Games Beaten 2024

Post by **Markies** » Wed Oct 09, 2024 12:46 am

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2024!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
2. Jackal (NES)
***3. Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (SDC)***
4. Skies Of Arcadia Legends (GCN)
5. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (PS2)
6. Sunset Riders (GEN)
***7. Tactics Ogre (PS1)***
***8. Forza Motorsport (XBOX)***
9. Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA)
***10. Darkstalkers (PS1)***
***11. Splatoon (WiiU)***
12. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (NSW)
***13. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (NES)***
14. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
***15. Puzzle Kingdoms (Wii)***
16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan (GB)
17. Steel Empire (GEN)
***18. Super Mario Strikers (GCN)***
19. Evolution 2: Far Off Promise (SDC)
20. The King Of Fighters '95 (PS1)
21. Disgaea 3: Absence Of Justice (PS3)
22. Jade Empire: Limited Edition (XBOX)
23. The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
24. Super Smash Bros. For WiiU (WiiU)
***25. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)***
***26. Ducktales 2 (NES)***
27. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
28. Super Paper Mario (Wii)
***29. Valkyrie Profile (PS1)***
***30. Destruction Derby 64 (N64)***
31. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (NSW)
32. Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN)
33. The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)

I beat Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Nintendo GameBoy this evening!

For the last few years, I had been a little burnt out on the Zelda franchise. Last year, I decided to dip my toe back into it by replaying through Link to the Past and I really began to miss the older Zelda titles. Wanting a refresh, I decided to pick up Link's Awakening on the GameBoy. That was one of the few games I had as a child for the GameBoy, but I never beat it. I got lost after a couple of dungeons and then just never picked it back up. Well, I wanted to try it again and see if I could continue my enjoyment of the old Zelda titles, so I decided to play through it again, but this time until I beat it.

With how rigid and traditional the Zelda franchise can be, Link's Awakening is a very weird title. You see so many Mario characters throughout the game and Link has the ability to jump. And it's not a small ability either as you need it to beat the final boss, so it is very important. With that being said, the Mario characters add a little charm and some much needed personality to the game. The game is centered around dreams, so it makes sense for it to be a little odd. I like when a franchise can be a little lighthearted in tone at times. Not every game needs to be this epic or dour experience. Though, if you really think about the story in Link's Awakening, it can be a little depressing considering the actions of Link. Besides the story and theme, the game play is tight and quite fair. It is interesting to be able to combine items as the sword is not stuck to Link. There is some unique puzzles and ways to move around that are unlike any other game in the franchise. The dungeons are not too difficult or obtuse, but some of them do have an annoying spot or boss. Finally, the graphics and sound are really impressive for a GameBoy title. The sprites for the bosses are quite large and the music was really well done as well. For a game where you collect musical instruments, it sounds very nice.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Link's Awakening. The game is quite obtuse and does not hold your hand at all, so be prepared for some adventuring or some guidance. But, for a short little side story, it was a fun time. It played well and I never got too frustrated in the game. It wasn't the grand epic, but if you are looking for a fun adventure on the original GameBoy, this was a fun experience. Sometimes, a little detour can be very enjoyable!

Post by **Markies** » Sat Oct 12, 2024 5:57 pm

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2024!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
2. Jackal (NES)
***3. Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (SDC)***
4. Skies Of Arcadia Legends (GCN)
5. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (PS2)
6. Sunset Riders (GEN)
***7. Tactics Ogre (PS1)***
***8. Forza Motorsport (XBOX)***
9. Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA)
***10. Darkstalkers (PS1)***
***11. Splatoon (WiiU)***
12. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (NSW)
***13. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (NES)***
14. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
***15. Puzzle Kingdoms (Wii)***
16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan (GB)
17. Steel Empire (GEN)
***18. Super Mario Strikers (GCN)***
19. Evolution 2: Far Off Promise (SDC)
20. The King Of Fighters '95 (PS1)
21. Disgaea 3: Absence Of Justice (PS3)
22. Jade Empire: Limited Edition (XBOX)
23. The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
24. Super Smash Bros. For WiiU (WiiU)
***25. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)***
***26. Ducktales 2 (NES)***
27. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
28. Super Paper Mario (Wii)
***29. Valkyrie Profile (PS1)***
***30. Destruction Derby 64 (N64)***
31. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (NSW)
32. Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN)
33. The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)
***33. Phantasy Star IV (GEN)***

I completed Phantasy Star IV on the Sega Genesis this afternoon!

Long before I discovered the Backloggery, I had bought all of the Phantasy Star Games for the Genesis. At the time, they were only like $40 and I found them all in a pretty short order. They sat Unfinished for a very long time until I discovered the Backloggery and started to go through them. I also had many Unfinished Dragon Quest games at the time, so instead of burning myself out, I decided to jump between the two series' every year. After going through both series, it is now time to go back and replay some of them into Completion. I decided to go with one of my favorites and one that I knew would be fun to play, Phantasy Star IV.

I can safely say without a doubt that Phantasy Star IV is the best Phantasy Star on the Genesis. It amazes me how much it blows the other two games out of the water. For Phantasy Star IV, the game still has amazing music, but everything else about the game is also great. It's like they took everything they learned from the previous games and made it so much better. They took all their knowledge and scientifically proven on how to make an excellent JRPG. The grind is far less steep in the game as having 5 Party Members helps in the damage output. Also, the levels go by fairly quickly, you gain money easier and the dungeons are fairly short. The game seems to fly by as I was able to go through chunks of the game in a fairly quick fashion. The story is mostly interesting, but it still has some confusing points. You beat what you think is the big bad several times before you actually do, so the surprises land kind of weakly. You rotate several characters throughout the game and each one brought a new personality to the story along with the team makeup. At times, I mostly had fighters while others had a bunch of mages, so I had to change my way of attack a few times throughout the game.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Phantasy Star IV. It is the best in the series by far and the best pure RPG on the Sega Genesis. I don't normally say this, but I don't think playing II and III are necessary to enjoy IV. There are some small callbacks, but Phantasy Star IV is so good compared to its predecessors that you can almost skip them. Play them if you love history and game progression, but if you are a fan of traditional turn-based JRPG's, then Phantasy Star IV is a must play!

Post by **Note** » Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:04 pm

Nice reviews of both Link's Awakening and Phantasy Star IV, Markies!

PS IV is a game I originally played by renting it, and then I played through a bigger chunk of it through emulation, but unfortunately I haven't beat it yet. Love the atmosphere, cutscene style, and soundtrack. I really need to revisit it and finally beat it.

Post by **TheSSNintendo** » Sun Oct 13, 2024 9:36 pm

Rayman Origins (Steam)

Retro Achievements · Post by **Jagosaurus** » Mon Oct 14, 2024 10:03 am

2024 Games Beaten
Bold = new add
1. Wolfenstein 3D (XB360)
2. Gears of War Judgement
3. Gear of War 4
4. Doom 3: The Lost Mission (XB360 BFG)
5. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (XB360 BFG)
6. Ultimate Doom | Thy Flesh Consumed (XB360)
7. Ultimate Doom (Unity Port, XBSX)
8. Call of Duty Classic (XB360)
9. Doom II: Hell on Earth (Unity Port, XBSX)

Call of Duty Classic often gets mistaken for Call of Duty Finest Hour, but they're separate titles. Classic was a 2009 XB360 & PS3 port of the original 2003 PC title in HD. It was part of a PS3 special edition (MW2) and later sold separately (digitally). I managed to grab it on 360 before the marketplace shut down a couple months back. Unfortunately, it's not backwards compatible and locked to the 360.

I covered it quite a bit on the "What Are You Playing" thread, so I won't be redundant. Overall I was impressed, especially with the Soviet opening levels. It's an interesting mix of seeing what will become the COD franchise with some N64 Goldeneye-style corridor shooting (and even a Dam mission!). I can recommend this one, but get ready to die a lot ... that TTK is brutal!

Doom II: Hell on Earth is a cool piece of FPS gaming history, but it's evident much of the core Id team had moved onto supporting Quake. Sandy Peterson & American McGee took the reigns here. Their levels are some serious eye candy and pushed the Doom engine, but overall lack the polish of the original title. Some of these levels almost require save scumming without extensive memorization. This is poor level design to me. Some of the new monsters just aren't fun to fight IMO, but at least the double barrel shotgun is extremely satisfying. That dichotomy sums it up, highs and lows. That even extends to the music tracks.

... and yes, my gaming OCD required me to beat the previous Unity Ports before I fully enjoyed the 2024 KEX Engine source ports by Nightdive which I'll be periodically diving into to get my Doom fix (similar to how I treat Halo Master Chief Collection for my Halo fix!).

If you haven't read Masters of Doom, I highly recommend it for any Doom fans. You'll get more insight into how this one came to be:

Post by **REPO Man** » Mon Oct 14, 2024 1:29 pm

I personally prefer source ports to play Doom, since I can throw all kinds of mods and/or megawads into the mix. Like DOOMablo, which adds a looter shooter mechanic into the mix. And the recently released GAYhem 2024 community project.

But for some reason, the recent version of DOOMablo (v0.3a at the time of writing this) seems to crash when running GAYhem 2024 and Evilternity. I'll definitely have to bring it up to the DOOMablo dev.

Post by **PartridgeSenpai** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 3:30 am

Partridge Senpai's 2024 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
* indicates a repeat

1~50

51. Adventures of Lolo (Famicom)
52. Adventures of Lolo 2 (NES)
53. Adventures of Lolo II (Famicom)
54. Adventures of Lolo 3 (NES)
55. Kickle Cubicle (NES)
56. Adventures of Lolo (GB)
57. Cocoron (Famicom)
58. The Darkness (PS3)
59. Haze (PS3)
60. Animaniacs (GB)
61. Lair (PS3)
62. Bionic Commando (PS3)
63. Donkey Kong Land (GB)
64. Darkwing Duck (NES)
65. Donkey Kong Land III (GBC)
66. Donkey Kong Land 2 (GB)
67. Metroid II (GB) *
68. Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond (Switch)
69. Eggerland (FDS)
70. Eggerland: Meikyuu no Fukkatsu (Famicom)
71. Eggerland: Souzou he no Tabidachi (FDS)
72. Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima (SFC)
73. Legendary Starfy (GBA) *
74. Legendary Starfy 2 (GBA)
75. Tales of the Abyss (PS2) *
76. Tales of the Tempest (DS)
77. Tales of Eternia (PS1)
78. Nier: Replicant (PS3)
79. Tales of Symphonia (PS3) *
80. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (PS3)
81. Tales of Zestiria (PS3)
82. Tales of Berseria (PS3)
83. Gargoyle's Quest II (Famicom)

84. Bionic Commando: Rearmed (Steam)

I loved the Bionic Commando reboot when I played it earlier this year, so I immediately threw this game on my Steam wishlist for the next time it went on sale. Once it did, I actually wasn’t going to get it since money for such things was so tight at the time, but my wonderful friend Robin very kindly bought this for me regardless

. I’ve never been a huge fan of the original Bionic Commando games, but, given that this was made by the same folks who were making the reboot, it felt like a pretty safe bet that I’d enjoy this game despite my misgivings with its predecessors. It took me about 3.5 hours or so to beat the English version of the game on normal mode using an Xbone controller and not really bothering with the secret hunting, hidden levels, or challenge stages.

Bionic Commando Rearmed is a remake of the original NES Bionic Commando game and has a very similar premise as a result. You play Rad Spencer, the titular Bionic Commando. Geared up with his bionic grappling left arm, the FSA has sent him out to save the kidnapped Super Joe and stop the fascist Imperials once and for all! It’s a very silly and fun story that knows exactly how goofy it is, and it’s great fun as a result. It’s not a particularly wordy story, but it has some new dialogue and characters added in from the original game, and Spencer’s banter with other characters as well as the overheard conversations from your enemies were always something I looked forward to. I was also very happy to learn that the comedy in this game has aged surprisingly well for a game from ’08. There were a few eye-rolling jokes about contemporary internet humor here and there, but its generally held up very well, which, given the quality of a lot of other late 2000’s comedy, is an achievement in and of itself, frankly XD

Mechanically, this is a remarkably faithful remake in a lot of ways. You still have no jump button and your only way to move against gravity in the game’s 12-ish stages is grappling around with your bionic arm. There’s a remarkable amount of depth added to this compared to the original (which wasn’t exactly dead-simple to begin with), and they’ve thankfully added some very thorough tutorials to help you get to grips with all of the wild tricks you can (and sometimes must) do with your grappling. You get new weapons and upgrades by visiting FSA bases between normal levels as well as by completing stages (or finding them in secret levels). The stage and boss design is really solid, and even when things got tough, it always felt like I had the tool and the know-how to conquer the challenge in front of me.

However, despite your even more technically capable grapple arm, this game is thankfully nowhere near as brutal as the original when it comes to difficulty. That’s not to say it’s easy, of course, as some of the final stages (not to mention the optional ones) can get really brutal in just how long they are. You’ve got a life system that means you’ve got a default three tries per stage before you get kicked out back to the map screen. Thankfully, you can find extra lives hidden in stages and FSA bases if you’re having trouble. There are also trucks wandering the world map like Super Mario 3 Hammer Bros., and running into one will send you into a little mini-game in the style of Capcom’s classic Commando game, and you can find extra lives there as well. Overall, this game is definitely not for the faint of heart, and people unfamiliar or uncomfortable with 2D action platformers are likely going to struggle quite a bit with this game. That said, compared to its NES counterpart, this is a really quality reimagining of the source material that really well updates it to more modern notions of fairness and difficulty, and fans of 2D action games are likely to have a blast with this.

Aesthetically, the game is still quite nice looking over 15 years later, even if it’s not going to blow anyone away. The 3D graphics of the 2.5D platforming sections are nicely stylized in a way that evokes the silly 80’s throwback style they’re aiming for, and the 2D illustrations used for the talking segments do a great job of that as well. The music isn’t exactly the best MP3 player-worthy stuff ever made either, but I quite enjoyed it and thought it fit the action at hand excellently~.

Verdict: Recommended. If you’re a fan of 2D action platformers, then this is a must-play for sure. The guys at Grin have done a fantastic job in reimagining this old classic into something more fitting to modern tastes, and it still holds up really well despite all the time that’s passed since then. That said, the grapple arm really does take some getting used to, and with the extra life system being as strict as it is, folks who are more easily pushed away by particularly difficult games are likely to have a pretty rough time with this. If you’re a fan of Capcom’s 2D stuff, both old and new, then this is definitely a game worth checking out, but just keep in mind that this is still a damn hard game despite how much more forgiving they’ve made it compared to the original.

85. Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3)

This is a game I played briefly in co-op with my girlfriend close to a decade ago and haven’t really thought much about it since. However, since starting to make an effort to check out the popular and (in)famous games of this period on PS3 (such as Haze and Lair earlier this year), the Resistance games made it well on to my radar as things to finally give a proper look to at some point. It was just my luck that some good friends of mine found this cheap and picked it up for me, so now I could finally give a proper look to a series I’d heard about and seen on GameStop for so many years. It took me around 11 or so hours to beat the English version of the game on normal difficulty.

Resistance: Fall of Man is just as the title describes. In an alternate history mid-20th century Europe, a strange alien threat known as the Chimera emerge in Russia. After containment for roughly a decade, they burst out of the east and overcome the rest of Europe in a matter of weeks. The U.K. thinks itself safe until the creatures burrow under the channel and sweep the entire country in only a few months of fierce fighting. You play as Nathan Hale, an American soldier part of the liberation force sent to help assist the straggling British military against this seemingly invincible and unknowable inhuman threat.

The setting of the story is very striking, and notes you can find scattered around stages paint a very interesting picture of the details of this alternate earth (such as how World War 1 and 2 seem to have never happened in this universe), but that’s basically where the interest in the story ends. As anyone who has played Ratchet: Deadlocked (as I have) can tell you, Insomniac really don’t excel at this type of grim, serious storytelling, and this first entry in their Resistance series is no exception. The story alternates between long stages of barely any story or characters and inter-stage exposition dumps about the state of the war, your next mission’s details, and the Chimera themselves.

There are a couple named characters other than Hale, but there’s no real “character” writing here. Everyone is just a vehicle for the plot, and Hale himself barely speaks four sentences over the course of the game, as he instead prefers to silently scowl at people whenever he’s addressed unless absolutely necessary XD. There are a couple jokes (and I mean that number literally) here and there, but it’s overall pretty soulless and reliant entirely on the momentum of the plot to keep things interesting (especially in a game with a campaign this darn long). That kind of writing isn’t necessarily a bad thing, of course, and plenty of excellent action games have been built on flimsier ground than this (“this” being pro-military, “One strong man will save us”-type propaganda :/ ). That said, I can’t help but feel that the ante on FPS writing had really been upped by 2006, and outside of the setting, Resistance 1 really fails to impress compared to its contemporaries (particularly Microsoft-exclusive ones both existent and upcoming).

In the context of other traditional FPS games (i.e. games without adventure game/RPG mechanics) that’d grown popular over the first course of the decade, there’s a lot that’s quite interesting here mechanically for a game coming out in 2006. For starters, Resistance somewhat foregoes the increasingly popular regenerating health mechanic that so many games of the time used. Instead, we stick with the relatively old-fashioned system of health packs, with the player only auto-healing up to the nearest quarter-mark of their health bar until a new health pack is found. Similarly, instead of the “only two guns” system that so many shooters of the time used, Resistance chooses to give the player a weapon wheel, where you can select any of the ultimately eight weapons you have at any time as long as you have ammo for it. We’ve even foregone a sprint button in favor of just one consistent run speed (though we very frustratingly have crouch set to holding L2 with no option to make it a toggle :/ ). However, novelty absolutely does not equate to quality. No matter how much its basic mechanics may help set it apart from its contemporaries, there’s no making up for how slapdash and poor so much of Resistance 1’s design is (and how those aspects of novel design often exacerbate those issues).

For starters, it doesn’t matter how many guns you can carry when so many of them are so terrible. Even the most basic gun-wielding Chimera foot soldier has a *lot* of health in this game. They have so much health that even a melee attack (usually a one-hit kill in most other games of this type) doesn’t even kill them, and it takes two melee hits to put them down. Not even good aim can save you, for (as far as I could tell, at least) the game doesn’t even have a headshot mechanic unless you’re using the sniper rifle and it’s very difficult to replenish ammo. I found only the basic Chimera assault rifle to be any use at all against most enemies (outside of your big, super guns for which ammo is very rare), and even that wasn’t much help given that enemy ammo pickups give you so little in the way of extra ammo. To top it all off, even those really wimpy grunts take a LOT of punishment to get them to stagger, so crowds of enemies are VERY dangerous once they spot you unless you’ve gotten *very* good at the awkwardly thrown grenades you’re given. Not that grenades even do all that much damage, of course. I found more often than not even wimpy grunts would survive grenades unless you managed to score a really direct hit. All this amounts to is a game that is routinely incredibly frustrating to play with just how weak you feel.

Even one or two normal enemy grunts can be incredibly lethal due to how difficult it generally is to kill them, and every encounter ends up being a frantic fight to survive where you’re constantly having huge chunks of your precious, difficult to restore health shaved off of you with just how much damage enemy gunfire does to you. That fact is made even worse with just how laughably few checkpoints this game has. Checkpoints are often very far apart, and there will be a lot of awkward and annoying firefights you’ll need to do and redo as a result of later cheap deaths pushing you SO far back as a result. Not only does this game love to spawn enemies behind you at times, but it also loves ambushing you with hard to dodge gunfire as well as having checkpoints that respawn you directly in the path of enemy fire (of which there are several).

At the very least the developers were merciful enough to give you full health upon respawning no matter how little health you had at the time of grabbing the check point, but that’s often cold comfort in the face of just how unpleasant the gunplay is in this game. Insomniac were developers who made games with guns but not FPS games, and BOY does it ever show in this game with just how many fundamental missteps they take in putting this game together. Like, sure, this game isn’t exactly Warhammer: Fire Warrior in terms of how clunky and frustrating it can be, but this is hardly giving Halo a run for its money in terms of quality. The most consistent thought I had about how this game played was that it felt like a poor man’s Turok 1, and that is a very unenviable comparison given that you’d hope a game nearly 10 years newer would be able to easily outshine a stand-out early-life FPS game on a console with only one joystick :/

Aesthetically, Resistance isn’t terribly impressive, but at least that’s somewhat understandable given that this is part of the PS3’s launch lineup. We are very firmly in the era of grey, beige, and yellow FPS modern military shooters, and this is no exception. That said, as cruddy and low resolution as the environments can often look, the Chimera do look very cool. Creature and vehicle design is all around very well done, and it makes for a neat contrast with the 1950’s British landscape you’re going through. There are a few other neat aspects technically, like how dust shoots up when you shoot floors and walls and how enemy animation looks, and while it’s certainly not terribly impressive by modern standards, it at least manages to keep a stable framerate <w>

Verdict: Not Recommended. While there are certainly worse FPS games released that decade for sure, your time is worth *so* much better than the first Resistance game. It is absolutely baffling to me how critics and players loved this game so much when it came out, because the problems it has make it feel like it’s something that would’ve been (and should’ve been) called outdated and jank when they were new, let alone now that they’re so old. Even a game that gets meme’d on so hard like Haze frankly blows this game out of the water in terms of quality, and that’s something I never could’ve imagined before playing both games this year. Insomniac manage to refine the formula better later on, but unless you’re a very curious big FPS fan or someone who just HAS to see the story of Resistance 1 firsthand, I’d let this game stay buried on the PS3 where it belongs, if I were you.

86. Resistance 2 (PS3)

After finishing the first Resistance and having a pretty less than stellar time with it, I continued right on to its sequel. Partly because I already owned it and it was a very logical next game to play, and partly because I was just *so* curious on what the follow up to such a comedy of errors could possibly look like. Surely, I thought, this must be at least a *bit* better, right? They had two whole years to make something that was far less terrible, after all! XD. I was (mercifully) happily surprised by this game, and it took me around 9.5 hours to beat the English version of the game on normal mode only hunting around for collectibles and trophy hunting just a little bit.

Resistance 2 is, as the name suggests, a direct sequel to the first Resistance game. After saving the U.K. from the Chimera threat, Nathan Hale is picked up by U.S. special forces and forced into a special program for soldiers like him: Ones infected with the Chimera Virus. Two years pass as a part of them, and his transformation into one of the enemy hive mind has been successfully slowed, but a massive Chimera assault on the North American continent begins to throw everything out of whack. Hale and his squad mates are now on a race against time to both stop the Chimeran invasion before either they conquer humanity’s last bastion or the squad themselves become the enemy.

Resistance 2 is hardly a triumph of literature or anything, but it’s a much more conventionally well enough done story for the time than its predecessor was, at least. Nathan Hale actually talks now, for one! He’s hardly a complex character, but just the fact that he has *some* kind of personality as well as people to talk to gives the narrative *such* better momentum and stakes. You’re hardly going to give much of a crap about the plight of any of these guys by the time the game is over, of course. They’re all pretty one-dimensional generic military guys. But even still, I was actually feeling tension as if your mission could fail at points, and that’s a lot more than I can say the first game made me feel! XD. It’s got the same kind of pro-military, “a strong man must put aside his emotions and sacrifice himself for the betterment of everyone” toxic individualism propaganda that the first game (and many many games like it) are based on, sure, but it’s at the very least enjoyable the same way a big, blockbuster action movie can be. It’s a low bar to clear, sure, but given how dull Resistance 1 often was, it’s a bar-clearing worth celebrating, as far as I’m concerned XD

Mechanically, we’ve mercifully fixed so, SO much from Resistance 1 that I was so relieved to see. We’ve thrown out a lot of the outdated stuff, for starters. I will admit that, to a point, it does kinda feel like we’re throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The mechanics like the gun wheel, health packs, and no sprinting didn’t *need* to feel like problems in the first game, and while I would’ve loved to see a proper reflection turn them into something truly well utilized, that isn’t what we’ve done here. Instead, we’ve started copying Halo and Call of Duty’s homework a *lot* harder, and while we may be a less novel game as a result, we’re a *much* better game at the same time.

The game now controls and is designed far more like those contemporaries. You have a sprint button, crouching is now a toggle instead of holding L2, you can only carry 2 guns at a time, and we’ve now got entirely regenerating health (no more health packs to scrounge for!). I’m not sure if it’s down to Insomniac just having gotten better at making this kind of game since the first one or if this kind of game is just that much easier to make, but whatever the reason, things are a *lot* better than they used to be. Enemies are no longer massive damage sponges, so your guns actually feel good now that they have some real punch to them. Grenade throwing is much more precise and intuitive, so it’s actually a reliable way to fight enemies now compared to the weird grenade arcs in the first game. Level design has also been significantly improved, and the cheap enemy traps and giant open areas where you just get minced by far away enemies are also basically gone too.

Things aren’t always perfect, of course. There are some really cool set pieces, sure (with one of my favorites being one where you and a big contingent storm a square held by a bunch of enemy soldiers and 3 enemy walkers), but even the cooler and more fun ones still often take a fair bit of trial and error to get past because of how unintuitive they can be to approach. We’ve also got bosses too now, and while they’re definitely not the miserably hard kind like some games love having, they’re such slower (and often just quite easy) set pieces that they kinda wear the game down at times. The saddest thing to see, for me at least, is the loss of the weird, Ratchet & Clank-y style guns that we had a few of in the first Resistance. A good deal of this may be down to weird, wacky guns like that just making less sense to include in a only-two-guns game system like this, and all of the guns having cool alt-fire modes does make them even more fun to use, I’ll admit, but it’s still a shame to see.

Regardless of these faults and the lack of originality, however, Resistance 2 was a game I actually had a lot of noticeable *fun* playing, and that is a LOT more than I can say about the first Resistance. Going to the two-guns system, improving enemy health and staggerability, and improving level design has made the game’s pacing far FAR stronger, and parts where I died a lot felt like opportunities to test out new strategies and improve rather than just a miserable time sink to bash my head against now that the check point system is SO much improved. Sure, this game may very well feel like a poor man’s Halo or Call of Duty to a more seasoned FPS player, but that’s a pretty high bar to clear. While it’s hardly anything to brag about, being a second-rate Halo clone is certainly a far less embarrassing thing to be in 2008 than being a second (or third) rate Turok 1 clone in 2006 like the first Resistance felt like XD

Aesthetically, Resistance 2 is very much a game of its time like the first one was, but with a few improvements like you’d expect them to make in the couple years it took to make this game. Aliens are still very well modeled, but especially the big ones have noticeably more complicated texture work on them. The game as a whole has noticeably much better texture quality than the first one did, and it also very welcomely has much more color as well! The Chimera still have their trademark grey & yellow aesthetic, sure, but the environments (from Americana-laden towns to even the big Chimera ships) are all so much more vibrant and nice to look at that it made this game a much more pleasing experience for the eyes than the first one was. The music is fine, but it’s nothing to really write home about. It’s perfectly serviceable for what we’re going for just like pretty much any FPS game of the time has.

Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. While it’s far from original, this is a far more competent game than the first Resistance managed to be. Your time is still probably worth better, more interesting games than this, I’ll admit, and this was hardly anything to make Microsoft worry about its multiplayer FPS market share back in the day, but you’re much more likely to have a fun time with this than you ever were with the first Resistance. If you’re a big FPS fan and somehow haven’t played this yet, or you’re just looking for some interesting retro fun on the PS3’s earlier exclusive library, then you can certainly do a lot worse than this (even though you can do a lot better too X3)

Post by **Ack** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 12:18 pm

Jagosaurus wrote: ↑Mon Oct 14, 2024 10:03 am Doom II: Hell on Earth
Some of the new monsters just aren't fun to fight IMO

Chaingun Guy?

Chaingun Guy.

Retro Achievements · Post by **Jagosaurus** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 2:51 pm

@Markies -

I'm a huge Phantasy Star IV fan! The art style, animations, and music are some of the best on the Genesis! Happy to see you enjoyed it.

@Ack -

LOL throwing 4 chaingun guys in all room corners as you enter with low health ...

I'm also not a fan of Arch-vile. Essentially instant death if they get their fire tornado off, high HP, & low damage take. I guess I like the idea of being some Evil Healer demon, but I think it's executed poorly.

I go back & forth on Revenant. Love the character design & sprite. The heat seaking rockets will literally follow you in circles though

. At least 2 blast from Double Barrel Shotgun will take care of them. In Doom 3 they dominated me way more often.

Post by **Markies** » Tue Oct 15, 2024 11:34 pm

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2024!
***Denotes Replay For Completion***

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
2. Jackal (NES)
***3. Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (SDC)***
4. Skies Of Arcadia Legends (GCN)
5. Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (PS2)
6. Sunset Riders (GEN)
***7. Tactics Ogre (PS1)***
***8. Forza Motorsport (XBOX)***
9. Riviera: The Promised Land (GBA)
***10. Darkstalkers (PS1)***
***11. Splatoon (WiiU)***
12. Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising (NSW)
***13. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (NES)***
14. 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)
***15. Puzzle Kingdoms (Wii)***
16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall Of The Foot Clan (GB)
17. Steel Empire (GEN)
***18. Super Mario Strikers (GCN)***
19. Evolution 2: Far Off Promise (SDC)
20. The King Of Fighters '95 (PS1)
21. Disgaea 3: Absence Of Justice (PS3)
22. Jade Empire: Limited Edition (XBOX)
23. The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES)
24. Super Smash Bros. For WiiU (WiiU)
***25. Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2)***
***26. Ducktales 2 (NES)***
27. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
28. Super Paper Mario (Wii)
***29. Valkyrie Profile (PS1)***
***30. Destruction Derby 64 (N64)***
31. Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (NSW)
32. Mario Superstar Baseball (GCN)
33. The Legend Of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB)
***33. Phantasy Star IV (GEN)***
***34. Maximum Pool (SDC)***

I completed Maximum Pool for the Sega DreamCast this evening!

Maximum Pool has been a staple of my life for well over a decade. A friend of mine and I get together every Saturday and either play Pinball together or play video games together. We have a staple of always starting the evening with Tetris and Dr. Mario followed by whatever sparks our interest for the evening. A few years ago, my friend picked up Maximum Pool for the Dreamcast and that became our game to play right after Tetris and Dr. Mario. Both games are usually laid back and its a great way for us to talk about the past week along with preparing ourselves for whatever big game that was coming up next. We would always play one style of pool, but the game had multiple styles of billiards available. So, since the game is incredibly cheap, I decided to pick it up for myself and try them out on my own. After it being one of the first games I beat when I moved into my house in 2019, I always wanted to go back and unlock everything else. I figured now would be a good time for something more relaxing.

I have played several different types of Pool games in the past and they never felt quite right. I remember playing one on the Genesis and it felt like the balls were made out of concrete. When I started playing Maximum Pool, it really felt like I was playing Pool. The balls would jump off the table if you hit them too hard and they would bounce and interact with balls like they normally would and should. The game does offer some variety in the tables. With instructions for all the tables, it is very easy to pick up and learn the games. The new tables do offer a good sense of variety with some of them being only able to work in video game form. For example, one table has the balls changing colors after being hit. Some of them are unique and can be rather fun.

However, besides just setting a game of pool, there is very little to the game. There are full motion videos of the characters talking to you and that gets really old, really fast. With levels of frustration from missing a shot, this would only exacerbate the annoyance of the moment.

Overall, Maximum Pool is a solid and competent pool game. It's a perfect game to relax to. It offers a little variety to make you want to play it as it really satisfies that itch to play Pool as we live in a time period where Pool Halls are disappearing quite frequently. If you love a game of Billiards, then this game is worth the price.

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