Games Beaten 2016

[prfsnl_gmr]

Games Beaten in 2012 = 32
Games Beaten in 2013 = 34
Games Beaten in 2014 = 30

1/22 Emily Is Away (PC)
1/29 Dishonored Definitive Edition (XB1)
1/31 Rise of the Tomb Raider - Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch (XB1)
2/2 Dishonored - The Knife of Dunwall (XB1)
2/8 Dishonored - The Brigmore Witches (XB1)
2/16 MURDERED: SOUL SUSPECT (PC)
3/7 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (PSV)
3/10 The Witness (PS4)
3/22 Far Cry 3 (PC)
3/22 Far Cry 3 - Monkey Business (PC)

Games Beaten = 7
DLC = 4

5/22 Prune (WP)
Prune is a great mobile\touch game that has you growing and pruning trees. Wait don't go! It's really not boring, I swear!

I love the style and art direction here, the music is relaxing and the visuals are striking. You start by growing a tree, which will naturally head towards the light. As it grows, if you swipe over a branch it will prune it and allow the tree to grow more. Your goal is to get the tree to the light, so that it will flower and bloom. Once it has gotten the number of blooms for the level, you'll proceed to the next level. As you progress, you'll get hazards to growth or other obstacles you have to avoid. Highly recommended to those mobile players we have (@prfsnl_gmr, etc.)

Awesome. I picked it up on sale a few weeks ago, and I am glad that you enjoyed it. (It is part of my ever-expanding backlog of great puzzle games with touch controls that includes games like Hundreds, Shadowmatic, The Room 3, etc. I'll get to all of them eventually!)

[Sarge]

January:

1) Bonk's Adventure (NES)
2) Little Samson
3) Holy Diver
4) Holy Diver (legit!)
5) Mitsume Ga Tooru
6) TMNT II: The Arcade Game (NES)
7) Mighty Final Fight
8] Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
9) Monster In My Pocket
10) Battle of Olympus
11) Gunstar Heroes (repeat)
12) Dragon Age: Inquisition
13) Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser
14) Captain America and the Avengers (NES)
15) StarTropics
16) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (save states)
17) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (legit)
18) Crisis Force
19) Esper Dream 2
20) Felix the Cat
21) Moon Crystal
22) Panic Restaurant
23) Frankenstein (NES)
24) Crystalis
25) Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu

February:

26) Killer Instinct (GB)
27) Mashin Hero Wataru Gaiden
28) Sly Spy (Arcade)
29) The Red Star (unreleased XBOX, also on PS2)
30) Adventure Island 4
31) Cocoron
32) Batman: Arkham Knight
33) Xeodrifter (Vita)
34) Doom 2
35) Brandish: The Dark Revenant
36) Magical Pop'n
37) The Ninja Warriors (SNES)
38) Phantasy Star (SMS)
39) Phantasy Star III
40) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
41) Brandish: The Dark Revenant (Dela Mode)

March:

42) Freedom Planet (Milla, 82 lives lost)
43) Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
44) Lara Croft Go
45) Oniken
46) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
47) Batman: The Video Game (GB)
48) Batman: The Video Game (NES)
49) Super Spy Hunter

April:

50) Mega Man 2
51) Mega Man 4
52) Mission: Impossible (NES)
53) Mega Man 6
54) Super Mario Bros. 3
55) Sword Master
56) DuckTales 2
57) Rush'n Attack (NES)
58) Mega Man 3
59) Mega Man 5
60) Mega Man
61) S.C.A.T. - Special Cybernetic Attack Team
62) TaleSpin (NES)
63) Double Dragon III (NES)
64) Donkey Kong (NES)
65) Astyanax (NES)

May:
66) Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu
67) The New Ghostbusters II (NES, proto)
68) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSP, via Dracula X Chronicles)
69) Revenge of Shinobi
70) Shinobi III
71) Shadow Dancer
72) El Viento
73) Earnest Evans
74) One Must Fall 2097
75) A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
76) Hebereke
77) Contra
78) Wario Land: Shake It!
79) Gimmick!

Yep, another Sunsoft platformer. This one is waaaay harder than Hebereke, though. The best description I can think of is an early physics-based platformer. Your star attack that you charge up has some weird physics to it, and there are some jumps that require ridiculous dexterity to pull off. I was using save states, and it was still tough. Of course, if you just go through normally, it's not that bad, it's getting the secret items that's tough.

See, if you don't collect all those items, you get a bad ending. But if you do, you get a hidden final stage and boss. As always, it's tough.

I'd love to find a European version of the game (it's Mr. Gimmick! there), but I'm pretty sure that's one of the really expensive ones. Heck, it wouldn't surprise me if the Japanese release is also really pricey.

Honestly, it's impressive, and there's some really neat graphical flourishes (not to mention the special sound chip), but it just didn't resonate with me quite like Hebereke did.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Gimmick is one of those games that like, does not physically exist. There're always zero listings for it on ebay whenever I've looked in the past.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I have several "phantom" games like that. I never see them on eBay or I'll see them once and then not again for years.

It took years of repeated checks until I saw a non-German Knights of Xentar show up, for instance. Here's a game I'd really like to have - saw it on eBay once for $80 BIN, didn't buy it, someone else did, never saw it again. Shucks.

Gimmick looks neat but I never bother with super-expensive stuff.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Gimmick is one of those games that like, does not physically exist. There're always zero listings for it on ebay whenever I've looked in the past.

It exists...but the Famicom version costs several hundred dollars...

I am also seekin a few phantom games to complete my Arcadia 2001 collection. As far as I can tell, a copy of those games goes up for auction about once every five years...

[Exhuminator]

Gimmick! is freaking awesome. Especially the Japanese version with the custom chip OST. This game has freaking amazing music. It's a brilliant platformer among the best you can play on Famicom (or NES for that matter). As Sarge said though, hard game is hard. Even more so when you're trying to get that special ending. I managed to beat it back in 2005, but alas got the bad ending.

Trip World is tangentially related:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trip_World

Trip World is also crazy expensive, but nowhere near as difficult as Gimmick! is.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2016

Spirits of Xanadu - PC
Tales From the Borderlands: Episode 1 - PC
Operation C - Game Boy
That Dragon, Cancer - PC
Contra - NES
Super C - NES
Contra III - The Alien Wars - SNES
Tekken - PS1
The King of Fighters '99 - PS1
Street Fighter Alpha - PS1
Call of Duty: Black Ops III - PS4
Three Fourths Home - PC
Firewatch - PS4
Street Fighter V - PS4
Far Cry: Primal - PS4
Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax - PS3
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma EXTEND - Xbox One
Android Assault Cactus - PS4
Table Top Racing - Vita
The Room - iOS
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle - PS3
The Room 2 - iOS
Broforce - PS4
Toybox Turbos - PC
Peggle 2 - PS4
R-Type (R-Type Dimensions) - 360
The Room 3 - iOS
Rampage - SMS *new*
Doom (2016) - PS4 *new*

Total: 29

Previously: 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

Rampage is fun, and this port has its charms.

The new Doom is amazing. I plan to play through it on PC sometime soon, too.

[BoneSnapDeez]

How long is Rampage on SMS?

I recall trying to take down the arcade version via a Midway compilation and it just seemed to go on forever.

[dsheinem]

How long is Rampage on SMS?

I recall trying to take down the arcade version via a Midway compilation and it just seemed to go on forever.

I'd guess about 40-50 stages (8-10 cities, 5 stages for each)

[Sarge]

Yeah, Gimmick! is very unforgiving, willing to throw some really punitive measures at you for screwing up. For example, in the second stage, to get the secret treasure, you have to ride a cannonball across a gap. Firstly, if you don't push the cannon down to a lower level, you'll hit a wall while riding and fall to your death. But once you do push it down there, you've got no margin for error for actually hopping on the cannonball. And guess what, you miss and into the drink you go.

I think I was right in describing the physics of the game yesterday, it's a huge component of it, but I think a better word would be "technical". It's a very technical platformer. I suspect if I put more time into mastering it, I'd actually like it a lot more. I can see the appeal, beyond just being super-rare.