Games Beaten 2014

[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)
10. Rival Turf! (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
11. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Genesis)(Fighting)
12. SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)(Fighting)
13. Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (SNES)(RPG)
14. Super Turrican 2 (SNES)(Run and Gun)
15. Brain Lord (SNES)(RPG)
16. Live A Live (SNES)(RPG)
17. Treasure Adventure Game (PC)(Platformer)
18. Realms of the Haunting (PC)(FPS)
19. Pocket Tennis Color (NGPC)(Sports)
20. Unreal Gold (PC)(FPS)
21. Puzzle Bobble Mini (NGPC)(Puzzle)
22. John Romero's Daikatana (PC)(FPS)
23. Scratches: Director's Cut (PC)(Point and Click)
24. Evoland (PC)(RPG)
25. Dead Pixels (PC)(Run and Gun)
26. Dungeon Defenders (PC)(RPG)
27. Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (PC)(FPS/RPG)
28. Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (PC)(FPS/RPG)
29. Borderlands: Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution (PC)(FPS/RPG)
30. The Simpsons (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
31. Borderlands (PC)(FPS/RPG)
32. Portal (PC)(FPS)

I have beaten both Borderlands and Portal before. For Borderlands, I completed a second play through and now have Roland at level 69(max level), kicking butt and taking names. It's still a fun game, and all I have left to do with the final package is beat Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot. I have two long games left, in Hell-Burbia and The Gully, and then I can officially retire Borderlands for good.

And Portal is the same way. Upon reaching level 69 and realizing there wasn't much left for me to do, I decided I would go back and play through Portal to finish off the achievements I was missing. Boom, now I'm done, 15/15 achievements unlocked. A few of the radios were a pain in the ass to deal with, but the most challenging aspect by far was dealing with those stupid challenge maps. Getting gold in the fewest numbers of portals wasn't too bad, and often they were similar to the approach needed for gold in the fastest times. But fewest steps? Screw that, I wanted to murder someone over that.

Either way, it's done now.

[elricorico]

1. Pikmin 3 (WiiU)
2. Kirby's Adventure (WiiU VC)
3. Rayman Legends (WiiU)
4. Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)

5. NHL14 (PS3)

I've been slowly playing the "Live the Life" mode and today I finished up the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a game 7 win. Won a bunch of trophies and generally had a pretty good time.

I've played a ton of NHL94, NHL96, NHL2002 and NHL2k7 in my gaming life. With respect to gameplay this one is pretty good. I like the idea of the "Live the Life" mode, like an RPG hockey game, but I think one season is enough for me, I don't have any drive to keep going further.

The game is full of bugs though! Commentators confuse a bunch of stuff and there is a problem with icings in certain situations leading to 0 second plays and a second face-off at centre ice. Also had players get stuck unable to get into the bench for a line change, an "undefined" length for a power play and a few other weird things happen.

I'm probably good for another few years before I'll be driven to commit much time to another hockey game.

[Sload Soap]

Whilst I can understand this mentality for the most part, I don't really dislike Cream the Rabbit myself. The same goes for Blaze the Cat. Whilst I could certainly do without their presence in the 3d sonic games as part of the 'story', I really don't mind them in the 2D portable sonic games as they both offer a unique way of playing whilst still fitting within the platformer mold. This is what new sonic characters should be like imo, not adding fishing or shooting stages (E38720837 Gamma Omega Lambda Burst / Big the Cat), not just being a presence in the story (blrugh, Marine the Raccoon and Chip), just nice simple platforming gameplay - but a little bit different to sonic to justify their presence.

I sort of agree but I'd say that the role of playable character with slightly different playstyle was filled out years ago by Tails and Knuckles. I have no idea who Cream is, how he/she knows the Sonic regulars and what his/her goal is. Basic stuff really.

Without wanting to go into it too much, Mario has managed to keep itself relatively fresh for decades by focussing on making intelligent changes to the core gameplay appeal. Sonic however has crammed in so much stuff from characters and locations to control methods and design concepts, the series is now seriously bloated and lacking in identity as a result. And for me Cream, Big, Blaze and all them others are symptoms of that illness, so it's kind of a red rag to a bull.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I've played Sonic Advance 2 on a few occasions. Every time I would get to some annoying ass levels with huge bottomless pits. Then I'd shut the game off.

[noiseredux]

1. King of Fighters R-2 (NGPC)
2. Dead or Alive 2 (Limited Edition) (DC)
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time (PS2)
4. Metal Gear (PS2)
5. Capcom Vs. SNK 2 (DC)
6. Sonic The Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (NGPC)
7. Bust-A-Move Pocket (NGPC)
8. Super Puzzle Figher IIX (DC)
9. Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge (DC)
10. Puyo Puyo Fever (DC)
11. Phantasy Star Online (DC)
12. Among The Sleep (PC)
13. Titanfall (PC)
14. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PC)
15. Shovel Knight (PC)
16. Dragon's Lair (PC)
17. Escape Goat 2 (PC)
18. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (PC)
19. XCOM: Enemy Within (PC)
20. Ultra Street Fighter IV (PC)
21. The Banner Saga (PC)
22. Escape Goat (PC)
23. Magical Drop V (PC)

The sequel is prettier and more challenging, but the original Escape Goat is still seriously excellent. Shit got super hard towards the end. The last level must have took me 20+ tries. Beat 59% of the levels, with a whopping 161 deaths in 2hrs 15mins. So still plenty of replayability, plus you apparently unlock new harder levels once you beat it. And there's a level editor! UGH. Magical Time Bean is such an awesome dev.

Magical Drop V is a fantastic competitive puzzle game that I've been playing for a year or so. FINALLY beat it on a single credit.

[Luke]

probably bested these games already this year, but:

Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! NES
TMNT II The Arcade Game NES

[BogusMeatFactory]

1. We Love Katamari (PS2)
2. Major Minor's Majestic Marching Band (Wii)
3. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
4. Petz: Wildlife Rescue (Wii) (Don't Ask)
5. Flow (PS3)
6. Journey (PS3)
7. Shenmue (DC) (5th completion)
8. Ben There, Dan That (PC)
9. Serena (PC)
10. Graffiti Kingdom (PS2)
11. Bushido Blade (PS1)
12. Super Bomberman (SNES)
13. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
14. Way of the Samurai (PS2)
15. Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening DX (GBC)
16. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
17. Dust: An Elysian Tail (PC)
18. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
19. Super Mario 3D World (Wii U)
20. Sonic Adventure DX (GCN) (3rd Completion)
21. Burning Rangers (Saturn) (4th Completion)(Beaten Twice This Year)
22. Quest For Glory (PC)
23. Guacamelee (PC)
24. Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus (PS2)
25. Sid Meier’s Civilization V (PC)
26. Neverhood (PC) (2nd Completion)
27. Mount and Blade: Warband (PC)
28. Skyrim: Dawnguard DLC (PC)
29. Skyrim: Dragonborn DLC (PC)
30. Skyrim: Hearthfire DLC (PC)
31. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze (Wii U)
32. Star Fox 64 (N64)
33. Shadow Blasters (Genesis)
34. Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle (Genesis)
35. Dungeon Village (Mobile)
36. Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
37. 3 Ninjas Kick Back (Sega CD)
38. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers (Sega CD)
39. Make My Video – Kriss Kross (Sega CD)

Was streaming last night and was hitting up some awesomely bad Sega CD games.

3 Ninjas Kick Back

So the game is almost exactly like the genesis/super nintendo versions, except with some added FMV sequences and some incredibly frustrating First Person scrolling levels. The game isn't horribly bad, but there are some very poor design decisions throughout the game. It starts off with a 1-hit-kills rolling boulder. The real problems lie in moments like that, where you are thrown in situations that you don't understand. Also, Tum Tum is a useless character who can't just as high as the other two and has the worst reach. Absolutely useless.

Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

Just a QTE game that plays while video clips of episodes play out in the background. Succeeding or failing does not change any of the game itself. When you do mess up, you will loose of your life bar. Deplete it and game over. It was almost impossible to fail at this game and it is complete garbage.

Make My Video – Kriss Kross

Alright look... I know the Sega CD was all about FMV games and people rag on the make my video franchise, but to be honest...it wasn't that bad. There are game elements involved as you have a radio station taking requests from callers who have certain needs in how their video is made. Do well and you can move on. Do bad and game over. Peppered in between callers are little video skits that mix things up. The real problem? Only three songs and you have to make the video and then watch it, meaning that you hear the song at least twice and there are three callers per song, meaning you will hear the same song 6 times. Even worse is that the intermittent skits that pop up will give you other video challenges...for the same song.

I see what they were TRYING to do, but they failed miserably in that aspect. The acting is still awesome though. I love me FMV games so there is that.

[J T]

PC: Brothers- a Tale of Two Sons.

Fuck this game. I'm glad I got the extended warranty on my soul because it was shattered into a trillion goddamn pieces.

That final chapter is pretty brutal, amiright?

[laurenhiya21]

1/6: Dear Esther (Steam)
1/11: Hydrophobia: Prophecy (Steam)
1/14: Spirit Camera: Cursed Memoir (3DS)
1/26: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (DS)
2/1: 1,000,000 (Steam)
3/14: Thomas Was Alone (Steam)
3/15: Fairy Bloom Freesia (Steam)
3/22: Suikoden (PS1)
3/25: Wizorb (Steam)
3/28: Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (Steam)
3/29: Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
3/30: Chibi-Robo! (GC)
3/31: Luigi's Mansion (GC)
4/13: Deponia (GOG)
4/13: Shatter (Steam)
4/14: Rusty's Real Deal Baseball: Cage Match (3DS)
4/19: Super Mario Sunshine (GC)
4/23: Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia (PS2)
4/25: Freddi Fish 3: Case of the Stolen Conch Shell (PC)
4/26: Frogatto & Friends (Desura)
5/6: Persona 4 (PS2)
5/9: The Last Us (PS3)
5/24: Atelier Ayesha: Alchemist of Dusk (PS3)
5/28: Tobe's Vertical Adventure (Steam)
6/2: Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Steam)
6/11: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC)
6/23: Half-Life (Steam)
6/30: Analogue: A Hate Story (Steam)
7/1: Viscera Cleanup Detail: Shadow Warrior (Steam)
7/7: LoZ: Oracle of Ages (3DS VC)
7/7: Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
7/13: Ys I (Steam)
7/15: Ys II (Steam)
7/27: Super Mario 64 (Wii VC)
8/19: LoZ: Ocarina of Time (Wii VC)

Thoughts:
I beat this for the Retro Summer Game Challenge, so I'll just paste what I said about it here

I was a little bit underwhelmed overall I think... I really enjoyed the first bit (up to the Forest Temple I think) but after that, the dungeons seemed to get a little too annoying for my tastes. Like running around looking for that one missing key, or having to wait for certain enemies to do their attacks (and there were other things but I can't remember all of them). I did like the characters, music (it surprised me how good it sounded tbh), and the final battle with Ganon once I figured him out, but I can't say I enjoyed it enough to want to play it again. Or at least, not all the way though again. I might just be spoiled by later Zeldas, but oh well. Not much I can do about that ha ha.

[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)
17. Dragon's Lair (ARCADE/DS)
18. Flashback: The Quest for Identity (GEN)
19. Jumping Flash! 2 (PS1)
20. Virtual Boy Wario Land (VB)
21. Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition (PS3)
22. Nectaris: Military Madness (PS1)
23. Military Madness (TG16/PS1)
24. Thomas Was Alone (PS3)
25. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES)
26. Alien Chaos 3D (3DS)
27. Return Fire (3DO/PS1)
28. Puppeteer (PS3)
29. Giana Sisters DS (DS)

The Great Giana Sisters is a notorious Super Mario Bros. clone for the Amiga and Commodore 64. Its Nintendo DS sequel - which I played through at my daughter's behest - is a fun and unique 2D platformer that is just a bit too easy.

The graphics and sprite-work are delightfully old-fashioned and delightfully well-done. The music is also very good, and it frequently incorporates some sound effects indicative of 1980s computers. Moreover, the game controls wonderfully, and Giana handles just as well as any of Mario's 8-bit incarnations.

The levels, however, are just a bit too short (even for a portable title) and a bit too easy. The primary goal in each level is to reach the flag signifying the end of the level, but the secondary goal is to collect between one and twelve "red" diamonds before reaching the flag. Reaching the flag on each level is easy, but collecting all of the red diamonds does add some challenge since many of them are well-hidden or placed in dangerous locations. Moreover, collecting all of the red diamonds in each world unlocks a fun bonus stage - the best of which consists of all 32 levels from The Great Giana Sisters.

In sum, I enjoyed the game, and I recommend it, with some reservations regarding its lengthe and difficulty - to fans of old-fashioned 2D platformers.