Racketboy Summer Games Challenge 2022!

[o.pwuaioc]

3. Soul Blazer (SNES) - I'm a fan of Action RPGs and Enix's work on the SNES. Have a feeling I'll enjoy the first release in the trilogy by Enix.

This was the very first game I beat for the Summer Challenge over ten years ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[SpaceBooger]

3. Soul Blazer (SNES) - I'm a fan of Action RPGs and Enix's work on the SNES. Have a feeling I'll enjoy the first release in the trilogy by Enix.

The only game I have on my list right now is also Soul Blazer. I started it last weekend to see if I liked it and I was hooked. So I'm saving it for next week and will jump in and join you on that one. I want to finish the epilogue quest in Dragon Quest XI first... a quest I was not expecting.

Here is my list for the Summer Challenge 2022:
1. Soul Blazer (SNES)
2. Fire Emblem (GBA)
3. Adventures of Lolo (NES)
4. Popful Mail (SCD)
5. Shantae (GBC)

[Note]

This was the very first game I beat for the Summer Challenge over ten years ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Great to hear the game has your approval. That's a good sign already!

The only game I have on my list right now is also Soul Blazer. I started it last weekend to see if I liked it and I was hooked. So I'm saving it for next week and will jump in and join you on that one. I want to finish the epilogue quest in Dragon Quest XI first... a quest I was not expecting.

Awesome that you're also planning to play Soul Blazer! I'm currently playing Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, but hoping to binge through RE3 in a weekend, and turn to Soul Blazer once I've finished those titles. Will be fun to discuss our progress and thoughts on the game.

[Key-Glyph]

Woohoo, I'm excited to have so many of you on board! And gosh, some of these lists are just beautiful. I'm gonna try to respond a little bit to everybody.

@sevin0seven:
Pend away! Can't wait to see what you're thinking of tackling.

@PretentiousHipster:
Oh my... this LIST. You could throw darts at it and be guaranteed an incredible summer. I've got my own favorites among what you've listed, but I'm curious how you'll approach this! Will you be the sort to target a vibe (e.g. horror), prioritize by pop culture entrenchment/recognition, or fly by the seat of your pants and choose each game capriciously? I do think it's neat that you're not the only person who's got a Resident Evil on their list, but I'm heavily biased towards that series, so my pointing this out might be selfish motives at work.

@MrPopo:
Yo Popo, your playing Panic on Funkotron might help me out too. I love the original Toejam & Earl so much and am not all that inspired by the sequel's drastic gameplay change. That said, I repeatedly hear that people love the second installment, so... I think I just need to get over myself. If you wind up taking the plunge and talking about it, it might give me a nudge.

@Note:
Heck yeah, peaceful mode! And yours is also quite the list. If you loved the first two Resident Evils, I think you'll appreciate the third one. To me it seems like each installment in the trilogy tries to capitalize on a different sort of fear, and it's really fascinating to watch how the games kept reinventing themselves that way. The original was all about claustrophobia and being trapped in a creepy, dangerous mansion; the sequel was about danger being everywhere, not just inside one facility you could presumably escape, and capitalized on the eeriness of deserted public spaces and ruined everyday settings; and the third... well. Hehe. Hehehehehe.

Also, Shadow of the Colossus is an incredibly deep experience and a cornerstone of what interactivity can do to a person's experience of a story that can't translate into passive media formats. If you play this, I will very much enjoy hearing your thoughts on how the journey affects you.

@prfsnl_gmr:
Oh man, I have no doubt you're going to smash Hardcore Mode outta the park, as you have always been killer about these lists. I actually expect you to go Nightmare+ Mode before summer's end.

Super intrigued to hear about your adventures if you take on Summer Carnival '92 Recca. And have you never played Contra, or never finished it? You're also reminding me that I've never given Bionic Commando a shot outside of a few minutes at a friend's house in the 90s. I should be taking notes from all of you for future summers.

@SpaceBooger
I'm glad we've got a Soul Blazer connection going on. It's great when folks can buddy up. I don't know any deep details about the games on your list aside from what's common knowledge, so I'm going to be watching your posts with interest. I just recently had someone tell me they thought I'd love the Fire Emblem games, as an interesting coincidence.

Regarding my own list, I just remembered this evening that I had been planning to play Parappa the Rapper for the first time for the challenge and had gotten myself all psyched up about it a few months pack. So I walked over to eBay to see its going price and... Anybody know if the remastered version on the PlayStation store is worth it?

[prfsnl_gmr]

@prfsnl_gmr:
Oh man, I have no doubt you're going to smash Hardcore Mode outta the park, as you have always been killer about these lists. I actually expect you to go Nightmare+ Mode before summer's end.

We’ll see! I always pick ten games, but if I recall correctly, seven is as many as I’ve completed over a summer. I picked some shorter, more easily accessible games this year, though; so, maybe I’ll have more success this year?

Super intrigued to hear about your adventures if you take on Summer Carnival '92 Recca. And have you never played Contra, or never finished it? You're also reminding me that I've never given Bionic Commando a shot outside of a few minutes at a friend's house in the 90s. I should be taking notes from all of you for future summers.

I’ve made runs at Summer Carnival '92 Recca before, but I’ve never completed it. It is a REALLY impressive game, but it’s also REALLY hard. I feel bad abusing save states to get through it, but I’ll probably rely on them when I attempt it this summer. My goal is to beat each level with a single ship, saving after boss fights. That should allow me to get through the game without throwing my 3DS against a wall!

Contra was one of the games I owned as a child, and I’ve beaten it many, many times. I learned recently, however, that the Famicom version has some extra features (e.g., cutscenes, graphical flourishes, etc.), and I’d like to check those out. (That version is available on the Contra Collection.)

The NES version of Bionic Commando is AWESOME, and you should definitely play it sometime. It is easily one of the best NES games, and it remains one of my favorite action platformers. The arcade version, which I’m planning on playing this summer, is a very different game. I understand it is much worse than the NES game, but I still want to play it since it spawned a very long series of games that are well-regarded to this day. (Eventually, I’d like to play through all the Bionic Commando games.)

Here's my tentative list, in no particular order:

1. EarthBound Beginnings (Switch)
2. Toejam & Earl: Panic on Funkotron (GEN)
3. Scribblenauts (DS)
4. Journeyman Project: Turbo! (PC)
5. Prince of Persia (ApplII)
6. Out of This World (GEN)*

This is a solid list. I also need to get through Earthbound Beginnings at some point, and I wish you the best with it.

I also think both Sceibblenauts and The Journeyman Project are classics. Scribblenauts was the first in a long-running series. I’ll warn you, though, it’s a lot rougher than later games, and I bounced off it. I hope it captures you, though, and that you enjoy it. I also recall The Journeyman Project being a really popular PC game in the ‘90s, but you don’t hear much about it today. I’m really looking forward to reading your impressions!

I have a love/hate relationship with cinematic platformers. I’ve beaten a fair number of them, including Out of This World (which is pretty great), but I absolutely hate some stone-cold classics of the genre (e.g., Flashback). I also keep bouncing off Prince of Persia. If, after you’re done with these, you’re looking for something with similar aesthetics, but much more approachable gameplay, I recommend the criminally-overlooked Olija. It’s a modern game I played last year, and I LOVED it.

Regarding my own list, I just remembered this evening that I had been planning to play Parappa the Rapper for the first time for the challenge and had gotten myself all psyched up about it a few months pack. So I walked over to eBay to see its going price and... Anybody know if the remastered version on the PlayStation store is worth it?

Eh…Parappa was great at the time, and it helped establish a genre. It’s a classic, undoubtedly, but it’s only OK. The art direction and music are charming, but the gameplay is just OK. You can also beat the game in a little over an hour; so, I wouldn’t spend too much on it. I hope that helps!

[Note]

Woohoo, I'm excited to have so many of you on board! And gosh, some of these lists are just beautiful. I'm gonna try to respond a little bit to everybody.

@Note:
Heck yeah, peaceful mode! And yours is also quite the list. If you loved the first two Resident Evils, I think you'll appreciate the third one. To me it seems like each installment in the trilogy tries to capitalize on a different sort of fear, and it's really fascinating to watch how the games kept reinventing themselves that way. The original was all about claustrophobia and being trapped in a creepy, dangerous mansion; the sequel was about danger being everywhere, not just inside one facility you could presumably escape, and capitalized on the eeriness of deserted public spaces and ruined everyday settings; and the third... well. Hehe. Hehehehehe.

Also, Shadow of the Colossus is an incredibly deep experience and a cornerstone of what interactivity can do to a person's experience of a story that can't translate into passive media formats. If you play this, I will very much enjoy hearing your thoughts on how the journey affects you.

Lol, I'll see what I'm up against in the third RE game! Looking forward to finally sitting down with it. I love to binge the RE games, and played through both scenarios of RE2 in a weekend. I'm thinking I'll probably be hooked to RE3 in a similar manner, so I might try to fire it up this weekend while my partner is still out of town visiting a friend.

I've heard incredible things about Shadow of the Colossus, but haven't read too much about it, as I don't want to spoil anything for myself. Glad to hear that it has your recommendation and can't wait to finally experience it for myself.

Summer Carnival ‘92 Recca (Famicom)

I saw gameplay footage of Recca a few years ago and thought it looked great for a Famicom game! Admittedly, I'm not very good at shmups but I still have fun playing them and trying to get better at the genre. I'll enjoy reading your thoughts on the game when the time comes.

[sevin0seven]

@sevin0seven:
Pend away! Can't wait to see what you're thinking of tackling.

Alright, here's my list:

Konami:
Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis)
Castlevania Dracula X (SNES)

Hudson soft:
Hudson's Adventure Island (NES)
Super Adventure Island (SNES)

Kemco:
Drakkhen (SNES)
Dragon View (SNES)

I'm doing back to back series per game. Should be a fun summer.

[Nemoide]

I feel like I should get involved with a summer challenge, but the summer heat always saps my desire to play games. I melt into a miserable puddle that can maybe do something on a handheld and that's about it. So I'll continue not committing or planning on anything in particular!

Regarding my own list, I just remembered this evening that I had been planning to play Parappa the Rapper for the first time for the challenge and had gotten myself all psyched up about it a few months pack. So I walked over to eBay to see its going price and... Anybody know if the remastered version on the PlayStation store is worth it?

I don't know if you have the capability of playing Japanese discs but the Japanese version is entirely in English and typically goes for much less. Um Jammer Lammy too!

[prfsnl_gmr]

Hudson's Adventure Island (NES)

Godspeed, my friend, godspeed…As someone who ran that series a few years ago, I must let you know that Hudson’s Adventure Island is TOUGH. It’s brutally, almost unfairly, difficult at points, and it is way too long.

Super Adventure Island is much, much better, and it has some of the SNES’ best music. New Adventure Island for the TG16 and Adventure Island: The Beginning for WiiWare are also pretty solid. (Or, you could play the SMS port of Wonderboy, which is also a lot of fun.)

Once you have a few of these games under your belt, I highly recommend modern indie platformer Miles & Kilo. It shares a lot of the same gameplay mechanics, and it is insanely fun. It is also very frequently available for only $1.99.

[sevin0seven]

Hudson's Adventure Island (NES)

Godspeed, my friend, godspeed…As someone who ran that series a few years ago, I must let you know that Hudson’s Adventure Island is TOUGH. It’s brutally, almost unfairly, difficult at points, and it is way too long.

Super Adventure Island is much, much better, and it has some of the SNES’ best music. New Adventure Island for the TG16 and Adventure Island: The Beginning for WiiWare are also pretty solid. (Or, you could play the SMS port of Wonderboy, which is also a lot of fun.)

Once you have a few of these games under your belt, I highly recommend modern indie platformer Miles & Kilo. It shares a lot of the same gameplay mechanics, and it is insanely fun. It is also very frequently available for only $1.99.

Thanks good friend. NES adventure island was a game I grew up playing when I was a kid but I never finished it. I'm a big fan of the series and even bought Wonderboy Remix for the Switch which is very similar to it. I both have New Adventure Island and Adventure Island The Beginning for the Wii. Not a huge fan of The Beginning, but definitely like what I saw with the TG16 game. Maybe I should replace the NES version with the TG16.

I just checked out Miles & Kilo gameplay and I quickly bought it for the Switch ($1.99 sale). Will be on my backlog. Thanks for the recommendation.