Games Beaten 2015

[MrPopo]

1) Cannon Spike - Dreamcast
2) I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream - PC
3) Mighty Gunvolt - 3DS (as Mighty No. 9)
4) Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X - PSP (Vile Mode)
5) StarCraft - PC
6) Naughty Bear - Xbox 360
7) The Last of Us - PS3
8] Eets (100-percented) - PC
9) Gunpoint - PC
10) The Last Story - Wii
11) Papers, Please - PC (Ending 18)
12) King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (AGD VGA remake)

13) Dune 2000 - PC (easy )

Another title for my attempt to play more RTS games this year. It was a bit of an adjustment for me since I was used to the StarCraft interface. I kinda like how this game's interface relies mostly on the left mouse button, but the lack of shortcut keys made it feel like murder. At times I felt elegant and at others I felt like a clumsy clown.

I didn't play the original Dune II, but I listened to some of its soundtrack and I think it's much better. This song kicks the shit out of anything in the Dune 2000 soundtrack. Despite it being the inferior soundtrack, it fits the action very well. I downloaded this from Abandonia without the cutscenes. I watched the Atreides (the house I chose) cutscenes and I think that it's fine that these weren't in the Abandonia version.

I don't have much to say about the gameplay since I'm not too familiar with the genre. I can say that I had a good time and that the difficulty options are much appreciated. I don't think I would've made it far if I had played the game on normal difficulty. It would've been nice to have this for StarCraft. Overall, this game has been real fun and I recommend others to visit the planet of Arrakis.

The cutscenes are pretty terrible, which is a shame because the Red Alert cutscenes were great. It feels like the cutscenes had about half their content removed before filming.

[Sarge]

Finished TMNT: Danger of the Ooze.

Honestly, it was just a'ight. Nothing really offensive, but nothing stood out, either. I know one of the guys that worked on it is over on Talking Time (Tomm Hulett), but despite his knowledge of what made Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night great, it wasn't anywhere close to that level. I'm sure a lot of it is just being a licensed property, and a lot is just some of the WayForward shenanigans where they just put out something solid or adequate, but not mind-blowing.

I think it was more the environments than anything. Nothing felt like truly memorable or meaningful exploration. Sure, you find health expansions and shuriken / smoke bomb / chi upgrades, but there's generally no puzzling to get to them, other than which doors or powers you need to get there.

So, it's just average. Worth the $8 I paid for it, but certainly not the $40 it was at launch, and there's much better Metroidvania games at $20 as well.

[wclem]

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS3) Digital
2. Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Disc Version
3. Dying Light (PS4) Disc Version
4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) Disc Version (Replay)
5. Batman Arkham City (PS3) Disc Version
6. The Order (PS4) Disc Version
7. Valiant Hearts (PS4) Digital Version
8. DMC Definitive (PS4) Disc Version
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4) Disc Version
10. God of War - Ghost of Sparta (PS3) PSP digital port
11. God of War - Chains of Olympus (PS3) PSP digital port
12. Max Payne 3 - (PC)
13. Witcher 3 - (PS4)
14. Evil Within - (PC)

Well I played this again on PC (played PS4 before) with the intention of playing the DLC afterward. Finished game, went on to DLC, hated DLC and decided to move onto something else. Nice thing about this game on PC though is the ability to remove letterbox on it.

Otherwise same good game I played before. Enjoyed the challenge, with a nice mix of horror. Sometimes it is a shooter, sometimes just run for your life. A fair amount of searching for stuff with time to do it once the baddies are killed off.

Leaves a little to be desired in the explanation of what is going on. You can beat it without having any idea of the story. So you can play this one just for the sake of gameplay if you so choose. Well worth buying at launch and well worth the extra 15 bucks I spent getting it on steam.

[emwearz]

Nice thing about this game on PC though is the ability to remove letterbox on it.

This and the ability to control the amount of film grain used were patched into the PS4 version.

[Sarge]

January:

1) Rollergames
2) Bayou Billy
3) Whomp 'Em
4) Love+ (repeat, B-)
5) Love+ (repeat, B)
6) Zen: Intergalactic Ninja
7) Battletoads & Double Dragon
8 ) Battletoads (repeat, first time with Game Genie, this time using save states, nowhere near legit win... but it was "beaten")
9) Battletoads (repeat, legit, no Game Genie, no continues, no save states!)
10) Rockin' Kats
11) The Little Mermaid
12) Tiny Toons Adventures
13) Tiny Toons Adventures 2
14) Code Name: Viper
15) Bayou Billy (completely legit!)
16) King of Dragons (on Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
17) Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
18) Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
19) Ninja Ryuukenden III
20) Treasure of the Rudras
21) TMNT: Tournament Fighters (SNES) (repeat)
21) Ninja Gaiden III (SNES)
22) Ninja Gaiden (SNES)
23) Wrath of the Black Manta
24) TMNT (NES) (save states)
25) TMNT (NES) (legit)
26) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)

February:

27) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (repeat)
28) The Krion Conquest
29) Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu
30) Yume Penguin Monogatari
31) Street Fighter 2010 (save states / rewind)
32) Street Fighter 2010 (repeat, legit run)
33) Conquest of the Crystal Palace
34) Aladdin
35) Trojan (save states)
36) Trojan (legit run)
37) The Last Remnant
38) Remember Me
39) Bloodrayne Betrayal
40) Rex Rocket

March:

41) Fester's Quest (non-legit)
42) Fester's Quest (legit)
43) Justice League Task Force
44) Monument Valley: The Forgotten Shores
45) Gunman Clive 2
46) Freedom Planet (Lilac, 84 lives lost)
47) Freedom Planet (Carol, 43 lives lost)
48) Link's Awakening DX

No date, just catching the list up. Not sure if it's complete or not from past posts.

49) Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (almost all optional stuff done, all stars)
50) Donkey Kong Country 2
51) Picross DS
52) Shadow of the Ninja
53) Shatterhand
54) Super Smash Bros. (Kirby)
55) Pillars of Eternity (65-ish hours, Monk)
56) Majora's Mask (all masks)
57) One Must Fall 2097
58) Contra (not a great run, but no continues or code)
59) Doom
60) Bayonetta 2
61) The Fall
62) MvC2 (Hulk, Cyclops, and Gambit, if memory serves)
63) Child of Light
64) TMNT: Danger of the Ooze
65) Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (forgot to plug this one in)

[REPO Man]

Freedom Planet (PC) - Lilac/Adventure Mode/Easy

Just started playing as Carol, again in Adventure Mode on Easy.

[MrPopo]

First 50:

1. Painkiller - PC
2. Front Mission 4 - PS2
3. Wasteland 2 - PC
4. Arcanum - PC
5. X-COM Terror from the Deep - PC
6. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16
7. Unreal - PC
8. Shadowrun - SNES
9. Warcraft III - PC
10. Dungeon Keeper - PC
11. Final Fantasy X-2 HD - PS3
12. Descent - PC
13. Quake Mission Pack 2 - Dissolution of Eternity - PC
14. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2 - Ground Zero - PC
15. Sokobond - PC
16. Hybrid Heaven - N64
17. Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis
18. Castlevania - NES
19. Super Castlevania IV - SNES
20. Castlevania III - NES
21. Castlevania II - NES
22. Castlevania Rondo of Blood - Turbo CD
23. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders - PC
24. Fractal - PC
25. Kirby's Adventure - NES
26. Pillars of Eternity - PC
27. Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den - PC
28. Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour - PC
29. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - NES
30. Punch-Out!! - NES
31. Doom 3 - PC
32. The Even More Incredible Machine - PC
33. Contra - NES
34. Dark Forces - PC
35. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II - PC
36. X-Wing - PC
37. TIE Fighter - PC
38. Bloodborne - PS4
39. Gradius - NES
40. Marble Madness - NES
41. The Witcher 3 - PC
42. Mega Man X5 Zero Playthrough - PSX
43. Wolfenstein The Old Blood - PC
44. Might and Magic Book 1 - PC
45. Hexen: Beyond Heretic - PC
46. Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter - PC
47. Duke Nukem - PC
48. Terminal Velocity - PC
49. Borderlands 2 - Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt - PC
50. Duke Nukem II - PC

51. Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne - PC

Another game I had seen the story of through cheats way back in the day but now that I'm older and better at RTS's I decided to go back and beat it for real. Frozen Throne adds a few new units to the multiplayer but the most interesting thing it does is it has single player only factions. This is something that will be used later on in StarCraft II; at this point Blizzard is keeping single player and multi player distinct so that balancing multiplayer doesn't detract from doing cool stuff in single player.

The two new factions are the Naga and the Blood Elves. The Blood Elves are modified humans who lose a few of the units (knights, everything dwarven) but get to use the new human units from multiplayer. Sharing the stage with them are the Naga, which are an entirely new faction, though they don't have as many units or buildings as the real factions. You spend the human campaign playing with both the Blood Elves and the Naga, and that makes for a more interesting experience. By comparison, the other two campaigns are much more vanilla. But that's ok; Warcraft II is a solid game overall.

The final mission is thankfully easier than the final mission of Warcraft III; though it does still require you to be on top of your game and aggressively take out the enemy auxiliary bases there isn't the same sense of inevitability that the final campaign in the base game had. I've always felt that base defense missions are always the worst in RTS's, since either you can wipe out the enemy and have a boring second half of the mission (if they don't have triggers to notice you wiped out all opposition) or it's set up in such a way that you have no way of stemming the tide other than throwing your units into the meat grinder, which isn't satisfying in any way. The final mission of TFT, fortunately, is not a base defense. It's a control the points mission with an aggressive enemy that's trying to get the points first. You never reach a point where you can sit back and capture at your leisure, as the enemy builds forces fast enough that you need to manage two sets of forces; one cutting off reinforcements and one taking out the enemy task force.

[wclem]

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS3) Digital
2. Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Disc Version
3. Dying Light (PS4) Disc Version
4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) Disc Version (Replay)
5. Batman Arkham City (PS3) Disc Version
6. The Order (PS4) Disc Version
7. Valiant Hearts (PS4) Digital Version
8. DMC Definitive (PS4) Disc Version
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4) Disc Version
10. God of War - Ghost of Sparta (PS3) PSP digital port
11. God of War - Chains of Olympus (PS3) PSP digital port
12. Max Payne 3 - (PC)
13. Witcher 3 - (PS4)
14. Evil Within - (PC)
15. Freedom Planet - (PC)

Another day, another game. Freedom Planet was fun and similar to older games in many ways. Good points were that there were plenty of different routes and things to look for to extend gameplay. Also the ability in many cases to blast through Sonic style. Overall fun but not without issues. Strangely I even enjoyed the few parts that had slowdown. I think they did it on purpose as my PC should have handled everything easily. So that was cool.

Some issues were using the same things over and over. Some level simply felt like a previous level with different background. Really need to give more variety in ways to complete a level. Also, more ability to turn sound down other than just background music. Would have been nice to set sound effect and vocals separately. Lastly, a few of the jumps that you need to do were frustratingly vague. Sometimes you would have to use one of your powers to make a jump and had to time it out to an opening or a platform you could not see until the last second. Basically left it to luck if you landed it right or not.

Had plenty of fun with it though. Would like to see more games from whomever made this one.

[Ack]

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Alien vs Predator (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES)(Action Platformer)
8. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
9. Shadowrun (SNES)(RPG)
10. Quake II (PC)(FPS)
11. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)(RPG)
12. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)(Action)
13. A Story About My Uncle (PC)(Platformer)
14. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)(FPS)
15. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC)(FPS)
16. Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
17. Catacomb Abyss (PC)(FPS)
18. Catacomb Armageddon (PC)(FPS)
19. Catacomb Apocalypse (PC)(FPS)
20. The Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
21. Catacomb 3-D (PC)(FPS)
22. EarthBound (SNES)(RPG)
23. Quake II: Ground Zero (PC)(FPS)
24. Quake II: The Reckoning (PC)(FPS)
25. Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader (PC)(RPG)
26. The 7th Guest (PC)(Puzzle)
27. Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness (PC)(RPG)
28. Loom (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
29. Castlevania: Dracula X (SNES)(Action Platformer)
30. System Shock 2 (PC)(Survival Horror FPS)
31. Final Fantasy V (SNES)(RPG)
32. Descent (PC)(FPS)
33. Mortal Kombat 2 (SNES)(Fighting)
34. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
35. Alien Shooter (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
36. Alien Shooter: Fight for Life (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
37. Alien Shooter: The Experiment (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
38. F.E.A.R. Extraction Point (PC)(FPS)
39. F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate (PC)(FPS)

I beat F.E.A.R. for the first time years ago, nearly a decade ago to be honest. At the time I don't remember being particularly impressed. Not to say I thought the game was bad(I didn't), just that it didn't spend enough time emphasizing the horror aspects and suffered from a general sameness to its environments with a bland middle section. After years of putting them off, I finally decided to go back to the two expansions that were released for it. Mr. Popo told me while I was doing this that he thought Perseus Mandate was the superior of the two.

You know what? The Popo-minator is right.

For some reason, F.E.A.R. feels like an FPS take on Ghost Squad to me, partly because the guns are all set to rock-and-roll 24/7, and partly because RRRRAAAAWWW RAGDOLL PHYSICS is absolutely ridiculous in that Ghost Squad kind of way. Plus everyone wears helmets and body armor. But I don't consider this a bad thing; I love Ghost Squad. And Extraction Point stayed true to that. It kept the(now "what-if") plot going and let me blast through another mini-pack of levels similar to the original game, keeping its toes damp on the horror aspect but only diving in during the first level and the last. It really does feel like an expansion on the base game.

Perseus Mandate feels like its own game. It's about 150% of the length of Extraction Point, throws in a variety of new weapons and enemies, features unlockable bonus missions to run through for better times, and has a plotline that runs concurrently with both F.E.A.R. and Extraction Point. I think it's a game that should be played last of the three for that very reason, because events that occur in the first game and expansion have an effect on Perseus' story at key points but aren't explained. But most importantly, Perseus got the horror aspect I had been missing. It feels downright Silent Hill-esque at times, and there is one particular nasty lurking in holes throughout the game that makes babies cry.

Is it perfect? No, at times it feels amateurish, particularly at the beginning with its awful skyscraper textures. There are places where this game just looks ugly in contrast. But it makes up for it with heart, be it dancing in the darkness with invisible nasties, or unloading on hordes of mercenaries with a turret, or running through doorways while a big ED-209 wannabe comes crashing through the wall behind you with its guns blazing. Perseus Mandate is what I wanted in F.E.A.R. Sure, it has problems(like apparently in F.E.A.R. you promote from Sergeant to Lieutenant. Interesting that a paramilitary special forces team apparently uses cop ranks), but it's what I think F.E.A.R. should have been from the beginning, with a steadily building horror aspect on top of a varied challenge with some intense moments and firefights. I applaud you, Perseus Mandate, even if you aren't canon.

Folks, if you are interested in horror-FPS, give the F.E.A.R. games a go. And if you play the first one, give the expansions a go. Play Extraction Point first, and then Perseus Mandate. You'll be glad you did it in that order and end with a high note.

[Sarge]

January:

1) Rollergames
2) Bayou Billy
3) Whomp 'Em
4) Love+ (repeat, B-)
5) Love+ (repeat, B)
6) Zen: Intergalactic Ninja
7) Battletoads & Double Dragon
8 ) Battletoads (repeat, first time with Game Genie, this time using save states, nowhere near legit win... but it was "beaten")
9) Battletoads (repeat, legit, no Game Genie, no continues, no save states!)
10) Rockin' Kats
11) The Little Mermaid
12) Tiny Toons Adventures
13) Tiny Toons Adventures 2
14) Code Name: Viper
15) Bayou Billy (completely legit!)
16) King of Dragons (on Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
17) Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
18) Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
19) Ninja Ryuukenden III
20) Treasure of the Rudras
21) TMNT: Tournament Fighters (SNES) (repeat)
21) Ninja Gaiden III (SNES)
22) Ninja Gaiden (SNES)
23) Wrath of the Black Manta
24) TMNT (NES) (save states)
25) TMNT (NES) (legit)
26) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)

February:

27) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (repeat)
28) The Krion Conquest
29) Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu
30) Yume Penguin Monogatari
31) Street Fighter 2010 (save states / rewind)
32) Street Fighter 2010 (repeat, legit run)
33) Conquest of the Crystal Palace
34) Aladdin
35) Trojan (save states)
36) Trojan (legit run)
37) The Last Remnant
38) Remember Me
39) Bloodrayne Betrayal
40) Rex Rocket

March:

41) Fester's Quest (non-legit)
42) Fester's Quest (legit)
43) Justice League Task Force
44) Monument Valley: The Forgotten Shores
45) Gunman Clive 2
46) Freedom Planet (Lilac, 84 lives lost)
47) Freedom Planet (Carol, 43 lives lost)
48) Link's Awakening DX

No date, just catching the list up. Not sure if it's complete or not from past posts.

49) Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (almost all optional stuff done, all stars)
50) Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
51) Donkey Kong Country 2
52) Picross DS
53) Shadow of the Ninja
54) Shatterhand
55) Super Smash Bros. (Kirby)
56) Pillars of Eternity (65-ish hours, Monk)
57) Majora's Mask (all masks)
58) One Must Fall 2097
59) Contra (not a great run, but no continues or code)
60) Doom
61) Bayonetta 2
62) The Fall
63) MvC2 (Hulk, Cyclops, and Gambit, if memory serves)
64) Child of Light
65) TMNT: Danger of the Ooze

66) Metal Slug 5

So yeah, busted out Metal Slug Anthology the other night. I don't think I've ever beaten the fifth game, so that's what I played. It was pretty good! It's definitely got a different tone to it. I think it's all the weird enemies it throws at you. Locales and such seemed very diverse, and the vehicles are fun as always. The soundtrack sounded like redbook audio to me, some pretty slick rock stuff for the most part. Definitely different sounding from the rest of the series. The end boss... was way, way different. Never seen anything like that in a Metal Slug.

So my real gripe is that there doesn't seem to be a single perfect control option for the Wii. The sideways Wii remote option has you shaking the controller to throw a grenade. You can't use a Classic Controller. You can use a GC controller, but even there, you can't use the d-pad, you're chained to the blasted analog stick, severely hampering your precision. So frustrating. You'd think they would have one option that actually works perfectly, but no dice.

Anyway, I credit-fed the heck out it. I'm normally pretty good at MS, but I was terrible here. Thirty (30!) continues, and I blame part of that on the controls. Still, I'm no savant at the game, although I do remember playing Metal Slug X back in the day and clearing up to the second level on one quarter before I had to dash to class, so I know I'm better than that.

Still, if you snag it cheap, you could find worse ways to play the games. I'd love to have a Neo Geo and the actual carts, but that ain't happenin' any time soon.