Land for Gameboy
Jak & Daxter: The Precurson Legacy for PS2
Streets of Rage 2 for Genesis
Legend of Zelda for NES
Metal Slug X for PS1
Strikers 1945 Plus Portable for PSP *new* Well worth the $5 I paid for it. This year I've been trying to get my feet wet with some good vertical shmups and this one is one of my favorites so far. I liked being able to choose from all of the different planes as it gave me a lot incentive to play through this a number of times.
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow for GBA *new* My third Metroidvania game I've been. I really liked the soul system as it added a lot of variety to the game play and found the music to be a lot better compared to Harmony of Dissonance. I was disappointed that their wasn't a mirror or upside-down castle to explore. I beat it in seven hours and that was after a lot of soul grinding and pointless wandering/backtracking.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for Gamecube *new* I'm still of the opinion that this would be a good choice for Together Retro. I had never played a hack and slash RPG before but saw my brothers beat this together a number of years ago and it was as fun as it looked. The graphics and controls were great and I was surprised how much I enjoyed all of the different environments because I'm usually not a fan of maze-like caves, sewers, and dungeons in turn based RPGs. Something tells me I should finally get around to playing Diablo II.

[scarper]

Well then. Lets see what Game Boy games I've beaten this year:

GB:
Donkey Kong Land 2
Wario Land
Wave Race
Twinbee Da!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Mega Man II
Donkey Kong

GBC:
Rayman
Baby Felix: Halloween
Dance Dance Revolution GB3
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Wendy Every Witch Way

[noiseredux]

Haha, are you playing through the list of games you were hopingfor for next years together retro but didn't make it?

I didn't even notice that.

[noiseredux]

1. Mercs (PS2)
2. Darkstalkers 3 (PS1)
3. House Of The Dead Overkill (Wii)
4. Mega Man 3 (PS2)
5. Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (PS2)
6. Halo 2600 (Atari 2600)
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
8. Castlevania Chronicles (PS1)
9. Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2)
10. Capcom Vs. SNK Pro (PS1)
11. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark Of The Millennium (PS2)
12. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
13. Mobile Light Force (PS1)
14. Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (PS3)
15. Galaga Arrangement (PSP)
16. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (PS3)
17. Mr. Driller (PS1)
18. Dead Or Alive (PS1)
19. Mamoru-kun (PS3)
20. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Reshelled (PSN)
21. Ridge Racer (PS1)
22. Mega Man X4 (PS1)
23. Rapid Angels (PSN)
24. Catherine (PS3)
25. Let's Go Jungle! (arcade)
26. Super Puzzle Fighter II: For Matching Service (DC)
27. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (DC)
28. Dead Or Alive 2 (DC)
29. Gunbird 2 (DC)
30. GigaWing (DC)

WTF? I think a part of me assumed that a vertical shmup published by Capcom would mean that GW was going to be very similar to Gunbird 2. Nope. It's fucking brutally hard. I mentioned how my new way of approaching shmups is to start on the easiest level and play through that way. And then each time I play I try to notch up the difficulty and beat it on harder and harder levels. Well... GW I had to put it on the easiest difficulty AND quarter-feed. I think I used 3 continues on the last boss alone! To put that in perspective, I don't think I had to continue at all on the easiest difficulty of Gunbird 2. Just curious, is anybody actually good at this game or what? At any rate, the music is really good, although the boss music sounds a lot like the Mortal Kombat techno song.

[Xeogred]

Tactics Ogre (SNES)
Ecco the Dolphin CD
Sonic CD (Japanese)
Sonic CD (US)*
Sonic & Knuckles (GEN)*
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC)
Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (GBC)
Blaster Master (NES)*
Fallout New Vegas (PC)
Duke Nukem Forever (PC)
Sonic the Hedgehog (SMS)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (SMS)
Shatterhand (NES)
Final Fantasy IV (PSP)
Thunder Force III (GEN)
Thunder Spirits (SNES)*
Final Fantasy II (PSP)
Final Fantasy V (GBA)
Final Fantasy III (NES)
Metroid (NES)*
Soul Blazer (SNES)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (360)
Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
Alcahest (SNES)
Deus Ex Invisible War (PC)
Megaman Zero (GBA)
Megaman Zero 2 (GBA)
Megaman Zero 3 (GBA)
Megaman Zero 4 (GBA)
Megaman Xtreme (GBC)
Megaman Xtreme 2 (GBC)
Megaman V (GB)
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Rage (360)

* = replay

Good stuff, definitely doesn't deserve the heat it's been getting (technical difficulties aside for the PC version). That said, I finished the game and pretty much did 100% in 12 hours, no rush or anything. The last mission was extremely anticlimatic as well and coming from id and all... there was no big boss or anything at the end. Hate to potentially spoil that for anyone, but oh well. I was really bummed there wasn't some super crazy giant mech or something to take on at the end.

I borrowed it from a friend, but I don't know if I'd pay full price for it. Easily inspired a bit by the likes of Borderlands and Fallout 3 / NV, but it doesn't completely match up to those I'd say.

Still, all around solid stuff.

[Pirate_Higemaru]

January:
Donkey Kong Country Returns-Wii
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn-Nintendo DS
Ecco Jr.-Genesis
Mario Party 3-Nintendo 64

February:
Yakuza-Playstation 2
Kirby 64-Nintendo 64
Metroid: Other M- Nintendo Wii
Decap Attack-Genesis
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective-Nintendo DS

March:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist-Genesis
Batman-Genesis
Pokemon Puzzle League-Nintendo 64
Pokemon Black-Nintendo DS
Yakuza 4-Playstation 3

April:
Streets of Rage 2-Genesis
Street of Rage Remake-PC

May:
Crazy Taxi-Dreamcast
Chip N' Dale: Rescue Rangers-NES
Sonic Adventure-Dreamcast
Bionic Commando-PS3

June:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Arcade (Quarters and everything)
Infamous-Playstation 3

July:
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble-SNES
Dead Rising-Xbox 360
Donkey Kong-GameBoy
Golden Axe-Arcade

August:
Perfect Dark Zero-Xbox 360
Ristar-Genesis
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes-Dreamcast
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker-Gamecube

September:
Space Invaders Extreme 2-Nintendo DS
Super Metroid-SNES (Virtual Console)
Zone of the Enders-Playstation 2
Ninja Warriors-SNES

October:
MadWorld-Wii
Metal Gear Solid-Playstation
Aladdin-SNES
Bioshock-Xbox 360

Overall: 40

I may have counted wrong. Hopefully I didn't.