Games Beaten 2013

[pierrot]

sonic 2 has tails, thus is worse than sonic 1

You know that you can play without Tails, right?

Also, all y'alls is crazy: Sonic 3&K > Sonic CD > Sonic 2 > Sonic 1 > anything Mario.

[BoringSupreez]

At least we all seem to agree that Genesis Sonic > Mario anything.

[Luke]

You know that you can play without Tails, right?

That's the only way I play it. Tails gets all in the way when trying to get the chaos emeralds.

[ExedExes]

Never played Sonic CD.

GET THEE TO SONIC CD SON

Probably the only Sonic game I know inside and out. Couldn't really get into the others.

[FerretGamer]

New games in bold.

January:

1/2 - Spec Ops: The Line - PS3
1/3 - flOw - PS3
1/4 - Flower - PS3
1/7 - Journey - PS3
1/9 - WET - PS3
1/13 - CTR: Crash Team Racing - PS1
1/16 - Asura's Wrath - PS3
1/18 - Crash Bandicoot 1 - PS1
1/19 - Crash Bandicoot: The Huge Adventure - GBA

February:

2/1 - Vanquish - PS3
2/6 - Naruto: Rise of a Ninja - 360

Naruto: Rise of a Ninja is definitely an interesting game as it is an exclusive for the Xbox 360 and it was also developed by a non-Japanese company, Ubisoft Montreal. It also happens to be a great and fun game to play.

Naruto is a mixture of several gameplay elements. First, it is an open world game in that you can explore the Village Hidden in the Leaves and complete missions to gain popularity among the villagers. To that end, it is slightly reminiscent of Ubisoft Montreal's own Assassin's Creed. Basically, it is a AC-Lite except that it is all obviously based on the Naruto universe. You can tackle a variety of tasks ranging from Ramen delivery and races to story-based Ninja missions. There is a mix of platforming that Ubisoft Montreal is known for as well as 1 vs 1 fighting similar to most Naruto games on the market.

The game mixes in actual cutscenes from the show to help move the story along. Most of the voice cast from the English dub are present with some exceptions. For example, Pervy Sage does not have his original voice actor. It's quite funny to see the game go from in-game cutscene to a scene from the show and the voices are completely different. Other than that, the music is typical Naruto. I will say that as always Ubisoft Montreal are a bunch of very talented folks. The game is very CLEAN and quite breathtaking in several areas. Overall, this game will not hurt anyone's eyes even years from now.

As a whole package, Rise of a Ninja has enough variety to keep players interested and does a fairly decent job mixing several gameplay styles. I'd easily recommend this to fans of the show and even just fans of anime in general. I might even go as far as saying that this is probably one of the best Naruto games on the market. My other favorite Naruto game would be Ultimate Ninja Impact for PSP, which is basically Dynasty Warriors: Naruto. I will definitely be keeping my eye on the value of this game as I think it will slowly creep up over the years being an exclusive Naruto game for the Xbox 360. I also don't see it mentioned much when discussing Xbox 360 exclusives. Now time to track down a complete copy of Naruto: The Broken Bond, which is the sequel to this game and also exclusive.

[pierrot]

You know that you can play without Tails, right?

That's the only way I play it. Tails gets all in the way when trying to get the chaos emeralds.

Yeah, it's the only way I can get all the chaos emeralds. I like playing with tails in 2 and 3&K, though, just because he does some incredibly f-ed up things sometimes, and it makes me laugh.

[Violent By Design]

The speed and tempo for Sonic 2 is perfect. Spin Dash was such a good add on. Probably the best 2D platformer I've played so far.

Problem with Sonic 3 is that the stages are way too large. I've died via running out of time in Sonic 3 a few times.

Sonic CD is ok, I played it for a bit. Levels are too easy, none of the additions really added anything to the game, bootleg spin dash is silly. The stages also have the same color scheme as Austin Power's shag house.

Don't remember Sonic 1 too well, played it on Sega Smash pack Vol 1 for DC long ago. Dont think I gave it a fair shake since I wasn't used too Sonic being slow paced.

[AppleQueso]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles should be the only way you play either Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles.

Is playing Sonic3 and Knuckles any different from just playing Sonic 3, and then just popping in Sonic & Knuckles after?

Tails in S&K levels, Knuckles in S3 levels, also the music changes and some small, subtle level design tweaks throughout the game (small things like some item boxes being moved around, etc).

Why on earth would you play them one after the other if you have both carts anyway? LOCK THAT SHIT ON.

[Violent By Design]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles should be the only way you play either Sonic 3 or Sonic & Knuckles.

Is playing Sonic3 and Knuckles any different from just playing Sonic 3, and then just popping in Sonic & Knuckles after?

Tails in S&K levels, Knuckles in S3 levels, also the music changes and some small, subtle level design tweaks throughout the game (small things like some item boxes being moved around, etc).

Why on earth would you play them one after the other if you have both carts anyway? LOCK THAT SHIT ON.

Because I'm wondering how Sonic & K enhances Sonic 3 other than letting Knuckles being eligible.

Are the stages better in Sonic & K?

[Balasubbie]

12. CoD of Duty (PC)(FPS)

Oh, snap. Cheers for the heads up, had a blast.

Games Finished 2013:

1. Psychonauts (PS2)
2. The Cave (PS3)
3. CoD of Duty (PC)

To weigh in on the Sonic chatter, Sonic CD is a clunky platformer revered for no other reason than the fact it was a 16-bit era Sonic released on a, historically speaking, relatively niche platform. Forgive the seeming cynicism, but I found it to feel like a rom-hack on my playthroughs of it, and the undue praise baffles me. The purported depth amounts to little more than scenery changes, slightly altered platforms, and wasting enough time to eventually alter the last second and a half of the closing cutscene.