Games Beaten 2014

[Ack]

[quote="Ack"]1. Blood II: The Nightmare Levels (PC)(FPS)
2. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
3. Clive Barker's Undying (PC)(FPS)
4. Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death (PC)(FPS)
5. Lagoon (SNES)(RPG)
6. Tin Star (SNES)(Light Gun)
7. Cacoma Knight in Bizyland (SNES)(Puzzle)
8. World Heroes (MVS)(Fighting)
9. Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (SNES)(Edutainment)

Woo, edutainment!

So, I now have the complete Mario's Early Years trilogy for the Super Nintendo. I just spent the last 20 minutes learning about shapes and counting. And clowns. And whether mechanical horses are under people, or people are under mechanical horses. And being offered candy from nude monkeys with freaky cancer-ridden digitized voices.

All joking aside, these kinds of games have a very niche appeal, and admittedly having played all three, I can also see how the trilogy evolved over time. For instance, in this one the levels are shorter but allow the player to mess around on their own before beginning them, and the game subtitles all of the garbled speech, including instructions and praise. Beyond that and some minor changes to topics, these games are interchangeable.

[Valkyrie-Favor]

I'm going to keep track this year instead of trying to remember them all at the end of the year. That was easy in 2012, but I didn't even try for 2013. Too much happened last year, it feels like it was a quarter of my life as of 1/17/14.

Games beaten 2014:

Bust A Move: Universe (3DS)
Recommended: No.

An American-made Bust A Move, somehow. It turned out pretty well - I like the simplified rules since they allowed a greater focus on puzzle design. Or should have. I beat all the maps in an hour or so, and any is in getting high scores. Lame soundtrack, low difficulty, very short compared to other Bust A Move games.

Hotline Miami (PSV)
Recommended: Yes

Everything about this game was fun. I enjoyed every mission. Controls were interesting on PSV, I wonder how lock-on worked for the PS3 version.

Text: A Summer Story (PC)
Recommended: Yes

Freeware visual novel for PC. You can see everything in about half an hour - a promising ghost story devolves into nonsense. I must praise the cell phone mechanic - your decisions influence whether or not your phone gets charged, and the characters' actions change based on what the protagonist knows.

[BoneSnapDeez]

9. Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (SNES)(Edutainment)

Woo, edutainment!

So, I now have the complete Mario's Early Years trilogy for the Super Nintendo. I just spent the last 20 minutes learning about shapes and counting. And clowns. And whether mechanical horses are under people, or people are under mechanical horses. And being offered candy from nude monkeys with freaky cancer-ridden digitized voices.

All joking aside, these kinds of games have a very niche appeal, and admittedly having played all three, I can also see how the trilogy evolved over time. For instance, in this one the levels are shorter but allow the player to mess around on their own before beginning them, and the game subtitles all of the garbled speech, including instructions and praise. Beyond that and some minor changes to topics, these games are interchangeable.

Nice. Can't say I've actually played any of those games.

Does edutainment even exist anymore? I grew up playing Number Munchers and Decimal Dungeon.

[TSTR]

Does edutainment even exist anymore? I grew up playing Number Munchers and Decimal Dungeon.

Oregon Trail dood!

Knocked off a couple more:

1. Dead Pixels (PC) - Run n' Gun w/ RPG Elements
2. Magical Drop V (PC) - Puzzle
3. Reaching Out (Android) - Visual Novel
4. Nanolife (Android) - Visual Novel
5. Darius Burst (PSP) - Shmup

Thoughts:

Power went out for like two hours randomly, so I figured I might mess with some of the VN's on my tablet.

Reaching Out - VERY short. Apparently it started out as a test for a VN engine then grew into a full story. I read fast though, so it was over in like 20 minutes. No routes or choices, just tap tap tap away. There's only 2 character sprites in the whole thing. At least the girl was kinda cute though. Backgrounds are the "real photo thru filter" kinda thing like in Katawa Shoujo, except for maybe a couple hand-drawn. Mediocre story about personal growth, not really worth your time.

Nanolife - Much better here. Hilarious sendup of MMORPG tropes. Cute and unique (for a VN) art style with lots of animations. Well written, with 3 routes to go through. Definitely worth checking out.

Darius Burst - Damn, this is pretty. I've not spent much time with the Darius series; guess I'll be changing that. Got my ass handed to me on Normal in Arcade Legend (credit-fed like 20 times just to see it through), then got a 1cc on Easy in Arcade Next. Big bosses, sweet weapons, weird music, what's not to love?

[Sload Soap]

Sonic Pocket Adventure

First game beaten for my NGPC and what a game to start with. Really got into this one, a bit short and perhaps a touch easy, but still a terrific Sonic game. It's basically Sonic 2 shrunk down but it just has a certain charm that makes it its own thing. It might be the very neatly drawn and colorful graphics or the perfect control the NGPC gives to the game.
I'd say it's more a Sonic Gaiden than say a totally new game though. Still great either way.

[o.pwuaioc]

Sonic Pocket Adventure

First game beaten for my NGPC and what a game to start with. Really got into this one, a bit short and perhaps a touch easy, but still a terrific Sonic game. It's basically Sonic 2 shrunk down but it just has a certain charm that makes it its own thing. It might be the very neatly drawn and colorful graphics or the perfect control the NGPC gives to the game.
I'd say it's more a Sonic Gaiden than say a totally new game though. Still great either way.

Good first pick! I've been playing too many other NGPC games to give that one a complete play through, but I may do so next time I have a few hours to kill.

What's next on the NGPC agenda?

[Sload Soap]

What's next on the NGPC agenda?

Going to give Card Fighters Clash a go, see if it's my thing. Otherwise it's on to Dark Arms, which I've heard good things about.

And yeah, you should definitely give Sonic a whirl when you get the chance.

[Luke]

1. Kung-Fu nes
2. Batman Genesis *new*
3. Golden Axe Genesis *new*
4. Golden Axe GBA *new*


I'll edit this post later and add pics once my camera battery recharges.

I almost beat Batman with one life, but the last leg of the cathedral ruined my perfect run.

The next games to follow my list will include Golden Axe on the sega CD, and Golden axe on the ps2 via Sega Collection. I find it interesting to play as many ports as possible.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The next games to follow my list will include Golden Axe on the sega CD, and Golden axe on the ps2 via Sega Collection. I find it interesting to play as many ports as possible.

I like to do the same thing. You have Golden Axe on SMS?

I came very close to buying the C64 port a few months ago but eBay prices were just a touch too high. I may attempt C64 Altered Beast, Out Run, and After Burner later this year but I don't know if I'll make any headway. Dem controls...

[Luke]

The next games to follow my list will include Golden Axe on the sega CD, and Golden axe on the ps2 via Sega Collection. I find it interesting to play as many ports as possible.

I like to do the same thing. You have Golden Axe on SMS?

I came very close to buying the C64 port a few months ago but eBay prices were just a touch too high. I may attempt C64 Altered Beast, Out Run, and After Burner later this year but I don't know if I'll make any headway. Dem controls...

Sadly, I do not have Golden Axe on the SMS.

DOS, yes.
Genesis, yes.
Sega CD, yes.
GBA, yes.
Dreamcast, yes.
PS2, yes.
360, yes.


I may play them all, but again, maybe I won't. And I won't be taking pictures of my GBA games beaten...too frustrating, and my photo skills barely exist.

My SMS library is small, but awesome:

Vigilante
Great Football
Wonderboy III
R-Type
Out Run
After Burner
Space Harrier
Galaxy Force
Reggie Jackson Baseball
Altered Beast
Zillion II

Wish I could snag a copy of Rambo, which I loved a s a kid. Come to think of it, although some people will say SMS Altered Beast is terrible, I can't say I've played a SMS game that I didn't truly like. Most of my sleep over parties were centered around the SMS and movies like THE PREDATOR, ROBOCOP, and hopefully an episode of Red Shoe Diaries*.

We all thought the graphics and arcade games available for the console made the NES seem like a console for kids. "This is where the REAL arcade action is"- 6th grade Luke.


*For those under the age of 30, you may have no clue what Red Shoe Diaries is. In short, it was our age of accessible pornography. It featured such stars as the short lived female badass on Star Trek TNG, and that guy from the CC Music Factory (you actually know of him, even if you think you don't). At the very best, you would see one minute of expressed breasts during the hour long show, but it was worth it.