Games Beaten 2014

[prfsnl_gmr]

Interesting to hear, I played through the first level and another level and I really disliked it. The controls didn't feel very precise and I didn't care for the look of it.

Having spent some time with the NES original not that long ago, I thought that the controls were spot-on. I did encounter some hit detection issues, however, but they were not game-breaking by any means. IMO, the game kept much of what was good about the original, and added some great new content. (Some of the boss battles are intense!)

Interestingly, the game starts out quite difficult, but since most of the levels are equally challenging, it becomes much, much easier once you acquire some of the "heart containers" hidden throughout the game. The challenge ramps up again for the all-new final level, and the game actually makes "Dracula Duck" a truly intimidating figure.

Finally, I really liked the game's voice work, and I appreciate the fact that WayForward reunited much of the original voice cast to record their parts (especially since some of the voice actors are in their 90s!).

[CFFJR]

1. Mortal Kombat II - 32X
2. Cosmic Carnage - 32X
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade - XBLA
4. X-men Arcade - XBLA
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time - SNES
7. Metroid: Other M - Wii
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns - Wii
9. Metroid Fusion - GBA
10.Star Trek - Xbox 360
11.Fable Anniversary - Xbox 360
12.Ranma 1/2: Chougi Ranbuhen - SFC
13.Sailor Moon R - SFC
14.Super Tempo - Saturn
15.Crash Bandicoot - PS1
16.X-men Vs. Street Fighter - Saturn
17.Wave Race 64 - N64
18.Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games - Wii U
19.Mario Kart 8 - Wii U
20.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - SNES
21.Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder - Sega CD
22.Ico (HD) - PS3
23.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PS1
24.Resident Evil 2 - PS1
25.Wonder Boy in Monster World - Genesis
26.Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Dreamcast
27.Ninja: Shadow of Darkness - PS1
28.Freedom Planet - PC
29.Resident Evil: Revelations - Xbox 360
30.Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Xbox 360
31.Need for Speed: The Run - Xbox 360

Put me in the camp of people who love Revelations. The ship was definitely creepy, but enjoyable to explore, and I actually enjoyed the cheesy story. The enemy design really sucked though (gooey blobs ahoy), but the final boss was damn cool. Very, very excited for the sequel.

Lost Planet started out really slow, and the game as a whole is clunky as hell, but it grew on me, and the more time you spend with it the more natural it feels. There were some obnoxious bits, including Mission 9 as a whole, but overall I enjoyed it enough that I'll continue on to the sequels at some point.

The Run was short, sweet, and exciting. Taking part in a cross country race is neat, with lots of eye candy, and it pleased me to race through Colorado, which I feel had the best race in the game at Independence Pass, complete with an avalanche or 6. There were some out of the car quick time events, which surprised me to say the least, but they were brief and easy and served to bridge certain parts in the story, so it wasn't unwelcome. The whole thing took only a couple of hours to complete, which I think is a good length.

[GSZX1337]

I've got to stop putting off updating this list since I've made several drafts of this post spanning across a couple months. As a result, I end up making posts based on stale impressions of the game in questions, thereby reducing their perspicacity.

Before I go on, I have to post a warning I forgot about:

In Batman Arkham Asylum there's a section of the game where the screen absolutely fucks up and creates artifacts. This is actually part of the game, not your GPU burning up.

Okay, on to the games I beat:

1) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles - Genesis (rebeat)
2) Devil May Cry 2 – Xbox 360 via DMC HD Collection
3) Spyborgs
4) Truxton - Genesis (on Easy )
5) Sol-Feace - X68000
6) Super Mario Sunshine – Gamecube (finished off)
7) Strider 2 – PlayStation (x2)
VIII) Bionic Commando – NES
9) Goldeneye 007 – N64
10) Bionic Commando 2009 - PC
11) Strider - NES
12) Strider 2014 - PC
13) Batman: Arkham Asylum - PC
14) Halo: Spartan Assault - PC
15) Mega Man: Powered Up - PSP
16) Portal - PC (rebeat)
17) Mega Man - NES (rebeat)

18) Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3

Sigh, my thoughts on this boil down to: The combat's serviceable, but just about everything else is frustrating. There's a reason that these games have been called movies you press buttons for. The game forces you to follow a very specific path with very little to no deviation. The worst part of this is when a big minigun toting motherfucker climbs on top of a train and starts shooting at you. He's standing on top of some logs that Drake can fire at to make him fall. The thing is: That's the only way you can kill him. I unloaded a ridiculous amount of rounds into the dude and he just shrugged it off and mowed me down. Eventually the game tells you to shoot the logs. To my knowledge this is the only part of the game you can do this. Oh, and every other time you encounter this guy he is able to be killed with a few rifle magazines.

19) Kirby's Return to Dreamland - Wii

This game is fantastic. Surprisingly enough, this might be my new favorite game. I have to think about it some more, but Return to Dreamland might just overtake Kirby Superstar's spot. This game has the combos from Superstar and expands on them. There's usually three pages for each ability now. This is the first Kirby game that I didn't bother reading everything written for each ability because there's too much! The side scrolling shmup stage is brought back and this time you're able to perform a dive attack and charge your star beam. There are also more stages and abilities, too. I haven't played the multiplayer yet, so I can't comment on that. All other aspects of the game are superb as well. The game looks stunning. There's no need to qualify it by saying it's stunning for 480p, it just looks good. There's a noticeable amount of aliasing, lack of shaders, and etc. but the art renders those shortcomings superfluous. I can't wait to see what the Wii-U Kirby games will look like. The music, as always, is pleasant and fitting to the onscreen action. I rented this game from GameFly, but I definitely plan on owning this game in the future. Judging on the current price, I might be owning this game in the somewhat distant future.

20) Heavenly Sword - PS3

This is an alright game with serviceable gameplay that gets bogged down with bullshit. Heavenly Sword's combat is your standard fare with strong attacks, fast attacks, finishers, etc. The combat is functional and works well with only a couple minor flaws with blocking/countering, those being that the directions for countering aren't entirely clear (I'm not entirely sure if you can counter using the Power Stance) and that the final boss seemingly can block all of your attacks even when using Block-Breaker attacks. Unfortunately, the gameplay has a raging tumor on it in the form of After Touch. For whatever reason Ninja Theory have granted Nariko and Kai with the ability to guide projectiles by holding R1 and tilting your controller. After Touch reduces the cannon sections and Kai's levels to superfluous wastes of time because any sense of challenge is lost.

The graphics are decent, but they haven't aged gracefully and the soundtrack is rather generic. The story is pretty shitty, but there's potential for a good story here. If a better writer got a hold of this story, it could've been very engaging. My biggest gripe with this game (other than the After Touch) is Nariko, specifically her status as sex object. This is supposed to be our action game babe? She has ropey hair, a flat stone-like face, and a pencil thin body shape. Fuck, she looks like a toothpick protruding other toothpicks. I wouldn't care about her looks if she wasn't putting on a sexual display with finishers that involve spreading her legs and giving baddies upskirt shots. When the chick we're supposed to be ogling doesn't look good, having a sexual display just comes across as patronizing.

One final note: Nariko does look better in concept art and promo images; my points are about her in-game model.

21) X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Xbox 360

This game is a bloodbath, pure and simple. I haven't had this much of a gory good time since I played Splatterhouse 2010. Unfortunately, this game has a lack of polish and some aspects of modern gaming that irk me like boss fights boiling down to a sequence of repetitive actions and the occasional cutscene interrupting gameplay. The health regeneration is obviously okay since it's Wolverine.

22) Bionic Commando Rearmed - PC

Ugh, I'm so damn disappointed. I was expecting gold on a platter, but what I got was... I don't know, mercury in a bowl? The only problems I had with the NES game were due to its age, so logically a modern remake would make Bionic Commando damn near perfect, right? Wrong. I don't understand how this remake could've gone so wrong. The NES game provided a terrific template with its level design, weapon ideas, area map, etc. All that really needed to be done was to give the game a face-lift, tweak the weapons *cough*make them fire across the screen*cough*, and otherwise contemporize the game. Unfortunately, the changes do almost none of these things and in sometimes make the game's flaws more evident.

The bosses are even easier this time around. That Pi Pi Pi robot was absolutely pathetic, and the enemy onslaughts are even lamer than they were in the original as I can kill the commander with a grenade in less than ten seconds. The bosses that required use of the bionic arm were better, but they were too easy and rather simple (I'll touch on that more in my post about Rearmed 2). Like the bosses, the top-view sections were even easier than they were in the original as there is now auto aim. The arm attack is worthless now as it takes way too long to execute, leaving Radd vulnerable to enemy fire. The Albatross level sucked, especially the section with retracting platforms. The new weapons added weren't of much consequence and I thought that having weapons only effective against humans or machines was rather trivial as I ignored it for most of the game and just used the Revolver/Rocket Launcher (although it has splash damage, which I think is bullshit) until I acquired Super Joe's Machine Gun. One positive I'll mention is that GRIN made the Machine Gun more useful than it was in the NES game.

Everything that bothers me about this game leads to one point: With so much of the original game either changed or removed, what's the point of doing a remake? A reboot or Castlevania 4-esque re-imagining seems more appropriate here. Perhaps I've done myself a disservice by playing through the NES game right before playing Rearmed. Maybe I should've just gone straight into Rearmed since I was already familiar how Bionic Commando plays? I do plan on replaying this to see if I can enjoy it now that I know what's been changed and what's been kept the same.

23) Bionic Commando ReRearmed Re-Armed 2 - Xbox 360

I'm very likely in the minority on this, but I like this title better than its predecessor. This one feels like what I'd imagine a modern Bionic Commando game to play like with its jumping mechanics, upgrade system, and tweaked controls. While the engine feels better, the overall design doesn't feel as sharp as its predecessor. Thankfully, there's no overhead stages. I don't mind the concept of some overhead stages, it's just that their implementation has always sucked. For Re-Armed I would've liked the overhead stages to have a Smash-TV/Robotron twinstick control scheme, but I digress. Again, the bosses suck and I think I know why that is: This style of game isn't very common so there's not much to build off of. Off the top of my head I can only think of Mega Turrican (and Super Turrican 2) and Capsized, and the latter is a bit of a stretch. If a studio wants to create a game in the style of Mega Man, the team has (obviously) the numerous Mega Man games, the Krion Conquest, the DOS platformers like pre-3D Duke Nukem, Journey to Silius, and more. Those games provide a template for designers to base their work on, whereas those wanting to make Bionic Commando (or BC-like) game aren't so fortunate. Because of this lack of prior art, designers are left with the tried and true method of strict pattern execution. Overall, I like this game better than its immediate predecessor.

[CFFJR]

Got one more for tonight.

1. Mortal Kombat II - 32X
2. Cosmic Carnage - 32X
3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade - XBLA
4. X-men Arcade - XBLA
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time - SNES
7. Metroid: Other M - Wii
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns - Wii
9. Metroid Fusion - GBA
10.Star Trek - Xbox 360
11.Fable Anniversary - Xbox 360
12.Ranma 1/2: Chougi Ranbuhen - SFC
13.Sailor Moon R - SFC
14.Super Tempo - Saturn
15.Crash Bandicoot - PS1
16.X-men Vs. Street Fighter - Saturn
17.Wave Race 64 - N64
18.Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games - Wii U
19.Mario Kart 8 - Wii U
20.Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - SNES
21.Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Eye of the Beholder - Sega CD
22.Ico (HD) - PS3
23.Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - PS1
24.Resident Evil 2 - PS1
25.Wonder Boy in Monster World - Genesis
26.Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Dreamcast
27.Ninja: Shadow of Darkness - PS1
28.Freedom Planet - PC
29.Resident Evil: Revelations - Xbox 360
30.Lost Planet: Extreme Condition - Xbox 360
31.Need for Speed: The Run - Xbox 360
32.Donald Duck Goin' Qu@ckers - Dreamcast

This game can be easily beaten 100% in a single sitting. Its a simple, fun, but very easy (in fact it was downright relaxing) platformer.

Each of the four worlds has five levels; 2 3d corridor levels similar to Crash Bandicoot, 2 sidescrollers, and a Chase level (that has to be unlocked) which are cool bits that remind me of Deep Duck Trouble on the Master System.

Completing the Chases will unlock Time Attack levels that count towards completion. The game is easy enough to rush through as it is, but these kind streamline things a bit further and offer the opportunity to unlock some extra costumes for Donald. The costumes are neat as they have unique idle animations, and two of them appear to be
references to Maui Mallard and Quackshot, which is pretty slick.

The levels all have a nice flow and pretty backgrounds, and there's a couple of funky tunes in there too.

I like platformers, I like Donald Duck, the game is kind of a no brainer for me. Fun stuff.

[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. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (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)
61. The Lost Vikings (SNES)
62. The Lost Vikings (Genesis)
63. Final Fantasy II (Game Boy Advance - Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls)
64. Final Fight (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
65. Alien Syndrome (PlayStation 2 - Sega Classics Collection)
66. Exile (Genesis)
67. Ristar (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
68. Final Fight (Xbox 360 - Capcom Digital Collection)
69. Classic NES Series: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Game Boy Advance)
70. Classic NES Series: Metroid (Game Boy Advance)
71. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Xbox 360 - Konami Classics Vol. 1)
72. Ys (DS - Legacy of Ys: Books I & II)
73. Ys II (DS - Legacy of Ys: Books I & II)
74. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
75. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PSP - Sega Genesis Collection)
76. Golden Axe III (PSP - Sega Genesis Collection)
77. Muramasa Rebirth (Vita)
78. Magic Sword (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
79. Mega Twins (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
80. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
81. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (Game Boy Color)
82. Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (PlayStation 3 - Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara Eiyuu Senki)
83. Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara (PlayStation 3 - Dungeons & Dragons: Mystara Eiyuu Senki)
84. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES)
85. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Genesis)
86. Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PSP)
87. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
88. Contra (NES)
89. Sonic & Knuckles (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
90. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
91. Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (Super Famicom)
92. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (PC Engine CD)

Not trying to pull a fast one here. There were two different Ys IV games, both released in 1993 about a month apart. Tonkin House developed Mask of the Sun and Hudson handled The Dawn of Ys. Falcom provided the basic "framework" for both games - so what we essentially have is two completely different games both based off of the same source material, basic character designs, plot elements, etc. It's pretty neat.

Mask of the Sun marks the return of the top-down style gameplay. The bump battle system has been improved quite a bit - you can feel the hits and get jostled around while taking damage. This leads to fewer cheap deaths and much more balanced gameplay overall. Unfortunately Adol can still only walk in four directions so some of the boss battles are a bit of a slog.

Graphically the game is a bit of a let-down. Despite being released in 1993 it looks like a very early SNES game. It's all a bit grainy and dull looking. Additionally there are no character portraits, which are a staple in most every other Ys game. The three(-ish) cutscenes are pretty sweet though. The game is linear and hand-holding to a fault towards the beginning but then "opens up" and (somewhat annoyingly) becomes one of those "linear of you actually know where you're going" RPGs. Walkthrough highly recommended.

The music is exquisite as one expects from this series.

The Dawn of Ys is a lot like Mask of the Sun, but simply superior in every way. Better graphics, smoother character movement, longer and more varied dungeons, loads of cutscenes and dialogue (well, to be fair that sort of thing isn't possible on the Super Famicom). If you have to pick one (classic) Ys IV game, go with this one.

Onward to Memories of Celceta!

[Luke]

I "beat" Maximum Carnage on the snes. I used a five continues cheat, and barely, and I mean by the skin of my teeth, beat the game.

I consider myself above the curve when it comes to b'mups, but I have zero clue how anyone, and I mean anyone can beat this game without a cheat code. The boss battles are just too long and take forever. It took me over two hours to beat the game.

Not saying it is impossible to beat without cheats, but I'd equate beating Maximum Carnage without a cheat to beating Final Fight without getting hit once.

[Ack]

I "beat" Maximum Carnage on the snes. I used a five continues cheat, and barely, and I mean by the skin of my teeth, beat the game.

I consider myself above the curve when it comes to b'mups, but I have zero clue how anyone, and I mean anyone can beat this game without a cheat code. The boss battles are just too long and take forever. It took me over two hours to beat the game.

Not saying it is impossible to beat without cheats, but I'd equate beating Maximum Carnage without a cheat to beating Final Fight without getting hit once.

It requires a lot of abusing the timing of your various super buddies, and a few bosses can be beaten through cheap tactics, like the Fantastic Four security robot, though it takes a while. Inching along to only fight a couple of enemies at the time to conserve health, knowing the secret locations of items, and picking the right character for your playstyle between Spider-Man and Venom is key.

[Luke]

It requires a lot of abusing the timing of your various super buddies, and a few bosses can be beaten through cheap tactics, like the Fantastic Four security robot, though it takes a while. Inching along to only fight a couple of enemies at the time to conserve health, knowing the secret locations of items, and picking the right character for your playstyle between Spider-Man and Venom is key.

Carion and Demogoblin give me the most guff. Carnage requires timing, and that's all. I can breeze through most of the levels, but the boss battles screw me up. Shriek isn't all that difficult, but I have no set pattern for doppelganger.

The fantastic 4 robot also took a life away from me.

Guide me Ack, and I can beat this super fun game without cheating.

[Ack]

It requires a lot of abusing the timing of your various super buddies, and a few bosses can be beaten through cheap tactics, like the Fantastic Four security robot, though it takes a while. Inching along to only fight a couple of enemies at the time to conserve health, knowing the secret locations of items, and picking the right character for your playstyle between Spider-Man and Venom is key.

Carion and Demogoblin give me the most guff. Carnage requires timing, and that's all. I can breeze through most of the levels, but the boss battles screw me up. Shriek isn't all that difficult, but I have no set pattern for doppelganger.

The fantastic 4 robot also took a life away from me.

Guide me Ack, and I can beat this super fun game without cheating.

Carrion is actually pretty easy in theory, you just have to jump kick over and over and over again, keeping in mind that he rarely registers hits. In larger group fights, you can run away and worry about the others while he slowly comes after you, though he is susceptible to superheroes that can hit aerial targets. Just keep moving and don't ever let him get directly over you. If he does get on you, jump around a lot and do back flips.

Demogoblin you can jump kick while he's flying high to bring him down, and he has slightly less range than Spider-Man and Venom. If you hit him from the right distance, he won't fight back, though it's barely on the edge of your reach. If he starts trading blows with you, do a special move and get away. And if he flies low, get out of his way. Also, you can rush into him for a few hits, though try to follow it up with a combo.

Doppleganger is generally susceptible to charge attacks, but truth be told I've never really figured him out.

The Security Robot can't hit you when you cling to the wall, so you can drop down, get a hit or two in, and then hop back onto the wall if you're fast. You can also jump kick in and back flip out of his range.

If all else fails, check out how this guy plays the game and note where he finds secret rooms and hidden items:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgDkM_B7hVY

[Exhuminator]

Well I finished King's Field (Japan) a few days ago. Just uploaded the review on my blog:

http://ardentexhuminator.blogspot.com/2 ... eview.html

tl;dr 8/10