Games Beaten 2014

[Luke]

1) Kung Fu NES
2) Altered Beast Genesis
3) Golden Axe Genesis
4) Golden Axe GBA
5) Golden Axe Dreamcast
6) Golden Axe PS2
7) Golden Axe Sega CD
Golden Axe 360
9) Ninja Gaiden xbox
10) Ninja Gaiden NES
11) Cool Spot Genesis
12) The Duel Genesis
13) Pit Fighter Genesis
14) Hard Drvin' Genesis
15) Death Duel Genesis
16) Sonic The Hedgehog Genesis
17) Mutant League Football Genesis
18) TMNT Hyperstone Heist Genesis
19) Streets of Rage Sega CD
20) Streets of Rage 2 Genesis
21) Golden Axe 2 Genesis
22) Sewer Shark Sega CD
23) Chiki Chiki Boys Genesis
24) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Genesis
25) Mega Man 2 NES
26) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! NES
27) TMNT Fall of the Footclan Gameboy
28) TMNT Something Sewers Gameboy
29) Punch-Out!! Wii
30) Diddy Kong Racing N64
31) StarFox 64 N64
32) StarFox snes
33) Metal Gear nes
34) Mario Superstar Baseball Gamecube
35) Star Wars Rogue Leader Gamecube
36) Super Mario Land 2 Gameboy
37) Duck Tales Gameboy
38) Sleeping Dogs 360
39) Sonic Triple Trouble Game Gear
40) Batman NES
41) Actraiser snes
42) Bioshock Infinite 360
43) Street Fighter II snes
44) Maximum Carnage snes
45) Super Empire Strikes Back snes
46) Madden 94' snes
47) Super Star Wars snes
48) Super Return of the Jedi snes
49) Super R*Type snes

50) Super Mario World snes
51) Final Fight snes
52) DOOM snes
53) Aladdin snes
54) Earthworm Jim Genesis
55) Earthworm Jim 2 Saturn
56) Tekken Tag 2 and stuff 360
57) Ninja Gaiden 2 nes
58) Metroid Zero Mission gba
59) Metroid gba
60) Godzilla nes
61) Contra nes
62) Jackal nes
63) Top Gun nes *new*

It took me over twenty years, but I've gotten pretty good at Top Gun. That's how frustratingly difficult the game is.

[SirGawain]

63) Top Gun nes *new*

It took me over twenty years, but I've gotten pretty good at Top Gun. That's how frustratingly difficult the game is.

Its rough, but not as bad as the pit stops in Days of Thunder

[Luke]

63) Top Gun nes *new*

It took me over twenty years, but I've gotten pretty good at Top Gun. That's how frustratingly difficult the game is.

Its rough, but not as bad as the pit stops in Days of Thunder

Never played it, but it sounds like I need to.

[SirGawain]

Well just to get into the pit stops, you have to pretty much slam into the wall and hurt your tires. Then you can only control one person at a time making it a pretty big mess. I always somehow always forget one tire or fuel.

[Xeogred]

1. Dead Space 3* + Awakened (PS3)
2. Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD (WiiU)
3. Super Metroid* (WiiU)
4. Binary Domain (PS3)
5. New Super Mario Bros U (WiiU)
6. Silent Hill 4 The Room (PS2)
7. Deus Ex: HR* Director's Cut (WiiU)
8. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
9. Donkey Kong Country Returns: Tropical Freeze (WiiU)
10. Resident Evil 6 (PS3)
11. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (WiiU)
12. Dark Souls 2 (PS3)
13. Dark Souls (PS3)

* = replay

That just happened. Dark Souls 2 for me was a blast... but fairly easy too. It is the third game in this series after all, so I can see how I've leveled up myself, but yeah. I did a STR build which I enjoyed a lot more than my DEX builds in these games up to this point, and I did not beat Dark Souls 1 the first time I played through a chunk of it. So somehow... I jumped right into it after Dark Souls 2, made a new character and just finished it up. 60 hours on DS2, 40 on DS1. 100 hours of Souls.

Simply put probably my favorite trilogy last gen next to Dead Space, Mass Effect, etc. But it just hit me how the Souls games are like... my calling for a new age Mana styled ARPG. Very Zelda and Metroidvania (Dark) as well. They're just loaded with ingredients that make me absolutely love them.

Which one do I prefer? How about I put some brakes on the war here and just say... Demon's.

Still might be my favorite, but yeah. DS2 refined a lot and made some great improvements, I can see it being the most accessible and replayable perhaps. It'll be fun to revisit, hit up NG+, mess with other builds, etc. But there is no denying that DS1 was a far denser experience. The atmosphere, story, and art direction are on another level to me. Both games were rewarding to finish, but DS1 definitely had a cooler final boss so that was awesome.

Not for everyone. But if you're a fan of tough ARPG's and somehow still haven't gotten around to these... DO IT.

Now, time for something a bit relaxing and cute.

[Hobie-wan]

Ok, I'd been ignoring this thread, but I just beat Risk of Rain and holy effing crap it was bonkers. So there's a timer which starts at "very easy" and every 4 or 5 minutes it bumps up the difficulty up to the hardest being "HAHAHAHA" after about 40 minutes. So up to this point I'd played about 30 hours and unlocked a fair amount of stuff. Usually I made it to level 2 recently, but the few times I'd get to level 3 I'd just get murdered because of the difficulty. Tonight the drops were just right. By the time I made it to level 4 I was pretty much unstoppable as long as I kept hopping around like a crack monkey.

By the second to last level the game was just spawning boss after boss like regular enemies. I think I had about a dozen of them in my general area at one point. The last level had a lot of places where you were cramped into areas of swarming enemies. I think the final fight was actually easier as there was less craziness going on. Nearly 2 hour run to complete.

Partway into the last level with so many jellyfish following me I wasn't sure I was going to be able to kill them faster than they were showing up.

After completion. The 'Level' is character level. The nuttiness of the numbers will make more sense to those who are playing the game.

The pictures are just spoilered for size, not because they're spoilery.

[Luke]

Played TOP GUN again last night, died in the second stage. I'm not as good as I thought I was.

[Sload Soap]

Metro 2033(360)

Metro 2033 was a game I didn't really expect much from but by the close was won over by its world and its rough charm. It's not a perfect game, I'd say it was a bit shy of being great, but it is an interesting title that plays well for the most part.

Based on the book of the same name, Metro 2033 is set in the ruins of Moscow destroyed by nuclear war, the few remaining survivors have gone underground, turning Metro stations into makeshift homesteads. You play as Artyom, who goes on a hero quest through the tunnels of the Metro, taking occasional sojourns onto the frozen surface world, to save his home from the mysterious "Dark Ones". You'll encounter killer fog, mutants, fascists, communists and unexplained anomalies on your way. This is a hostile and unforgiving world.

Post-nuclear wastelands have been done to death but it is to 4A Games credit that by keeping things fairly contained and low-key, the game feels unique. There's a lot of attention to detail in the environments that isn't displayed in a lot of other games. The Metro feels, somewhat ironically, like a living world. Postcards of the old world hang on the walls, train cars are manually operated, broom cupboards have become makeshift offices and so on.

Some of this detail finds its way into gameplay: there is a trade in homemade weapons merging world building with the usual FPS gun customization menus. Military grade bullets are used as currency but interestingly can also be loaded into certain guns to deliver a more powerful shot making for an intriguing risk/reward mechanic.

In a further attempt to link the setting more intrinsically to the gameplay, there are no waypoints instead having a wrist mounted compass for guidance while health kits are implemented in similar fashion to Far Cry 3. The most obvious affect though is the way the game forces certain sections to only be traversable while wearing a gas mask. In theory these sections then become timed as you run out of filters for the mask the longer you spend wearing it, though I did always seem to have just enough to survive.

Still, while the gasmask sections lack a real sense of risk, what they do well is create thematic tension. Artyom breathes heavily and awkwardly whenever the mask is donned, his breath steaming up the eyepieces, obscuring your vision. It's a neat trick and combined with a almost omnipresent low humming from the sound design, it's like a good horror movie. This is where the game excels really. Trying to sneak past a fascist patrol with a cracked visor and running low of filters was a genuinely nervy experience. You never feel like you could just shoot your way out of everything and stealth often becomes your best course of action.

In fact stealth plays a much larger role than I was expecting. Unfortunately though the actual stealth gameplay isn't quite as refined as it should be and there were plenty of times I was spotted when I thought I was in cover. Most annoyingly this game has psychic guards that send everyone bearing down on you should you put one finger out of place. This lead to a lot of retries on my part. I perhaps wouldn't have minded so much if it weren't for the fact that the game seemingly has "correct" ways to pass through these sections even when they the sections themselves are presented as fairly open to interpretation. I'd like to say it was a minor quibble but three of the longer sections of the game are like this.

I think the game discourages combat with human NPC's because the guns themselves are a bit weak. You could argue it adds to the atmosphere, but there are some bullet sponge Nazi's how can take a pistol clip to the head before going down. It's probably because 4A wanted gunplay to be limited to fighting the mutants who are fast moving melee attackers. It works better here as it creates a sense of panic.

There are other things that generally stop this from being a AAA sort of game. There are some issues with the sound mix leading to people talking over one another and lines being said before they should. The control scheme is a bit awkward and obviously intended for PC. The game can also be too faithful to it material and is very dark at times. As in pitch black. I ended up falling into a radioactive pond more than once just because I was trying to sneak but couldn't turn on my torch to see where I was going.

All in all though Metro 2033 is one of those games that is worth it because the developers have put time into creating a unique world that is worth exploring. It's missing a few things that would objectively make it a great game, but it's well worth a play for anyone interested in the setting or the genre or something a bit different.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1. Hotline Miami (PS3)
2. Boulder Dash XL 3D (3DS)
3. Mirror's Edge (PS3)
4. Orcs & Elves (DS)
5. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
6. Justice League Heroes: The Flash (GBA)
7. Metal Gear (MSX/PS2)
8. Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)
9. LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year Edition (PS3)
10. Drill Dozer (GBA)
11. LittleBigPlanet 2: Special Edition (PS3)
12. South Park: The Stick of Truth (PS3)
13. Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing (PS3)
14: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
15. Angry Birds: Star Wars (3DS)
16. Nervous Brickdown (DS)
17. Dragon's Lair (ARCADE/DS)

Dragon's Lair is a classic, and the Nintendo DS port is a great way to experience it. The compressed video is a bit more pixelated than the sublime Wii port, but the second screen is critical for tracking your remaining lives and score. Moreover, the second screen provides unobtrusive "cues" if you, like me, need them to get past the some of the game's more cryptic QTE sequences.

[Ack]

1. Blood II: The Nightmare Levels (PC)(FPS)
2. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
3. Clive Barker's Undying (PC)(FPS)
4. Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death (PC)(FPS)
5. Lagoon (SNES)(RPG)
6. Tin Star (SNES)(Light Gun)
7. Cacoma Knight in Bizyland (SNES)(Puzzle)
8. World Heroes (MVS)(Fighting)
9. Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (SNES)(Edutainment)
10. Rival Turf! (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
11. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Genesis)(Fighting)
12. SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)(Fighting)
13. Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen (SNES)(RPG)
14. Super Turrican 2 (SNES)(Run and Gun)
15. Brain Lord (SNES)(RPG)
16. Live A Live (SNES)(RPG)
17. Treasure Adventure Game (PC)(Platformer)
18. Realms of the Haunting (PC)(FPS)
19. Pocket Tennis Color (NGPC)(Sports)

I am considering this one beaten because I have unlocked both secret characters and beaten several tournaments in the process. I do not consider this completed yet, as there are many more trophies for me to acquire.

Pocket Tennis Color for the Neo Geo Pocket Color is a simplistic tennis game for the handheld that offers well-animated chibi characters battling it out across a variety of courts with some interesting moves, though I have to emphasize that this game is SIMPLE. Courts have little function beyond visual aesthetic, the AI can often be defeated with rudimentary strategies, and controls are fairly basic(though still do an excellent job considering it is all handled with a joystick and two buttons).

Let's start with the fluff: I love the visual design of the game. Characters are well animated when running around the court, and the court designs at least look different(and go through day/night cycles), even if there is no actual affect on gameplay. The music is entirely forgettable. The controls are responsive, and characters feel different based on their parameters, so some are better at power hits while others are faster. Players have the ability to fore- and backhand(the game does this automatically), lob the ball into the air, spike it down(though depending on your position you may end up hitting the net), and even diving if things look just out of reach. A tends toward faster shots, B tends toward slower, though in practice I noticed little difference beyond serving speed. The game also offers two hidden characters to unlock, a tournament system which offers trophies based on a combination of the current date and somewhat random selection from three constantly recurring tournaments, and a one-on-one match that allows the player to pick the number of sets against an opponent of their choice.

The biggest downside to the game: the game can only be paused at the beginning of a serve, and players cannot save their progress during a tournament, which means the game must be played during times when the player has enough time to get through a full tournament(though tournaments are thankfully only 3 opponents, whom you must play one set each). This severely hampers an otherwise portable game because it removes the ability to pick up, play, and set down again at a moment's notice. Also, depending on the court background, I occasionally lose track of the ball(it's a tiny screen! The problem isn't nearly as bad as what I've experienced with the NGPC Metal Slugs), and the AI isn't very good, so once you have learned the basics, you should begin dominating on the court. I regularly shut out opponents, so the challenge at this point is figuring out when certain trophies occur. And yes, you can modify the NGPC's internal clock to gain access to new trophies.

Overall I enjoy the game. It's simple but addictive. But once I've got those trophies, there won't be much reason to come back. That said, Tanaka's my boy.