Games Beaten 2014

[Violent By Design]

I can guarantee that Walking Dead is like no other zombie game you've ever played.

What about The Walking Dead Season 2. Got em .

[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)
93. Ys (Famicom)
94. Ys (Turbo CD - Ys Book I & II)
95. Ys II (Turbo CD - Ys Book I & II)
96. Popful Mail (Sega CD)
97. Dodonpachi Resurrection (Xbox 360)

HOLY SHIT I CAN 1CC THIS!!!!!!!!

On Novice Mode.

[noiseredux]

^still legit. My only 1CC of it was on Novice and I still felt like a boss. Feel good. It's ok.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Regular ass Xbox 360 mode takes me like 8 credits?

It's a good game. Probably my fave vertical Cave shooter. Though I've only played the ones on Xbox 360 and I think I'm missing one or two.

[noiseredux]

it is a fantastic game. It and the original DDP and Mushi and Mushi Futari are all strong runners for my favorite vertical CAVE game. Hori would be Deathsmiles no doubt.

[Sload Soap]

Ninja Gaiden (SMS)*

I'm not familiar enough with the NES trilogy to make comparisons but I do know that if I can beat this in a sitting it's most probably a lot easier than any of them.

Nevertheless, the SMS port of NG is in my opinion one of the systems best action games with some super tight control, platforming and combat. It does get a bit tough around level 6, especially when the game introduces some super irritating homing fireballs and the bottomless pits adjacent to them but it never goes fully mental. A lot of the bosses are pretty weaksauce as well.

Great game though otherwise.

Sonic Chaos (SMS)*

Speaking of easy games, Sonic Chaos is almost patronisingly easy. Even when going for all the chaos emeralds I still ended the game with 17 extra lives and 5 continues.

I still enjoy the game but after playing the better IMO Game Gear version this year and also spending some more time with Sonic 1 for the SMS it's dropped down my personal rankings a bit. There is nothing about it that is egregious, it's just a bit to simple and safe.

Mass Effect (aka Love in an Elevator) (360)*

Destiny, being the chimeric sci-fi beast that it is, put me in the mood to revisit the Mass Effect universe for the first time since the whole ME3 ending fiasco and I am very glad I did as I can now say that whereas before I merely really liked Mass Effect, now I love it. Some good has come of Destiny's complete lack of plot. Praise be to the Dinklebot.

I think what most hooked me this time was the fact that ME is, for what it is, a very well thought through and complete fiction, one where a repeat play after completing the trilogy will fill in pieces of the puzzle rather than confuse the picture. You can see all the little seeds planted here that sprout and grow as the series progresses and that's quite a feat.

I do think as well that despite what its detractors might say, ME gives the player ample room to role play both in terms of class customisation and interaction with NPC's. A lot of the choices in this game are not the ridiculous binary opposites seen in other games like Fallout 3 or Bioshock. Playing paragon doesn't stop you from making a shady buck on the side while going renegade doesn't stop you from helping people. You help them, you're just a real arsehole about it. I like to call this "Sipowiczing".

Or you can violently osscilate between the two and create a paragon of justice who tries to sleep with half his crew even going so far to proposition a, sadly turned down, inter-species menage a trois while also selling state secrets to the highest bidder. Cos Shepard gotta get paid.

This customisation can come at a cost: it is annoying that in the installment with easily the worst combat, two of the three main classes will basically lock you into wielding a pistol as your only trained weapon but it's not game breaking and the range of modifications you can find for both armour and weapons compensates for this a lot.

Having said that, a side effect of the weapon/armour mods is that you do get absolutely flooded with upgrades and additional weapons and you will spend more time than you'd like reducing 20 Striker V pistols down to omni-gel because the game doesn't know when to stop throwing useless crap at you.

I went engineer on this run and honestly found it a bit weak compared to previous biotic/combat runs. Being able to pop a shield is handy and all, but lift is very OP in this game and by the close a high powered assault rifle with some decent mods will rip through anything before it man, machine or telepathic plant creature.

My major complaint with the gameplay combat aside is how well it handles auto saves which is to say it doesn't. It's most clear in missions with the MAKO where there are long driving sections without a single stop off point. It's an old fashioned notion but you have to remember to do manual saves as much as needed. It's not a terribly difficult game or anything, it's just that the combat gives poor feedback and you can find yourself in situations where you die very quickly and it's no fun having to drive for 15 minutes because you forgot to pull over and save.

Since I'm on the subject, my opinion of the MAKO hasn't really altered: I like the idea and I love exploring planets but the MAKO itself controls like a fat dog on ice and its gun turret is both inaccurate and feels weak. Again, poor feedback.

I do love those planetary jaunts though. I get that some complain they are mostly barren but for me that just adds to the atmosphere: I imagine most almost livable planets in this galaxy are just barren rocks. It reminds me of hiking way out in the countryside where you get that calming but also uncanny feeling of what the world would be like with no humans on it. It's similar in Mass Effect and you do feel like a pioneer of sorts with only the howling wind and foreign stars as company.

I also love how much effort Bioware put into giving each star cluster and each planet within a little bit of backstory, no matter how small, giving the impression of a galaxy that is lived in. It's a fun way to do exposition and make some sci-fi in-jokes.

As good as the universe is the cast is just as capable even if Bioware continue their habit from Knights of the Old Republic of making the alien characters more likeable than the human. I could talk to Garrus, Wrex and Tali all day for example and even Liara, naive as she is, has moments of vulnerability that are appealing.

Ashley and Kaiden however...well one is a space racist and one is a bore. Usually I happily leave Ashley on Virmire to eat nuclear bomb but this time I needed her combat skills so Kaiden, the incredible living wooden plank, had to stay. Oh well, guess I'll have to bump nasties with STEVE! in ME3.

In fairness, ME is much weaker when trying to get to know the rest of your crew in a more organic fashion. If you want to know more about Tali, you will have to get yourself down to the engine room and pester her about the flotilla or her dad or why her nose always seems ever so slightly off center. ME2 is much, much better at showing your crewmates backstory.

Overall I am enamored with the nearly aspect of the universe of Mass Effect aside from one fairly critical piece:I hate the Reapers.

They don't make any sense and for a game series that spends so much time crafting such interesting backstory and world building, a series where choice is a major element of the core gameplay experience, to throw in an implacable and irrational big bad is a real downer. When said big bads entire reason for existing can be summed up succinctly by a Xzibit meme, I think you've done something wrong. Basically I hate when a lazy writer will present me with a dumb villain but dress said villain up as being "beyond my comprehension" or some such twaddle.

It's a real shame because there is some real good dramatic meat the writers could have dug their teeth into regarding humanity and its fight to be recognised within the galactic community, a less nihilistic ending to the Prothean civilization or even just a shift of focus onto character arcs as we see in ME2. As it is ME1's story is in service to its world building and that is a pity. Again, like many aspects, not a gamebreaking pity but a pity all the same.

There are some other small technical problems most noticeably the huge amounts of texture pop-in the 360 version suffers from. Even installed onto the hard drive it's bad. And there really are a lot of fucking elevator journeys in this game used to mask loading screens. It starts to get silly when a you discover ancient ruins of a long dead civilization that still has functional (and human sized) elevators everywhere. Eh, It adds to the charm I guess.

For me Mass Effect was the greatest new IP of the last generation. It takes interesting elements from various sci-fi sources, blends in Biowares patented RPG gameplay and bolts that onto some stiff but functional third person shooting. In doing so it creates a universe that feels truly lived in and a game that begs to be explored. The first Mass Effect is a little rough around the edges for some people but every time I go back to it I can see why some proclaim it their favourite entry.

Also I must mention the absolutely amazing soundtrack which sits brilliantly between Hans Zimmer and Vangelis. Beautiful compositions.

Onward to Mass Effect 2!

[MrPopo]

The Paragon/Renegade system was one of the best things done for "moral choice" systems. Most of the moral choice systems in the past had been, to use a phrase from Yahtzee, a choice between Mother Teresa and Baby Eating, and after a while you started to wonder why your baby eating character was still doing sidequests and fighting to stop the big bad. But in Mass Effect it was a choice between good cop and bad cop; you were still a cop, but bad cop wasn't going to let the rules get in the way of busting a perp.

[marurun]

Bonk's Revenge, accidentally, on a whim. Just sat down to play and, well, kept progressing so kept playing. Not a hard game, but can be frustrating in a few places due to the controls. Still my favorite Bonk, though, and one of my favorite games.

[Gamerforlife]

Finished Legend Mode on Hyrule Warriors (a.k.a.story mode)

This is officially my favorite 3d Zelda game

[darsparx]

Finished Legend Mode on Hyrule Warriors (a.k.a.story mode)

This is officially my favorite 3d Zelda game

So wait...did you actually find a modern game that you enjoy now? Not trying to be rude but this seems like the first time I've read about a modern game you've played and liked...