Games Beaten 2015

[MrPopo]

Well, I guess people can decide for themselves if they prefer my unprofessional review or your professional one.

Don't you have to be paid for it to be professional? J T's can be a clinical review, since he's a doctor.

Dave was going to be paid but donated the money to NPR, so it counts.

[dsheinem]

Well, I guess people can decide for themselves if they prefer my unprofessional review or your professional one.

Sorry, I should have used blue text. I was mostly trying to get a rise out of noise, since it was for his deal.

[Exhuminator]

January
1. Devil's Attorney (Android) 7/10
2. Resident Evil 5 (360) 8/10
3. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (360) 8/10
4. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2) 9/10
5. Gears of War (360) 6/10

February
6. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita) 7/10
7. Orcs & Elves (DS) 8/10

Orcs & Elves is a well designed lightweight turn based dungeon crawler with a retro flair. Playing very fast paced with low difficulty, Orcs & Elves is more concerned with the player having fun than merely surviving. Constant combat is kept interesting through a large variety of unique weapons and tactical potion usage. The plot is quite thin, however the ever pervasive humor goes a long way to keep things interesting. With better graphics and an actual OST, Orcs & Elves may have gained more traction. However, those with fond memories of Heretic and Eye Of The Beholder would do well to roll this DS underdog a saving throw.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2015

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call - 3DS
A Bird Story - PC
Quake - PC
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - PS4
Quake: Scourge of Armagon - PC
Quake: Dissolution of Eternity - PC
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis - NDS
Painkiller - PC
Gungrave: Overdose - PS2
Adventure -Atari 2600 (PS2)
Auto Racing - Intellivision (PS2) [1979]
Boxing - Atari 2600 (PS2) [1980]
The Count - TI99/4A (emulated) [1981]
Dragonstomper - Atari 2600/Starpath Supercharger (emulated) [1982]
Enduro - Atari 2600 (PS2) [1983] *new*
Diablo III - PS4 *new*

Total: 16

Previously: 2014 | The First 400 Games

Enduro is the game I picked from a slim field of "E" games of interest to me released in 1983. I counted it as "beaten" when I played well enough to earn the Activision badge associated with the game (which was no easy task!). Another innovative and interesting Activision VCS title

Diablo III I've been playing off and on for a few weeks in co-op with my son and, during his two hour snow delay this morning, we finally took down the Prime Evil. We'll get to the content in the Reaper of Souls expansion this weekend, probably. The game is just as fun on the console as it was on the PC, though I think I still prefer it on the latter. In any case, the game has been on my "Games Beaten" list in some form or fashion for the past three years and is safely in my list of "Top 10 favorite games of all time" at this point.

[Sarge]

[quote="Sarge"]January:

1) Rollergames
2) Bayou Billy
3) Whomp 'Em
4) Love+ (repeat, B-)
5) Love+ (repeat, B)
6) Zen: Intergalactic Ninja
7) Battletoads & Double Dragon
8 ) Battletoads (repeat, first time with Game Genie, this time using save states, nowhere near legit win... but it was "beaten")
9) Battletoads (repeat, legit, no Game Genie, no continues, no save states!)
10) Rockin' Kats
11) The Little Mermaid
12) Tiny Toons Adventures
13) Tiny Toons Adventures 2
14) Code Name: Viper
15) Bayou Billy (completely legit!)
16) King of Dragons (on Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
17) Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom
18) Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos
19) Ninja Ryuukenden III
20) Treasure of the Rudras
21) TMNT: Tournament Fighters (SNES) (repeat)
21) Ninja Gaiden III (SNES)
22) Ninja Gaiden (SNES)
23) Wrath of the Black Manta
24) TMNT (NES) (save states)
25) TMNT (NES) (legit)
26) Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (SNES)

February:

27) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (repeat)
28) The Krion Conquest
29) Jackie Chan's Action Kung-Fu
30) Yume Penguin Monogatari
31) Street Fighter 2010 (save states / rewind)
32) Street Fighter 2010 (repeat, legit run)
33) Conquest of the Crystal Palace

Almost no gaming time over the weekend, too busy cleaning and rearranging all my stuff. Trying to get my collection all organized into one room, and taking up less space.

Anyway, last night I went through Conquest of the Crystal Palace. It's a decent game, very mild RPG elements, and some creepy Japanese imagery at times, and it was even creepier in spots in the original release. It can also be pretty tough. The physics feel a little off, you immediately drop if you slash your sword in midair. But really, overall, it's one of those underappreciated little gems on the system.

[BoneSnapDeez]

The music in that game is amazing. Especially when you're in Kim's shop.

[Exhuminator]

Fun fact about Conquest of the Crystal Palace; it was the first commercial game that Yasumi Matsuno worked on. Yes that Matsuno-san. He is listed as "Planner" in the credits.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well it was a Quest game, right? I still need to finish it someday. I've owned it for 20+ years.

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Grandia (PlayStation)
2. Jungle Hunt (Xbox - Taito Legends)
3. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
4. Jungle Hunt (Plug & Play - ColecoVision Flashback)
5. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
6. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
7. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
8. Bubble Bobble (NES)
9. Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
10. 1941: Counter Attack (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
11. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PSP)
12. The Ninja Kids (Xbox - Taito Legends)
13. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
14. Golden Axe Warrior (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)

Neutopia

Neutopia is Hudson's take on the LoZ formula. Though the game was released on a 16-bit system, this was 1989/90 - so it predates Link to the Past by a bit and is thus based solely off of the original LoZ.

It's hard to talk about this game (or GAW, for that matter) without comparing it to Zelda. Let me approach things by talking about how these games differ from the Big Z.

Neutopia doesn't feature a huge sprawling overworld to explore. Instead, there are four smaller overworlds each connected to a central "hub." Each of these worlds looks completely different - they are assigned one of the four elements - and contains two dungeons. Once the dungeons are completed the next overworld opens up. This keeps the game very focused and linear. You also won't find yourself caught in any looping forests or spend time searching for that one special tree to burn.

The sword possessed by our hero, Jazeta, is much less impressive than Link's. There are no projectile laser shots, even at full health. Instead the game relies heavily on the use of a "secondary" weapon: the fire rod. This produces a certain type of offensive magic dependent on Jazeta's health. With full energy he produces long-lasting columns of flame that can "juggle" enemies much like the fire magic in Ys II. When health is low a fireball boomerang is shot from the wand instead. As expected, fire also interacts with the environment, as it's used to burn down trees and, uh, rocks. Bombs are another tool of Jazeta's, though only for blasting through walls - not for blasting through triceratopses. The game controls well, difficulty is well-balanced, and combat is a blast.

Neutopia is surprisingly text-heavy, making it one of the more import-unfriendly PC Engine games. The dialogue and conversations are incredibly straightforward, overly literal, and (unintentionally) hilarious. Some of my favorites:
- The strongest armor, shield, and sword contained within the game are known as the "strongest armor", "strongest shield", and "strongest sword."
- The old wise men and women actually preface their conversations by saying "I am a wise old man" or "I am a kind mother".
- At one point some guy tells Jazeta that he cannot pass if he doesn't have the fire rod in his posession. He says this whether or not Jazeta is equipped with the rod and does absolutely nothing to stop him if he lacks it.

Graphically Neutopia looks "12-bit" - late NES/early SNES styled graphics. Everything is smooth, bright, and colorful. I dig it. The soundtrack is a mixed bag. My three favorite tracks are, incidentally, the first three that present themselves. Everything else I have a hard time recalling.

The dungeons are a bit plain, but Neutopia's bosses are awesome. Huge freakish creatures with great animations and varied attacks. They're tough muthas too, so bring some heal potions.

My biggest gripe with the game is related to NEC's hardware itself. If you're playing on a vanilla TurboGrafx-16, as I was, then there's no way to save your game. Instead you're stuck with incredibly tedious passwords. For this reason I found it best to play in long stretches - fortunately the game is well under 10 (probably even under 7) hours.

Ultimately, this is a decent game - one of the best on the TG16 - but it can't hold a tree-burning candle to The Legend of Zelda. Neutopia simply lacks the hooks and, well, legendary moments that make LoZ so special: the intro with the waterfall, a huge world to lose yourself in, dungeons shaped like creatures and symbols, the snappy dialogue ("IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE..") and so on... And given it's high price tag I'd hesitantly recommend Neutopia - only for those wishing to delve deep into the retro action-adventure-RPG genre.

There is a Neutopia II but it ain't cheap and I don't own it.

Golden Axe Warrior

This might be even more derivative than Neutopia. There's one large overworld here - complete with a rudimentary map - with dungeons scattered throughout. It does mirror Zelda's overworld to a certain extent with mountains in the north and grasslands to the south, but there are some notable additions like an area full of hot lava that must be frozen to proceed.

Some other major differences...
Towns with shops and actual save points (though if you play on Sonic's UGG you can save wherever)! Talking to most NPCs also brings up a separate screen where you see facial portraits. The characters from the original Golden Axe are back to provide your hero (is this the Ax Battler?) with spells. The Golden Axe theme plays when you speak to them which always brought a smile to my face. The familiar beasts from the beat 'em ups are present as well.

And now I have unfortunately run out of positive things to say about the game.

The interface is a bit clunky. Since the SMS had less buttons on the controller than the NES one of the action buttons in GAW is assigned to the status menu. This means you can't hold two weapons/items at once and frequently have to bring up the menu to switch.

But that's petty poop compared to the real issue. The controls. They suck. In Zelda, Link is restricted to something of a grid-like motion. This allows you to easily maneuver the little elf man and line up attacks. It's never difficult to end up squarely facing your target. In GAW, the Ax Battler and his respective enemies move way too fast, like they're sliding across ice. Controls are loose and pixel-perfect precision is required during combat. In fact, combat with any enemy that requires more than one hit to defeat is a chore in itself. When you strike an enemy it gets knocked backed slightly, and then gains blinking invincibility and charges forward again. Enemies seem to loose the "blinking" when they're right on top of your sprite, so fighting most anything requires a sort of two-step dance or constant movement around the screen. This isn't fun.

On the other hand, so many bosses are stupidly easy. Some can't even hit you if you remain in the doorway - including the final boss!

I'm glad I played this. It's an interesting historical oddity and nice to see on a compilation given how expensive the original SMS cart is. But I can't recommend it in good faith. Unless you are, again, deeply in love with old action-RPGs or you consider yourself a hardcore Golden Axe fan (does anyone?) stay away from this one.

[emwearz]

Games Beaten 2015

1. New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 3DS
2. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Wii U
3. God of War - PS2
4. Gunman Clive - 3DS
5. Dead Space 3: Awakened (DLC) - PC
6. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - DS
7. Rogue Legacy - PS4

Total Games for 2015: 7

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - DS
I have heard so many mixed things about Apollo Justice, it took me quite awhile after finishing the original trilogy to get around to play it. I loved it! It may actually be my favorite game in the series. The chapters were all really well self contained, while also having a very good over arching story to tie them all together. It also lacks the supernatural stuff from the first three which I always felt was a bit out of place.

Rogue Legacy - PS4
I clocked 11 hours into this, not a bad game by any means! Fun rogue like meets Metroidvania game. You pretty much save up, level / gear up, die, play a new random map, do this until you are strong enough to defeat a boss, repeat. Really fun and well polished game. Really right controls as well.