Games Beaten 2015

[BogusMeatFactory]

1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3)
2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6)
3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14)
4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14)
5. Streets of Rage - Genesis (January 16)

I got inspired to go back and play Streets of Rage this afternoon, after seeing the Genesis Music thread and hearing some of those fancy tunes. Played through as my favorite character, Blaze, because you know, she kicks ass. Nearly got wiped out forgetting how to deal with twin Blaze gals without powerups right at the end. Remembered the B+C attack to deal with them, and powered through to the end.

Oh those twins.......when I had the game the first time as kid, I may have spent about 5 hours trying to beat them alone. Such a great game and in all honesty the best music out of the series!

[J T]

How does one know when they have beaten The Stanley Parable? I had fun with it and saw a bunch of endings, but as the game load screen says "the end is not the end is not the end is not..."

[Ack]

How does one know when they have beaten The Stanley Parable? I had fun with it and saw a bunch of endings, but as the game load screen says "the end is not the end is not the end is not..."

when you've beaten the game. You've beaten the game when

[Stark]

How does one know when they have beaten The Stanley Parable? I had fun with it and saw a bunch of endings, but as the game load screen says "the end is not the end is not the end is not..."

I called it beaten when I wanted to move on and talk about it here.

[nullPointer]

The list so far ...

1. BioShock 2 [PC/Steam]

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES/bsnes v084)

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

This isn't my first play through of Link to the Past by any stretch of the imagination, but it is my first in quite a number of years.

In many ways this was the first game in the Zelda series to have begun the process of codifying the lore of Hyrule within the confines of the game itself. The first two games in series relied on supplementary materials (i.e. game manuals) to convey the in depth story details of the game(s). The first time I played this game many years ago, I was not quite keen on this particular aspect. I recognized the brilliance of the gameplay, but in some ways they had taken away the mystery present in the first two games. In the original Legend of Zelda you were dropped into the wilderness without so much as a hint of where to go other than being advised that, "It's dangerous to go alone." The second game introduced villages and NPCs into the land of Hyrule, but there was still an air of mystery about the place, a sense of "otherness" (although to be fair some degree of wonky localization adds to that effect). Naturally by the time that Link to the Past was released the standards of gameplay had changed and matured from the simpler experiences to be had on the NES. So here in Link to the Past, we have Zelda's first fleshed out self-contained story as it were, complete with the history of the Triforce itself. So how is that story? Well, better than I remembered to be honest. It's not ground breaking fantasy by any stretch, but it's quite serviceable for what it is with an appropriate number of twists and turns. I think the young nullPointer was more interested in simply getting on with the game play (as it had been in the first two Zeldas), than in sitting through some exposition at the end of every dungeon. As an older gamer I've learned to take my time a bit more and to savor the subtleties.

The world presented in LttP is simply stunning. The artistry and stylistic choices are consistent from beginning to end and each one makes perfect sense within the in game world. Nintendo's hallmark sense of whimsy and fun prevails here and wins the day. This is a game that rewards exploration and looking closely at your surroundings.

Beyond that the gameplay in this game is simply amazing. It's one of those games that just 'feels' absolutely right. The difficulty curve is spot on, the gradual progression through the world(s) is excellent, and the puzzles are wonderfully presented and executed. Special mention needs to be given to the dungeons which basically serve as a master class on quality 2D overhead level design.

There's not a whole lot else to say here that hasn't been said before. This game is deservedly considered to be one of the greatest of all time.

[Almost Gamers]

Castlevania: circle of the moon, Castlevania:Harmony of Dissonance, Golden Sun, Paper Mario, and Super Castlevania IV. XD

[Stark]

What's XD? Also what's the fun of a list if you don't give some thoughts?

[J T]

A Wolf Among Us (01/03/15)
Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ (All courses S ranked on 01/08/15)
Distance (beta 3315, 01/11/15)
Shantae: Risky's Revenge- Director's Cut (01/16/15)

This game was quite fun, but I wanted to like it more than I did. The sprite work is really well done, as are the chiptunes (Jake Kauffman FTW!). The game maintains a fun, cheeky charm throughout with silly humor that is never really funny, but never ingratiatingly annoying either. While I've got nothing against female characters being sexy, all of the heaving chested, bobbling boobied persian girls throughout this game did fall on the tacky side of things, despite their cutesieness (or maybe because of their cutesieness. They are childish and adult at the same time, which just gives a weird vibe.) I have no other complaints about the art direction though and was really pleased with the visuals of the game.

The gameplay was enjoyable, though I thought boss fights were too easy and there is WAY to much mindless backtracking to find little things, even with warps. For once I felt proud to use an FAQ just because I realized that I know enough about games to recognize when a developer is wasting my time, so I cut corners on purpose. They know they are doing it too. One of the fetch quests in the middle of the game is literally to get a zombie a special ordered cup of coffee fixed just the way he likes it. While there is some humor in that, I felt that the developers were basically clowning their players, especially since this was a main quest, not a side quest. This game serves of an example of how not to make a metroidvania.

Most of the game was enjoyable though, and the game controls were definitely spot on. I wish there were a few more tricky puzzles. There was one well designed puzzle room where I had to deftly maneuver the monkey character to stick to a series of walls, but I had to pay attention to where the openings were to go next. It was challenging both as a visual puzzle and as an exercise for the reflexes. I wanted more of that. Most of the game was pretty simple. I beat the final boss without even really trying and was surprised it was over so fast. The game is worth playing, but with a little bit more challenging level design and a lot less backtracking and fetch questing, I could give a more resounding recommendation.

[Omerta]

Finally had time to nail one down this year.

1. The Last of Us - PS3 - January 16

I have a weakness for zombie and post-apocalyptic narratives, so I've been chomping at the bit to grab this one and give her a go once the price dropped into cheapskate-ish territory.

It was a very good game, but I don't feel like it quite lived up to the hype.

The story is one of the best of recent memory just barely behind The Walking Dead Season 1 in my opinion. The presentation is stellar, constantly making you feel like you're in a big budget action flick.

The game play is what fell short of my expectations. It's wonderful for the first couple of hours, but the swapping between boosting Ellie over ledges and doing some Solid Snake action is all it ever amounts to.

Like I said though, it's a great game and I'm glad I played it.

I did pick up the Uncharted Trilogy on PS3 a while back and have yet to play it. Seems like it's a one long big flashy movie as well. Anybody got a quick and dirty rundown of the similarities between them and TLoU?

Might make it easier to decide when (if ever) I want to play them...

[Stark]

Finally had time to nail one down this year.

1. The Last of Us - PS3 - January 16

The DLC, Left Behind, is amazing and a great addition to the story if you want a little more from that universe.