Games Beaten : 2011

[dsheinem]

Metal Torrent- DSiWare
Kirby Super Star Ultra - NDS
DoDonPachi - PS1
Cruis'n USA - N64
Cruis'n World - N64
DonPachi - PS1
Cut the Rope - iPhone
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift - iPhone
Mass Effect - 360
Galaga Remix - Wii
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom - Wii
Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 - 360
DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou - PS2
DoDonPachi Resurrection - iPhone
Triggerheart Exelcia - Dreamcast
Heavy Barrel - Wii/Arcade
Tetris (Rev A and Rev B) - Game Boy
Street Fighter IV - iPhone
Killzone - PS2
Dead Space 2 - PS3
Marvel vs Capcom 3- PS3
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess - PSP
Killzone 3- PS3
Lost Planet 2 - PS3
Star Wars: Dark Forces - PC
Nemesis - Game Boy
Space Invaders Extreme 2 -NDS
Kirby's Dream Land - Game Boy
Mass Effect 2 - 360
Mass Effect 2: Shadow Broker - 360
Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory - 360
Kirby's Dream Land 2- Game Boy
Ginga Fukei Densetsu: Sapphire- PCE-CD
Soul Calibur - Dreamcast
Dragon Age II - PS3
Espgaluda II - iPhone
Portal 2 -PC
Metroid: Zero Mission - GBA
Vanquish - PS3
Terraforming -PCE-CD
Dark Nebula 2 - iPhone
Gunblade NY - Wii
LA Machine Guns - Wii
F.E.A.R. 2 - PS3
F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn PS3
Chrono Trigger - SNES
Guardian Heroes - SAT
F.E.A.R. 3 - PS3
Prehistoric Isle in 1930 - PSP *new*
Gears of War 2 - 360 *new*

2011 TOTAL: 50

2010 Games Beaten

Other than the bizarre/awesome factor of shooting dinosaurs while piloting a WW1 era plane, this SNK shmup doesn't have a lot going for it. The controls feel stiff, the difficulty after the first level or so is set to quarter-munch, and the graphics and music are very meh, even for the time. Worth a look for a different kind of shmup, but not recommended otherwise.

I really didn't like the first Gears of War, as the game felt unnecessarily difficult due to some poor gameplay mechanics and design (clunky movement and poor camera). It was also very repetitive. In some very important ways, Gears of War 2 fixes all the major gripes I had with the first game while retaining the best parts of its predecessor. Gears 2 started slow...but the last 2/3 of the game are some of the most fun I've had with a 360 exclusive. The set pieces are excellent, the variation in enemies and kinds of gameplay are plentiful, and I actually found myself getting interested in the story by the end. There are some very nice moments in the game, and I am now looking forward to playing Gears 3 at some point. After my experience with Gears 1 last year, I didn't see that coming.

--------

With Gears 2 conquered I've hit 50 games in the first half of the year, putting me on par with last year and on track for 100 games by year's end. As I did last year, I will share some stats at the half way point:

Some stats
Total Games: 50

System:
Current Gen: 32 (6- 360, 9- P33, 5- Wii, 2- PSP, 3- NDS, 6- iPhone, 1- PC)
Retro: 18 (across 9 systems)

Genre:
Shmup - 13
First Person Shooter - 7
RPG - 6
Fighting - 4
Platformer - 4
Third Person Shooter - 4
Puzzle - 3
Other - 9

Best game I've finished that was released this year: Portal 2
Runner-up: Killzone 3

Best retro game I finished for the first time: Chrono Trigger
Runner-up: Metroid: Zero-Mission

[UltRaH]

just beat ALICE:madness returns (ps3) great game!

[KillerJuan77]

I just beat Doom and Blue Stinger.

[emwearz]

Plants Vs Zombies - PC
Halo 3: ODST - 360
Enslaved: Odyssey To The West - 360
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - NDS
Unreal Tournament 3 - 360
Dead Space - 360
Harms Way - XBLA
Starfox Assault - GC
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift - IOS
The House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii
Fallout 3 - 360
Peggle Extreme - PC
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast - PC
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 - 360
Portal - PC
The Great Gatsby - Browser
Kirby Super Star Ultra - NDS
Bulletstorm - PC
Half Life: Source - PC
Probotector - NES
Fable III - 360
Perfect Dark - N64
Crysis 2 - 360
Final Fantasy XIII - 360
Portal 2 - 360
Half Life 2 - 360
Machinarium - PC
King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown (AGDInteractive Remake) - PC
Half Life 2: Episode 1 - 360
Tony Hawk's Project 8 - 360
King's Quest II: Romancing The Stones (AGDInteractive Remake) - PC
Singularity - PC
Samorost - Browser
Samorost 2 - PC
Mortal Kombat (9) - 360
Gemini Rue - PC
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - PC
Duke Nukem Forever - 360
Beneath a Steel Sky - PC

Total Games for 2011: 39

Thoughts on the Game(s)

A brilliant cyberpunk adventure from the makers of Broken Sword using an older version of the engine it uses. With some great voice acting (even though the main character is meant to be Aussie and sounds as American as someone can). Great puzzles that can be pretty challenging at times, great graphics that really set the tone of the game.

Best of all its completely freeware now, pick it up at the ScummVM site.

[Balasubbie]

Games Clocked 2011:
1. New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
2. New Super Mario Bros. (NDS)
3. Super Mario World (SNES)
4. Super Mario RPG (SNES)
5. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
6. Street Fighter (PS2)
7. Street Fighter II:
- Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES)
- Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (MD)
- Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (PSP)
- Super Street Fighter II: New Challengers (SNES)
- Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival (GBA)
- Hyper Street Fighter II (PS2)
- Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service (DC)
8. Street Fighter Alpha 2:
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 (SNES)
- Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold (PS2)
9. Soul Calibur II (Gamecube)
10. Soul Calibur IV (PS3)
11. Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii)
12. 1941 (PS2)
13. Metal Slug 7 (NDS)
14. Earthbound(SNES)
15. Street Fighter IV:
- Street Fighter IV (PS3)
- Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
16. Pokemon White (NDS)
17. Tatsunoko vs Capcom (Wii)
18. SNK vs Capcom: SvC:Chaos (PS2)
19. Capcom vs SNK 2 (PS2)
20. Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum (PS2)
21. Capcom Fighting Jam (PS2)
22. Street Fighter Alpha (PS2)
23. Mother 3 (GBA)
24. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (DC)
25. Super Puzzle Fighter II (GBA)
26. Street Fighter III:
- Street Fighter III: New Generation (DC)
- Street Fighter III: Second Impact (DC)
- Street Fighter III: Third Strike (DC)
27. Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC)
28. Sonic Adventure (DC)
29. Super Mario Land (GB)
30. Pokemon Blue (GB)
31. Marvel vs Capcom (DC)
32. Capcom vs SNK (DC)
33. Super Mario Land 2 (GB)
34. King of Fighters '99 Dream Match (DC)
35. House of the Dead: Overkill (Wii)
36. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

37. Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service (DC)

Got this a while back, hadn't gotten a proper chance to delve into it as much as I would've liked. Sat down last night, couple of brewskis and gave it a whirl. Probably the best decision I've made in some time. Wonderful, fluid baby of a game. I've been maining Gallon mostly, having clocked how to do alot of his best stuff. One of the more engrossing fighters I've come across in my time, and you can see I play alot of them.

[YoshiEgg25]

1/1: Octodad PC
1/1: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (Co-op) PC
1/6: Something Amiss PC
1/6: Sam & Max 104: Abe Lincoln Must Die! PC
1/8: Donkey Kong Jr. Arcade
1/8: Frogger Arcade
1/8: Pac-Man Arcade
1/8: Smash TV (Co-op) Arcade
1/12: Achievement Unlocked PC
1/13: Achievement Unlocked 2 PC
1/15: K.O.L.M. PC
1/26: Don't Look Back PC
1/28: Flick Kick Rugby iPod Touch
2/9: Hot Throttle PC
2/10: Pokemon Puzzle Challenge Game Boy Color
2/17: The Great Gatsby NES
2/18: Tiki Totems iPod Touch
2/18: Tiki Totems 2: Valentine iPod Touch
3/10: Elephant Quest PC
4/1: Pokémon White Version Nintendo DS
4/7: Elite Beat Agents Nintendo DS
6/8: The Curse of Monkey Island PC
7/1: Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Nintendo DS NEW

Total: 23

I don't know what attracted me to this game, or why I decided it would be a better use of my time to play that than anything on my Summer Challenge list. But if Elite Beat Agents is my favorite game on DS...I think this comes in at number two. For what it is, it's pulled off perfectly.

Come on Capcom, bring Ace Attorney vs. Professor Layton to the States!

[Gamerforlife]

Games Beaten:
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for the PS3
Sonic 4: Episode 1 for the PS3
Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee for the original Xbox
Portal 2(PS3)
Flower(Playstation Network)
Darksiders (PS3)

ALICE MADNESS RETURNS - 8/10

This is a solid game. Combat is fun and challenging in some parts. It's kind of like Zelda mixed with third person shooting and just a tiny bit of influence from modern action titles like Devil May Cry in the way that Alice can dash around an area to avoid attacks. If you make the effort to try and get through each battle with no damage, you'll really appreciate the depth that the combat system will reveal to you, particularly in the ways you can often use the environment to your advantage.

Platforming is perhaps what the game does best. There are a lot of tricky sequences and one of the unique twists of this game is the invisible platforms, which can only be viewed in Shrink mode. The tricky part is you need to exit Shrink mode to actually jump. So you'll often need to maintain a mental image of where a platform is when it disappears before you even land on it. It gets even trickier with disappearing, moving platforms. Some platforming sequences are just evil, but the game is well aware of its own difficulty and always respawns you at the beginning of the platform sequence if you die.

There's some puzzles, but it's childs play to anyone who has played any modern Tomb Raider game, even easier if you beaten stuff like Braid or Portal. Aside from combat, puzzles, and platforming there are other gameplay surprises in each chapter that I won't spoil. Suffice to say that each chapter will throw something unexpected at you that breaks away from the game's usual gameplay patterns.

The story is very good and there is some good dialog and quotes. This is definitely a game for adults as there is some swearing and some rather blatant sex references. Also, the ending of the game is excellent though a bit abrupt.

Visually, the game doesn't impress on a technical level. I honestly think it looks like a PS 2 game sometimes. Artistically, however, the game shines. There are a lot of weird and twisted things to see in the Wonderland stages. The parts of the game where Alice is in the real world have a different visual style and look very nice. The cutscenes are unconventional. Rather than using ingame graphics or CGI, it uses what I can only describe as a pop up book style of art that is very cool. There are parts of the game where the look of the game will completely change in interesting ways. There are even some visual touches that reminded me of Psychonauts and there is one very blatant shout out to Psychonauts at one point in one hidden area of the game. This game is all about little details and artistic design, not about showing off how much the graphics can get out of the hardware

I should also point that aside from the occasional bug/glitch the game is EXTREMELY polished. The shrink system ensures that you never get stuck, clues you in to some of the game's hidden areas and even warns you of upcoming fights. Checkpoints are sprinkled throughout the game and death always leads to you respawning near the place of your demise so the game, while quite challenging in some of its fights and platforming sections, never gets frustrating. The game also keeps track of every collectible you have found and how many are left and it has a new game plus mode(since Alice's health and weapons are upgradable), and a stage select, which also lets you choose any checkpoint spot to return to. The achievements are well thought out and I plan on getting them all and the DLC is great, though I'd advise against using the DLC dresses on a first playthrough. They are a bit overpowered. I did use the DLC weapons though, but only after upgrading the weapon's original form so I felt like I had EARNED the right to use the DLC version of it. They're very useful and getting all that DLC for like two or three bucks is a great deal

Alice has a few flaws though. Most of the game's levels are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. They just seem to go on forever. It's understandable that they'd want the stages to not be too short since there are only six chapters in the game. However, sometimes it feels like a budget game that was stretched out just to justify the sixty dollar asking price. There are a bunch of sections that could have been cut out and the game wouldn't have been any worse for it. It feels like a book without an editor to trim away some of the fat and the game often has no sense of pacing. One section of the game had me go through what felt like fifty platforming exercises in a row and I was just dying for the game to finally switch things up and let me do something else. Also, the game only has one boss and there are some minor bugs/gltiches that I encountered. Also, as I said before the game has artistic flair, but on a technical level the game often doesn't look up to par with modern titles. The targeting system can be dumb sometimes too, insisting on either locking on to the least dangerous threat or on a far away enemy, completely ignoring the one about to get right in your face

I think there are two main reasons that reviewers have been lukewarm to this game. The gameplay is very old school. Platforming is a throwback to PS 1 and early PS 2 games. There is no Prince of Persia style parkour to be found in this game and the combat doesn't mirror popular modern action games like God of War or Devil May Cry. This feels like a game that could have been released years ago and is a bit late to the party. I still enjoyed it though, but the game's ridiculous length requires some patience

[noiseredux]

Games Beaten:
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for the PS3
Sonic 4: Episode 1 for the PS3
Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee for the original Xbox
Portal 2(PS3)
Flower(Playstation Network)
Darksiders (PS3)

ALICE MADNESS RETURNS - 8/10

This is a solid game. Combat is fun and challenging in some parts. It's kind of like Zelda mixed with third person shooting and just a tiny bit of influence from modern action titles like Devil May Cry in the way that Alice can dash around an area to avoid attacks. If you make the effort to try and get through each battle with no damage, you'll really appreciate the depth that the combat system will reveal to you, particularly in the ways you can often use the environment to your advantage.

Platforming is perhaps what the game does best. There are a lot of tricky sequences and one of the unique twists of this game is the invisible platforms, which can only be viewed in Shrink mode. The tricky part is you need to exit Shrink mode to actually jump. So you'll often need to maintain a mental image of where a platform is when it disappears before you even land on it. It gets even trickier with disappearing, moving platforms. Some platforming sequences are just evil, but the game is well aware of its own difficulty and always respawns you at the beginning of the platform sequence if you die.

There's some puzzles, but it's childs play to anyone who has played any modern Tomb Raider game, even easier if you beaten stuff like Braid or Portal. Aside from combat, puzzles, and platforming there are other gameplay surprises in each chapter that I won't spoil. Suffice to say that each chapter will throw something unexpected at you that breaks away from the game's usual gameplay patterns.

The story is very good and there is some good dialog and quotes. This is definitely a game for adults as there is some swearing and some rather blatant sex references. Also, the ending of the game is excellent though a bit abrupt.

Visually, the game doesn't impress on a technical level. I honestly think it looks like a PS 2 game sometimes. Artistically, however, the game shines. There are a lot of weird and twisted things to see in the Wonderland stages. The parts of the game where Alice is in the real world have a different visual style and look very nice. The cutscenes are unconventional. Rather than using ingame graphics or CGI, it uses what I can only describe as a pop up book style of art that is very cool. There are parts of the game where the look of the game will completely change in interesting ways. There are even some visual touches that reminded me of Psychonauts and there is one very blatant shout out to Psychonauts at one point in one hidden area of the game. This game is all about little details and artistic design, not about showing off how much the graphics can get out of the hardware

I should also point that aside from the occasional bug/glitch the game is EXTREMELY polished. The shrink system ensures that you never get stuck, clues you in to some of the game's hidden areas and even warns you of upcoming fights. Checkpoints are sprinkled throughout the game and death always leads to you respawning near the place of your demise so the game, while quite challenging in some of its fights and platforming sections, never gets frustrating. The game also keeps track of every collectible you have found and how many are left and it has a new game plus mode(since Alice's health and weapons are upgradable), and a stage select, which also lets you choose any checkpoint spot to return to. The achievements are well thought out and I plan on getting them all and the DLC is great, though I'd advise against using the DLC dresses on a first playthrough. They are a bit overpowered. I did use the DLC weapons though, but only after upgrading the weapon's original form so I felt like I had EARNED the right to use the DLC version of it. They're very useful and getting all that DLC for like two or three bucks is a great deal

Alice has a few flaws though. Most of the game's levels are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. They just seem to go on forever. It's understandable that they'd want the stages to not be too short since there are only six chapters in the game. However, sometimes it feels like a budget game that was stretched out just to justify the sixty dollar asking price. There are a bunch of sections that could have been cut out and the game wouldn't have been any worse for it. It feels like a book without an editor to trim away some of the fat and the game often has no sense of pacing. One section of the game had me go through what felt like fifty platforming exercises in a row and I was just dying for the game to finally switch things up and let me do something else. Also, the game only has one boss and there are some minor bugs/gltiches that I encountered. Also, as I said before the game has artistic flair, but on a technical level the game often doesn't look up to par with modern titles. The targeting system can be dumb sometimes too, insisting on either locking on to the least dangerous threat or on a far away enemy, completely ignoring the one about to get right in your face

I think there are two main reasons that reviewers have been lukewarm to this game. The gameplay is very old school. Platforming is a throwback to PS 1 and early PS 2 games. There is no Prince of Persia style parkour to be found in this game and the combat doesn't mirror popular modern action games like God of War or Devil May Cry. This feels like a game that could have been released years ago and is a bit late to the party. I still enjoyed it though, but the game's ridiculous length requires some patience

this post is why I love this thread.

[alienjesus]

Donkey Kong Jr. e-Reader
Riviera: The Promised Land GBA
Super Mario Bros. 2 Wii
King of Fighters R2 NGPC
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn DS
Metal Slug 2nd Mission NGPC
Pocket Tennis Colour NGPC
Metroid GC
Super Mario Bros. 3 Wii
Probotector 2 Game Boy
A Boy and his Blob Wii
Pokemon White DS
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa VC
Kirby's Dream Land 3 VC
Bomberman '93 VC
Super Probotector: Alien Rebels VC
Wonder Boy in Monster Land VC
Pilotwings Resort 3DS
Deja Vu Casebook 1: A Nightmare Comes True GBC
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg GC
Starfox Command DS
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Skies Wii
Deja Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas GBC
Virtual On Cyber Troopers Saturn
Virtua Fighter Saturn
Athlete Kings Saturn
Guardian Heroes Saturn
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters Game Boy
StreetPass Quest 3DS
Face Raiders 3DS
Dead or Alive: Dimensions 3DS
Wonder Boy in Monster World VC
Final Fantasy III DS
Ghost Trick DS *NEW*
Banjo Kazooie N64 *NEW*
Total: 35

Ghost Trick is a fantastic game which I really enjoyed. It's faster paced than Phoenix Wright, but the story, puzzles and characters are all really satisfying. One of my favourites on DS now for sure.

Banjo Kazooie was one of my summer games, and I really enjoyed it too. Again, it feels faster paced than other 3D platformers I've played which was nice. There were some rough edges to the game that I hope they polished up for Banjo Tooie, especially losing all of the notes for a level upon dying, and the midair attack which was a pain to aim. I really enjoyed the first 4 levels of the game, then felt like the game got a little rough in the middle, but the last few stages really picked up again, so overall it was a pretty great game I really enjoyed - enough to collect everything, which as an old school rare platformer takes some doing.

[CFFJR]

i, too, haven't played rondo of blood. i have heard that dracual x on the snes is kind of a shitty port of it and kind of a different game all together. at some point i would like to buy a turbo duo and rondo of blood and give the game a whirl.

Its on Virtual Console if you have a wii. That's how I'm playing it.

Speaking of, I started playing it today, and it is awesome.