Games Beaten 2014

[Flake]

1/12: Kirby's Adventure (NES)
1/20: Injustice: Gods Among US (WiiU)
1/25: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
1/29: Metroid Fusion (GBA)
1/30: Metroid II: The Return of Samus (GB)
2/8: Metroid Zero Mission (GBA)
2/23: Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (WiiU)
3/9: Megaman Zero (DS)
3/14: Megaman Battle Network (GBA)
3/19: Star Fox 64 3D (3DS)
3/23: Megaman 6 (NES)
4/9: Project Justice: Rival Schools 2 (DC)
5/12: Capcom vs SNK (DC)
5/17: Megaman: Wily's Revenge (GB)
5/19: Megaman II (GB)
5/23: Megaman III (GB)
5/24: Megaman IV (GB)
5/25: Megaman V (GB)
5/25: Megaman Powered Up! (PSP)
5/27: Megaman X (SNES)
7/5: Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
7/26: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Megaman X and Mario Kart 8 need no specific comment. Megaman X remains one of the greatest games ever made and I think Mario Kart 8 will enter that pantheon as well. Not enough good can be said about either game.

The last month, the only game I have played has been The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Originally, I had this idea that I was going to do a chronological playthrough of the series but I've got be honest: Skyward Sword has fucking drained my soul as a gamer. I'm glad I played through it; I'll never touch it again.

The good:

- It's a fantastic story. It's superb, well written, genuinely funny at times and occasionally conveys 'the feels' on a level that Nintendo rarely achieves. Nintendo's 'epic' storylines generally depend on trope and cliche and feel almost entirely superfluous to the gameplay. Not here. Skyward Sword has the best story in any Zelda game save Wind Waker and Link Between Worlds.

- The artstyle. It's a nice compromise between the realistic Phantom Hourglass approach and the (one I prefer) Wind Waker aesthetic. For the story the game was telling, Nintendo knocked it out on the park. Skyward Sword's graphics will age very well in the coming years, I think.

The bad:

- The artificially inflated length of the quest. By the time I got to the end of the game, I fucking dreaded the re-visiting of old areas (again) every time the story progressed. Nintendo's moving away from the open world formula popularized in the original Zelda and then again in Ocarina of Time was really, really ill advised. It limited the game and you can tell that at some point the developers realized they'd messed up and made re-visiting every part of the game a dozen times a requirement to finish the quest as a way of making the dollar/hour formula work out better. You'd think that the lessons of Phantom Hourglass would still be remembered but apparently not.

- The controls. As a tech demo, they would be impresseive. Wii Sports Resort proved that. As a way of playing a 45 hour quest, I began to dread any and all enemy encounters. The controls are just not sensitive enough to get the job done and common enemies would kick my butt if I wasn't paying acute attention. I have a job where I have to pay acute attention - when I play a video game, I want to be able to relax. Chopping down moblins is supposed to be relaxing but not in Skyward Sword. I can barely contain my glee that whatever game I play next will let me just push some buttons.

tl;dr: I'd kill for a Gamecube de-make of Skyward Sword.

[Xeogred]

The backtracking was my only complaint with Skyward Sword. But man, the music, controls, dungeons, everything made up for it.

Hardly as annoying as Wind Waker's boring empty ocean.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I used to think Zelda II was the worst in the series, but after finishing it this year I've concluded that it's much better than most of the newer stuff.

[Xeogred]

I don't agree at all. But I've always been a fan of Zelda II as well.

Wind Waker, Minish Cap, and Phantom Hourglass are the bottom of the barrel for me. I didn't even bother with Spirit Tracks. lol

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well it sounds like we do agree.

[Xeogred]

I probably could have worded that better lol. I've always liked Zelda II a fair bit, though I wouldn't put it above the 3D Zelda's. Guess I'm a rare one who still loves the 3D games (but I haven't cared for the handheld ones since Link's Awakening and the Capcom Oracle games).

So... 70% agree.

[MrPopo]

I probably could have worded that better lol. I've always liked Zelda II a fair bit, though I wouldn't put it above the 3D Zelda's. Guess I'm a rare one who still loves the 3D games (but I haven't cared for the handheld ones since Link's Awakening and the Capcom Oracle games).

So... 70% agree.

How could you not like the GB/GBC games?

[darsparx]

I don't know, while the motion controls take some getting used to, I actually really like skyward sword. It's a amazing game as the new game of the wii generation...

[Xeogred]

I probably could have worded that better lol. I've always liked Zelda II a fair bit, though I wouldn't put it above the 3D Zelda's. Guess I'm a rare one who still loves the 3D games (but I haven't cared for the handheld ones since Link's Awakening and the Capcom Oracle games).

So... 70% agree.

How could you not like the GB/GBC games?

???

I said I did, LA and the Oracle games are the only handheld ones I've really liked.

[MrPopo]

I read that as "such as". My bad.