Games Beaten 2013

[Ack]

1. Sniper Elite V2 (PS3)(TPS)
2. Teen Agent (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
3. Alpha Protocol (PS3)(RPG)
4. Beneath A Steel Sky (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
5. Imscared - A Pixelated Nightmare (PC)(Horror)
6. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES)(RPG)
7. Celestial Mechanica (PC)(Platformer)
8. Gravity Bone (PC)(First Person Adventure)
9. Secret of Mana (SNES)(RPG)
10. Lure of the Temptress (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
11. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Numbers (SNES)(Edutainment)
12. CoD of Duty (PC)(FPS)
13. The Bard's Tale (PS2)(RPG)
14. The Great Circus Mystery, Starring Mickey and Minnie (SNES)(Platformer)
15. Deus Ex (PC)(FPS)
16. The King of the Wood (PC)(FPS)
17. Shadows of the Damned (PS3)(Horror Adventure)
18. Chuck Rock (SNES)(Platformer)
19. Arcana (SNES)(RPG)
20. Jurassic Park (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
21. Brawl Brothers (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
22. Monopoly (SNES)(Boardgame)
23. Dr. Mario (SNES)(Puzzle)
24. Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (SNES)(Platformer)
25. Breath of Fire (SNES)(RPG)
26. The Death and Return of Superman (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Battle Blaze (SNES)(Fighting)
28. Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
29. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters (SNES)(Edutainment)
30. Dwarfs!? (PC)(I have no idea)
31. Super Adventure Island (SNES)(Platformer)

And back to SNES games!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSqcxFGFVas

I'm not a fan of the Adventure Island series. I understand why it appeals to platformer fans, but it isn't for me. Unfortunately it was also six years old by the time Super Adventure Island came out, and platformers had developed quite a bit. And I believe Hudson did a good job upgrading the audio and the visuals. So Super Adventure Island looks pretty and has solid music, but just feels simplistic and bare bones when compared to titles like Super Mario World.

I suppose that isn't a criticism for some folks, but this game just feels "lesser" to me. It's more polished than the likes of Chuck Rock, but in some regards felt more simplistic to me. At least in Chuck Rock there was some element of puzzles regarding the carrying of rocks. The most advanced Super Adventure Island ever gets is in using its weapons to occasionally find invisible food or bonus rooms, though those are merely quick platforming sections.

I should stress, there is some variance in level design...some. Ice levels, fire levels, dark levels, a brief mine cart level, all of these platformer tropes are visited, albeit briefly. And the game does incorporate a couple of swimming lessons that play like a slow-paced, bland hori shmup, which isn't entirely unusual for the era(Death and Return of Superman, Captain America and the Avengers both incorporated levels like this into the beat 'em up genre in this generation).

Is Super Adventure Island a bad game? No, I'd argue it suffers from being outdated for its generation. But I did really like its music and visuals. The art design looks wonderfully cartoonish. Oh, and the plot...well, it's the usual "hero must rescue his girl" trope, only this time your girl has been turned into stone by a robed broom riding demon thing.

[disorderlyvision]

Pirates Plundaaar (wii)

[Luke]

1. Batman Genesis
2. Golden Axe Sega CD
3. Streets if Rage Sega CD (I'm keeping the typo)
4. Streets of Rage 2 Genesis
5. Super Mario Bros. 2 NES
6. TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan Gameboy
7. TMNT 2 The Arcade Game NES
8. TMNT Hyperstone Heist Genesis
9. Call of Duty Black Ops 360
10. Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis
11. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Genesis
12. Sonic CD Sega CD
13. Kung-Fu NES
14. Mega Man 2 NES
15. Out of This World SNES
16. Flashback SNES
17. Altered Beast Genesis
18. Pit-Fighter Genesis
19. Aladdin Genesis
20. Aladdin SNES
21. Ghosts n' Goblins NES, twice
22. Contra NES
23. Bionic Commando NES
24. Strider NES
25. Batman NES
26. Duck Tales NES
27. Ninja Gaiden NES x 2
28. Super Mario Bros. 3 NES
29. Lakers Vs. Celtics and the NBA Playoffs Genesis
30. Jackal NES
31. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! NES
32. Bayou Billy NES
33. Skate or Die NES
34. Captain Skyhawk NES
35. Super Mario Bros. NES
36. Friday The 13th NES
37. Totally Rad NES
38. Shatterhand NES
39. Twisted Metal Black PS2

40. Tekken 3 Bleamcast
41. Tekken Tag Tournament PS2
42. Tekken 4 PS2
43. Tekken 5 PS2
44. Tekken 6 360 *new*

Well that took longer than expected. I did enjoy 6 a lot. A whole lot. Tekken 3 remains my favorite, but 6 is a close second. 6 brings back that brand of tekken humor that made 3 so much fun to play.

[Balasubbie]

Games Finished 2013:

1. Luigi's Mansion (GCN)
2. Pokemon Black Version 2 (DS)
3. Psychonauts (PS2)
4. The Cave (PS3)
5. Sonic Adventure 2 (PS3)
6. CoD of Duty: Fish in a Barrel (PC)
7. Virtua Cop (PC)
8. House of the Dead (PC)
9. Typing of the Dead (PC)
10. Final Fight One (GBA)
11. Earthworm Jim (GBA)
12. Puyo Pop (GBA)
13. F-Zero: Maximum Velocity (GBA)
14. King of Fighters: R-2 (NGPC)

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity:
First-time F-zero'r. I'd been briefed on some of the nuances of the series, but the AI and the hectic pace still came as something of a revelation. Wouldn't have other ways, though. Fair, but punishing.

King of Fighters: R-2:
My first time besting Rugal on any KoF in less than 5 turns, on standard difficulty. All the more astonishing that there's no continue bonuses here unlike most other SNK fighters. I'm figuring usual KoF AI needed some compromise to fit on the NGPC, and I'm somewhat grateful. Mind, I'm kinda wishing I didn't just finish the only NGPC I own so far. Fuck it, I'm off back to eBay. It plays smooth, and I can say I enjoyed it more than the KoF offering on the GBA.

[Stark]

31. Super Adventure Island (SNES)(Platformer)

My favorite part of Adventure Island games are the skateboarding. It's like an early version of a non-stop runner like today's Cannabalt, Bit.Trip Runner, or Rayman Jungle Run.

[Ack]

31. Super Adventure Island (SNES)(Platformer)

My favorite part of Adventure Island games are the skateboarding. It's like an early version of a non-stop runner like today's Cannabalt, Bit.Trip Runner, or Rayman Jungle Run.

I can see that, but even those sections are pretty rare in the game. Happens...3 or 4 times that I recall over the course of the game.

[AppleQueso]

Are you planning to play Super Adventure Island 2, Ack? It's supposed to be very different from its predecessor and kinda Wonder Boy-ish.

[ExedExes]

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity:
First-time F-zero'r. I'd been briefed on some of the nuances of the series, but the AI and the hectic pace still came as something of a revelation. Wouldn't have other ways, though. Fair, but punishing.

That's no simple task, so congratulations. Did you clear all the cups? I was really taken aback by the much harder difficulty as compared to the SNES original.

Super Adventure Island was a great update too!

[Balasubbie]

F-Zero: Maximum Velocity:
First-time F-zero'r. I'd been briefed on some of the nuances of the series, but the AI and the hectic pace still came as something of a revelation. Wouldn't have other ways, though. Fair, but punishing.

That's no simple task, so congratulations. Did you clear all the cups? I was really taken aback by the much harder difficulty as compared to the SNES original.

Super Adventure Island was a great update too!

Cheers, I think. I did. The colour went out my face when I discovered you'd to clear to first three cups on expert to get access to the last one; took some doing. I was struggling for a while, but the game lightens up a little if you ignore the shoulder-button drifts and just tap 'A' on the corners instead. I thought it was an ingenious exploit, but if you look at the tutorial (the championship replay) on the cart, the game actually recommends it.

[Ack]

Are you planning to play Super Adventure Island 2, Ack? It's supposed to be very different from its predecessor and kinda Wonder Boy-ish.

Eventually, sure. But it's not yet in my collection, so it may be a while.