Games Beaten 2011
1. Karateka – Atari 7800
2. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest – SNES
3. Alien Crush – TG16
4. Altered Beast – GEN
5. Harmful Park – PS1
6. Mario Galaxy – Wii
7. Silent Hill Shattered Memories - Wii
8. Prototype – PS3
9. 3D Dot Game Heroes – PS3
10. Mario Tennis – VB
11. New Adventure Island – TG16
12. Pokemon SoulSilver – NDS
13. Street Fighter IV – PS3
14. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater – PS1
15. Halo 2 – PC
16. Portal – PC
17. Ninja Spirit – TG16
18. Halo Reach – XBOX360
19. Lost Odyssey – XBOX360
20. X-Men Arcade - XBOX Live
*NEW*21. Dark Arms Beast Buster 1999 - NGPC
*NEW*22. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – PS3
*NEW*23. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – PS3
*NEW*24. Infamous – PS3/PSN
*NEW*25. Streets of Rage 2 HD – PSN
*NEW*
X-Men Arcade - XBOX LiveX-Men Arcade was a real blast from the past. I used to play this game in the arcade with friends whenever I had the chance. It’s a fun beat-em-up, but the character selection is rather small at only six characters when you consider the vast array of X-Men characters. Still, six characters is more to choose from than many other beat-em-up games. My only real complaint with X-Men arcade is how easy it was on normal difficulty. I had to turn up the difficulty to keep from becoming bored by the game.
A nice touch was the ability to play the Japanese version of the game which offered power-ups which weren’t implemented in the English release. Additionally, if you have Xbox Live, you can play online with up to five other players. Of course, you could also have your friend grab an Xbox controller and play locally as well. Despite the game’s low difficulty, it still felt great to hear “Welcome to die!” and kick the crap out of Magneto with a group of other players after all these years.
Dark Arms Beast Buster 1999 – NGPCMy thoughts on this game have been well documented and been submitted for an upcoming Racketboy article so you’ll just have to wait.
(I like this game a lot!)
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune – PS3I borrowed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune from a friend who pretty much insisted that I borrow the game. I wasn’t all that interested but had heard enough good things about the sequel that I figured I should give the first one a try beforehand. The game turned out to be very fun. The game was far more cinematic in nature than I expected. It was sort of like playing through an Indiana Jones movie, which was pretty engaging. The characters were interesting enough to get me to care about them (well maybe not the love interest – she was a tad annoying), and the story was simple enough to remain interesting without getting in the way of the gameplay.
However, the third-person shooting segments were too frequent and long for my taste. They were fun, but I grew tired of doing the same thing every few seconds. The platforming aspect of the game is what really kept me playing because I hadn’t experienced anything quite like it in a game before. It was amazingly fluid in most climbing situations and I was always looking forward to what new obstacle the game might throw at me. The section of the game which sealed the deal for me is the point where the game becomes somewhat survival horror-ish. That pushed me to the point where I recommend this game to anyone looking for PS3 exclusives.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – PS3Upon returning Uncharted to the friend who lent the game to me, he reached into his backpack and pulled out the second game, saying I had to try it out. I don’t expect sequels to be as good as their predecessors, but Uncharted 2 was a definite improvement in several ways. Naughty Dog had managed to take their good game and turn it into a great one. The story was more interesting, the game was more cinematic, there was greater diversity in the environments, there were both old and new characters who played significant roles in the story progression, there were new toys to play with, new enemies to face, and most an all new online multiplayer mode.
The multiplayer in Uncharted 2 actually blew my mind. I did not think that the level of control available in the single player game could be implemented into an online multiplayer mode with several players running, gunning, and climbing all over maps. It is one of the most addictive multiplayer portions of a game I have played in years and feels very fresh given all the first person shooter multiplayer modes I’ve played in recent years. This game was the most fun I’ve had on the Playstation 3, and I have had a lot of fun with PS3 exclusives.
Infamous – PS3/PSNRemember the whole Playstation Network hack debacle from a little while ago? I bet you sure do. One of the games I downloaded was Infamous, figuring it was one of the fullest experiences offered by the Welcome Back program. I generally get tired of sandbox games after a while. I’ve hardly picked up Prototype since I beat it, I haven’t played any Grand Theft Auto games in years, and I was bored of Red Dead Redemption in less than an hour. Yet somehow Infamous was different. It was so wonderfully different that I actually was compelled to play through it twice in a row, once as good, and then as evil on the hardest difficulty before I was awarded the Platinum trophy for the game (although that can be attributed quite a bit to luck).
You’re probably wondering how exactly Infamous was different. It’s actually a little difficult to say. It was definitely more fun than any other sandbox game I’ve played but it’s hard to say why. The powers in Prototype were more diverse and you had a lot more you could do including utilizing weaponry and vehicles, but it was still more fun to run around fighting enemies in Infamous, which was more focused on third-person shooting (Prototype seemed more focused on combat). While the story in Infamous wasn’t fantastic or anything it was more interesting than other sandbox games I’ve played through fully and the ending genuinely surprised me. Since this game was given away free to so many gamers recently, it will probably remain very low in price for quite some time. If it sounds interesting to you, then it’s a game worth picking up for real low cheap.
Streets of Rage 2 HD – PSNAs a temporary Playstation Plus member (due to the Welcome Back package) I was able to temporarily download this for free. I played Streets of Rage all the time in the Genesis 6-pack when I was younger and still pick it up from time to time, but never actually tried the sequels. I should have. Streets of Rage 2 was a blast to play through cooperatively online and locally with a friend. There was also an online versus mode but every time I started to win the other player would quit the match so that my win didn’t count. I found this rather unsportsmanlike and was surprised that every single person I connected to via quick match did the same thing. Although the game is called HD, it really doesn’t look any better than an actual Genesis game on my HDTV, which is a little disappointing. Even so, it was fun to play and being able to get a co-op partner online when none are available locally is a pretty nice feature.
