Games Beaten 2014

[BoneSnapDeez]

First 50:

1. Bad Dudes vs. DragonNinja (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
2. Caveman Ninja (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
3. Crude Buster (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
4. Heavy Barrel (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
5. Secret Agent (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
6. Wizard Fire (Wii - Data East Arcade Classics)
7. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
8. Burning Fight (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
9. Magician Lord (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
10. Metal Slug (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
11. Sengoku (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
12. Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
13. Metal Slug 4 (PlayStation 2 - Metal Slug 4 & 5)
14. Metal Slug 5 (PlayStation 2 - Metal Slug 4 & 5)
15. Metal Slug XX (PSP)
16. Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast)
17. Smash TV (PlayStation 2 - Midway Arcade Treasures)
18. Total Carnage (Xbox - Midway Arcade Treasures 2)
19. Skyblazer (SNES)
20. Mega Man II (Game Boy)
21. The Monkey King: The Legend Begins (Wii)
22. Ys (Saturn - Falcom Classics)
23. Super Mario Bros. (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars)
24. Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars)
25. Super Mario Bros. 2 (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars)
26. Super Mario Bros. 3 (SNES - Super Mario All-Stars)
27. Super Mario World (SNES)
28. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES)
29. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy)
30. 魔法騎士レイアース (Super Famicom)
31. Magic Knight Rayearth (Saturn)
32. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
33. Kirby's Dream Land (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
34. Kirby's Adventure (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
35. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
36. Kirby Super Star (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
37. Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
38. Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (Wii - Kirby's Dream Collection)
39. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)
40. New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U - New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U)
41. New Super Luigi U (Wii U - New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U)
42. Shock Troopers (PlayStation 2 - SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1)
43. Shadow Blasters (Genesis)
44. Final Fantasy (Game Boy Advance - Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls)
45. Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance)
46. Sonic CD (PC)
47. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
48. Battle Arena Toshinden (Game Boy)
49. Crusader of Centy (Genesis)
50. Joe & Mac (SNES)

51. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
52. Code of Princess (3DS)
53. Ys (PSP - Ys I & II Chronicles)
54. Ys II (PSP - Ys I & II Chronicles)
55. Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (PSP - Sega Genesis Collection)
56. Gradius (PSP - Gradius Collection)
57. Shinobi (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
58. Otomedius Excellent (Xbox 360)
59. Deathsmiles (Xbox 360)
60. Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)

Some quick thoughts.

Gradius

The classic arcade shmup.

The version on the PSP collection is an emulation of the arcade original, complete with the bubble system load time.

I love this game. It controls beautifully, the music is killer, and the power-up system adds an incredible amount of depth and replay value. I typically try to speed up a few times and then go for the laser, then the little pod thingies.

I don't own home ports of the game, unfortunately. And every other game on the collection seems prohibitively difficult. Especially part III. Damn.

Shinobi

After playing Shadow Dancer I decided it was time for the original.

So yeah, good game. Being able to land on and bump enemies is an interesting element, I can't think of any other games from the era that feature a similar mechanic.

Is the first boss supposed to look like Shredder?

Otomedius Excellent

Here's a game that seems worse on every subsequent playthrough.

I'm not even sure why it exists. Wasn't one Gradius parody series (Parodius) enough?

Otomedius Excellent manages to be much, much worse than the nearly 30 year old game that inspired it. The levels are dull. The graphics may be technically impressive, but the backgrounds are an unpleasant mix of gray, black, and beige. Your default weapon is atrocious, and bosses take about 700 hits if you get stuck without an weapons upgrade. Oh, and to upgrade to the best weapons you must collect experience points and play through the game multiple times.

The game's main gimmick is that instead of commanding a space ship you instead control a scantily-clad big-boobed fighter pilot girl. This is a case of Konami phoning it in. It's a drab game that cashes in on fan service and otaku appeal.

Deathsmiles

This is like a breath of fresh air after playing Otomedius Not-So-Excellent.

Deathsmiles is by far my favorite 7th gen shooter, favorite Cave game, and favorite bullet hell game. It's just that good.

The game is a horizontal shooter where you can shoot both left and right. The levels have this Gothic/Halloween style to them and look absolutely stunning. Fun scoring system too. The game also features quite an excellent OST, which thankfully doesn't seem to get drowned out by all the bangs and pew-pews.

I find myself playing this multiple times a year. The sequel is probably region-locked, isn't it?

Sonic the Hedgehog

[Luke]

60. Sonic the Hedgehog (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)[/b]

All chaos emeralds, right?
Not judging (who would care anyway?) but you either get "The End?" or "The End".

Not sure why, but I am always compelled to get every chaos emerald in every sonic game that has them. Beats the snot out of shaking coconut trees.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yes, all the chaos emeralds.

Though I believe the first Sonic game is the only one where I've actually achieved the "good ending."

[Luke]

Yes, all the chaos emeralds.

Though I believe the first Sonic game is the only one where I've actually achieved the "good ending."

Woo-Hoo! The third emerald stage is the one that always seems to give me grief.

For Sonic 2, I use Sonic only, as getting the emeralds with Tails dragging tail is difficult during the special stages. But, Sonic 2 is very forgiving when it comes to allowing you to replay the emerald stages.

I might as well play Sonic 2 tonight. One of the few sequels that blew me away.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I swore allegiance to Nintendo at an early age but Sonic 2 was the first game to make me think "Hey maybe this Genesis thing ain't so bad...."

I plan on playing at least six more Sonic games this year, but Lost Vikings is up next.

[darsparx]

I'm definitely looking into that lost vikings game...I keep hearing about it after I saw it in a game trailers countdown on top 10 time travel games...I'm not shocked at some of the games on there and would really love to play them all....

[Bikeage]

Deathsmiles is by far my favorite 7th gen shooter, favorite Cave game, and favorite bullet hell game. It's just that good.

The game is a horizontal shooter where you can shoot both left and right. The levels have this Gothic/Halloween style to them and look absolutely stunning. Fun scoring system too. The game also features quite an excellent OST, which thankfully doesn't seem to get drowned out by all the bangs and pew-pews.

I find myself playing this multiple times a year. The sequel is probably region-locked, isn't it?

Deathsmiles II is a download for US 360's, and worth it. Like Deathsmiles a bit better, but II has a Christmas theme and a few extra characters.

[GSZX1337]

Not sure why, but I am always compelled to get every chaos emerald in every sonic game that has them. Beats the snot out of shaking coconut trees.

Same here. To me that's just part of the game. If you don't get all the emeralds you haven't beaten the game.

For Sonic 2, I use Sonic only, as getting the emeralds with Tails dragging tail is difficult during the special stages. But, Sonic 2 is very forgiving when it comes to allowing you to replay the emerald stages.

The last time I played Sonic 2 I made the mistake of having Tails join me. I can't recall how many times I had to retry the final special stage...

[Luke]

1) Kung Fu NES
2) Altered Beast Genesis
3) Golden Axe Genesis
4) Golden Axe GBA
5) Golden Axe Dreamcast
6) Golden Axe PS2
7) Golden Axe Sega CD
Golden Axe 360
9) Ninja Gaiden xbox
10) Ninja Gaiden NES
11) Cool Spot Genesis
12) The Duel Genesis
13) Pit Fighter Genesis
14) Hard Drvin' Genesis
15) Death Duel Genesis
16) Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis
17) Mutant League Football Genesis
18) TMNT Hyperstone Heist Genesis
19) Streets of Rage Sega CD
20) Streets of Rage 2 Genesis
21) Golden Axe 2 Genesis
22) Sewer Shark Sega CD
23) Chiki Chiki Boys Genesis
24) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Genesis
25) Mega Man 2 NES
26) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! NES
27) TMNT Fall of the Footclan Gameboy
28) TMNT Something Sewers Gameboy
29) Punch-Out!! Wii
30) Diddy Kong Racing N64
31) StarFox 64 N64
32) StarFox snes
33) Metal Gear nes
34) Mario Superstar Baseball Gamecube
35) Star Wars Rogue Leader Gamecube
36) Super Mario Land 2 Gameboy
37) Duck Tales Gameboy
38) Sleeping Dogs 360
39) Sonic Triple Trouble Game Gear
40) Batman NES
41) Actraiser snes
42) Bioshock Infinite 360
43) Street Fighter II snes
44) Maximum Carnage snes
45) Super Empire Strikes Back snes
46) Madden 94' snes
47) Super Star Wars snes
48) Super Return of the Jedi snes
49) Super R*Type snes

50) Super Mario World snes
51) Final Fight snes
52) DOOM snes
53) Aladdin snes
54) Earthworm Jim Genesis
55) Earthworm Jim 2 Saturn
56) Tekken Tag 2 and stuff 360
57) Ninja Gaiden 2 nes
58) Metroid Zero Mission gba
59) Metroid gba
60) Godzilla nes
61) Contra nes
62) Jackal nes


Beat Sonic the hedgehog 2 again last night. Already on the list however.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1. Hotline Miami (PS3)
2. Boulder Dash XL 3D (3DS)
3. Mirror's Edge (PS3)
4. Orcs & Elves (DS)
5. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
6. Justice League Heroes: The Flash (GBA)
7. Metal Gear (MSX/PS2)
8. Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)
9. LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition (PS3)
10. Drill Dozer (GBA)
11. LittleBigPlanet 2: Special Edition (PS3)
12. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3)
13. Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (PS3)
14: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
15. Angry Birds: Star Wars (3DS)
16. Nervous Brickdown (DS)

Nervous Brickdown is the best Breakout varaint and a loving tribute to classic gaming. (It features sections inspired by "bullet-hell" shmups, the Game & Watch series, Star Fox, and Wonder Boy, and it even features a platforming section reminiscent of original "pea green" Gameboy games.) Moreover, it is one of the very best games on the Nintendo DS. It is very fun, and at times, incredibly intense. (The "retro" sections - where you play multi-ball breakout on one screen while simultaneously controlling a very basic platformer on the other almost pushed my reflexes past their limits. The scrolling "ghost" levels where similarly challenging.) Finally, the game features an incredible, "old-west" showdown with an anthropomorphic version of one of the most heinous - but unappreciated - villains in video game history:

The Last Brick.

I enjoyed every moment of this incredible game, and I highly recommend it to anyone with a Nintendo DS.

.....

Since I completed Nervous Brickdown, I have no "uncompleted" games for 2014, and I am ready to move on to the Summer Gaming Challenge!