Summer Games Challenge 2026 - PRESS I FOR INVENTORY

[MrPopo]

That's Metal Gear down. The stuff at the end of the game really ramps up the 80s bullshit, followed by an anticlimactic boss fight. If it weren't for the generous continue system, I would have a great dislike. But the checkpoints mean that you can power through with some trial and error, as long as you aren't trying to get the Big Boss rank that requires neigh perfect play.

I was originally going to do the NES version next, but that's a separate executable on the collection, so I'm going to do Metal Gear 2 instead before swapping over.

[Ack]

Well, it turns out Call of Duty: World at War is a lot shorter than I realized. I ended up beating it last night without issue. It's interesting to see how they translated the post-Modern Warfare gameplay into the WW2 setting, but honestly, I can see why the series got away from that theme. The WW2 FPS era of the 2000s is done, with even Wolfenstein going into alternate post-war history in the 2010s. World at War felt like a last hurrah for what was at one point a flagship series of World War combat and a major component of FPS theming.


Sniper Elite is now installed, as are Commandos and Tex Murphy: Mean Streets. Playing three WW2-based games wasn't something I intentionally sought out when I put together this list, but I got a chuckle out of the realization when I noticed it this morning.

Either way, that's two down on my list, and eight to go.

2/10 DONE

1. Marathon 2 - BEATEN
2. Dementium: The Ward
3. Call of Duty: World at War - BEATEN
4. Corpse Party
5. Tex Murphy: Mean Streets
6. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - IN PROCESS
7. Sniper Elite
8. Powerslave
9. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
10. Duke Nukem Forever

[MrPopo]

Metal Gear 2 ended up going faster than I expected, or maybe I just got into it enough. It's really a fantastic evolution of the first game; the ideas they had are now fleshed out, both mechanically and storytelling-wise. I'm in the final boss rush now, so I'll be wrapping it up shortly.

[MrPopo]

NES port of Metal Gear was pretty fast to get through, as it's mostly the same as the MSX port. The parts where it differs are in removing one long maze segment, and disconnecting a set of basement buildings into a separate set of buildings hidden behind some Lost Woods traversal that never has the solution listed. It's a compromised port, but not to a terrible degree. It's just a lesser game.

[MrPopo]

I'm looking to wrap up the 8-bit entries with Snake's Revenge. This game is hateful. It's one of those "the first game, but harder" sequels from the era. But, like other sequels of the era, it tries to add in something new. And that something new utterly fails. They decided to add some side scrolling segments, where you run, can shoot or knife or drop explosives (only to get through barriers), but you still have to worry about enemies seeing you. Unless you get into the habit of ducking before every scene transition, you'll be constantly setting off alarms. And you control really poorly. Your movement is floaty, and the game distinguishes between ducking (which has you 1.5 tiles tall) and crawling (where you are only 1 tile tall). Only the latter helps you out, and it requires you to move a bit to trigger. This is not a game to go into blind.

[Ack]

I have started playing Sniper Elite. This was not my original plan, but one of the quirks of retro PC gaming is that you sometimes have to fight with games to make them run, and this is one such title. In the process of implementing wide screen fixes, frame rate caps, tweaking controls, and so on, I realized I was several levels in. So I might as well keep playing.

Sniper Elite is yet another World War 2 game, though it's also technically a Cold War game. You're a sniper named Karl Fairburn, an OSS sniper pretending to be a German as Berlin crumbles under Soviet invasion at the end of the war. Your primary mission: prevent the Soviets from getting German nuclear scientists. Primarily through assassination.

Levels are broken up into smaller subsets, usually 3 or so, across multiple maps and with objectives and sub-objectives that can change over the course of your mission based on how you go forward. Of course, with you being an OSS officer, you technically want both Germany and the Soviet Union to lose, so sometimes you help one to kill the other, and sometimes you kill both. But more importantly, you sneak around, pick your path through the missions preferably by stealth, then do your objectives. Take your time, keep your eyes open and your head down, and make very sure of your timing and your aim before you attempt to take a shot.

2/10 DONE

1. Marathon 2 - BEATEN
2. Dementium: The Ward
3. Call of Duty: World at War - BEATEN
4. Corpse Party
5. Tex Murphy: Mean Streets
6. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines - IN PROCESS
7. Sniper Elite - IN PROCESS
8. Powerslave
9. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
10. Duke Nukem Forever

[MrPopo]

Snake's Revenge is finished. It's an improvement on the first NES game from a technical front, but not from a fun front.

[alienjesus]

1. Mega Man Legends (PS1)
2. Star Control 2 (3DO)
3. Sonic CD (MCD)
4. Radiant Silvergun (SAT)
5. Grandia II (DC)

I finished up Mega Man Legends over the weekend. It's a lot of fun and I'm very keen to jump into the sequel some time - I need to buy it first though! It's a game that definitey feels like a test run for bigger things - the controls could use some refinement and the scope and scale of the game is relatively small. Despite that though, it really shines with it's anime aesthetic, the recurring Yatterman/Team Rocket-esque Bonne family of villains, great visual aesthetic and charming cast of characters.

Next up on my list is Star Control 2. I'm going to start it at the weekend because I think I'll need some time to get into this one and really understand it. I know Popo is a fan, but it's definitely outside of my usual wheelhouse so curious to see how I find it.

[Note]

I'm a bit late to the Summer Games Challenge; however, after going through the list and seeing other's picks, I'm going to try to play some of the same games. I'm hoping to play mostly shorter games, so I can continue to knock a chunk of my backlog off, but if any of these games are a longer haul than expected, definitely let me know, so I can potentially swap something out!

1. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES)
2. Resident Evil - Code: Veronica (DC)
3. Metal Gear Solid (PS1)
4. Arkanoid: Doh It Again (SNES)
5. Radiant Silvergun (SAT)

[Ack]

I'm gonna warn you right now, Arkanoid: Doh It Again is like 100 levels.