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Beating games can be difficult for me, I have a terrible habit of putting considerable time into a game, then moving on to another... Leaving me with plenty of partially played games. Sometimes when I go back to them it is rather hard to figure out what was going on. Anyway, so far this year I have beat:

Super Mario Bros...(As ashamed as I am to say, yes, I had never actually beaten SMB, having it on my 3ds, I told myself I needed to do it. The level before the final one almost had me throwing my system it was so infuriating!)

Tomb Raider (the new one) This game was awesome! It was every bit as good as it looked since I first saw the previews.

Yakuza 2, this is one of those, play it a bunch, and forget about it games. I had 13 hours according to my last save, and I had the urge the other day to see it through, and it was only another 4 hours before the credits rolled. I had gone on a kick with this series after I played the first when I picked it up for super cheap. After that I went out and found the other 3. Started right on 2, and while it was super awesome, it just got lost in the mix. So 3 and 4 have just sat on the shelf, waiting... 4 is still sealed.

jay_red wrote:Yakuza 2.

^Has one of the best game endings ever.

Games Beaten in 2012 = 32
1/21 To the Moon (PC)
2/28 Kentucky Route Zero: Act I (PC)
3/12 The King of the Wood (PC)

Games Beaten = 3

3/14 The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)

Man, I really enjoyed the story and atmosphere in this game. For those that don't know The Witcher 2 is an RPG in the third-person perspective. You have a pretty dense skill tree that either branches out over Magic, Swordplay, or Potions. The gameplay is fun, but is pretty clunky at times and could've used a little polishing. The real draw here is the storyline and how truly branching it can be. The story is highly political and you may choose to kill someone/let them live, that completely changes the political landscape. There are also two main paths that mean you may not even go to the same town in one playthrough of the game versus the other.

I wish I had played the first game in the series before delving in here, but I just couldn't get into it, like I did with this one. This one really drew me in with the characters and their motivations. I'm very much looking forward to the recently announced end of the trilogy, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt is really discussed in the latter half of Witcher 2 and knowing that was the title of the next one, made me even more intrigued about any scrap of information I could gather about it.

1. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions PSP
2. Pokémon: Dream Radar 3DS eShop
3. New Super Mario Bros. U Wii U
4. Paper Mario: Sticker Star 3DS
5. New Super Mario Bros. 2 3DS
6. Mario Tennis Open 3DS
7. Wario Land 3 GBC
8. Hana Samurai: Art of the Sword 3DS eShop
9. The "Denpa" Men: They Came By Wave 3DS eShop
10. Pokémon White Version 2 DS
11. Kirby Mass Attack DS
12. F-Zero Wii U VC
13. Jeanne d'Arc PSP
14. DoDonPachi Resurrection 360
15. Patapon PSP
16. F-Zero X N64
17. Cave Story WiiWare
18. Parodius GBC *NEW*
19. Shock Troopers Wii VC *NEW*

Well, that didn't take long!

Parodius is a well made little port of Parodius Da! which was released in Europe, but nto the US as far as I know. I played the colourised port included as part of Konami Classics Collection Volume 2 for GBC, which also includes Quarth (renamed Block Game for some odd reason), Frogger and Track & Field. The game is solid, with all four playable characters available and a nice weapon variety between them. My preferred character is Octopus as his missiles attack above and below, his laser is a wide hitting ripple and his options trail behind rather than catch up like other characters do. Whilst the gameplay is fun, there's a surprising amount on screen at once and it's impressively long with 7-8 stages, the biggest flaw of this game is it's mean stage design. It's kind of a Gradius staple, but more than any other game in the series I've played, dying here is basically the end of your run - if it set you back to the beginning of the stage upon dying it might be OK, but normally it sets you only a tiny bit back, giving you no time to power up. Stage 3 is the absolute worst for this, and seems almost impossible unless you do it in a single run. The 8th stage of the game is only available if you dont use the level select feature, which I admittedly did (I was tired and the game had infinite continues anyway, so restarting where I left off the next day didnt seem like a big deal) so I guess you might call this beat into question, but I don't care, because I count it.

If you don't own Shock Troopers, what the hell is wrong with you? Go buy it and play it right now, instead of reading this. I dont mind, no one really reads this stuff anyway . This is probably my favourite game on Neo Geo though - it's fast paced, fun and offers some brilliant level design and satisfying bosses. The team battle mode where you select up to 3 characters to switch between, offering a variety of weapons, speeds and power is a really nice novelty, although I eventually beat the game on Lone Wolf mode as Marie Bee because I liked her speed and weapon much more than most other characters (except maybe Milky, who has an awesomely silly name). The game offers 3 routes to the final boss, with you being able to switch which path you're on at any time, giving you a nice selection of 3 levels at any one time until the final level. The levels offer a bit of variety as you progress to keep things interesting, including some fun ones where you ride atop a truck or drive down the road on a motorbike, aswell as ones where you climb a cliff or swing across a rope stung above a canyon. It's loads of fun. The Classic Controller seems like a perfect fit for the game's controls, and I'd happily recommend the Wii VC version to anybody, but it's also available on the SNK Classics Collection for Wii, plus it's on PSN. Oh, and Neo Geo too, if you're one of those wealthy types who owns one

Next Up: Hopefully some more games taken down as quickly as those two! Almost finished 1080, so hopefully that'll be taken down next. After that something out of Cybernator, DK Land 3, Kirby Tilt n Tumble or Blaster Master is on the cards.

Just finished Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II for XBox.

Fantastic action-RPG that is a worthy successor to the first entry and was well worth the $30 purchase.

The third-to-last boss, the girl-turned vampire who was the first person you rescue in the game, was hard as heck! Harder than the vampire who turned her (second-to-last boss), and harder than the final boss! I had my armor enhanced to have 50% Ignore Knock-Back, yet nonetheless she was knocking me back and getting like 4-5 hits because of it for every 1 hit I'd give her. Luckily I had a lot of healing potions.

1. Medal of Honor Allied Assault Spearhead - PC (January 2)
2. America's Army - Arcade (January 12) - 1cc!
3. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell - Gamecube (January 26)
4. Dragon Spirit - NES (February 7) - 1cc!
5. *NEW* Final Fantasy - (by way of DoS) - GBA (March 15)

This was a spirited and emotional game finish for me. Read more about my experiences in my post in the thread. (direct link to post here)

dsheinem wrote:Thanks to ExedExes for suggesting Monster Maulers, which is more indisputable proof that Konami was in a class of its own in the first half of the 90s. A hybrid fighting game/beat em up, this one will munch your quarters and leave you enjoying every minute of it. Gorgeous sprite work, a great soundtrack, and some compelling art design (outside the player characters) make this one an easy one to recommend.

You're very welcome. Through MAME it's easy for me to say Konami was a true arcade force to be reckoned with in the early 90s. Many knew their licensed 4-player games, but there was much MUCH more to be found. Monster Maulers was a great example.

1. Liberation Maiden (3DS) - 1/6
2. Dead Space (360) - 1/11
3. Anarchy Reigns (360) - 1/13
4. Dead Space 2 (360) - 1/17
5. Dead Space 2: Severed DLC (360) - 1/17
6. DmC Devil May Cry (360) - 1/22
7. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3) - 2/5
8. CoD of Duty (Web) - 2/7
9. Dragon's Dogma (360) - 2/12
10. Medal of Honor: Warfighter (360) - 2/13
11. Dead Space 3 (360) - 2/18
12. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (360) - 3/5
13. Sonic the Fighters (XBLA) - 3/10
14. Tomb Raider (360) - 3/12
15. Ridiculous Fishing (iOS) - 3-17

BurningDoom wrote:

Just finished Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II for XBox.

Fantastic action-RPG that is a worthy successor to the first entry and was well worth the $30 purchase.

The third-to-last boss, the girl-turned vampire who was the first person you rescue in the game, was hard as heck! Harder than the vampire who turned her (second-to-last boss), and harder than the final boss! I had my armor enhanced to have 50% Ignore Knock-Back, yet nonetheless she was knocking me back and getting like 4-5 hits because of it for every 1 hit I'd give her. Luckily I had a lot of healing potions.

Part I is tons of fun, I'd really like to try this sequel. Seems pretty hard to find though!

Kirby Mass Attack - (DS)
Shining Force - (MD)
Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown - (PS3)
Rayman 2 - (DC)
Chu Chu Rocket - (DC)
Elemental Gimmick Gear - (DC)
Osawari Tantei Ozawa Rina - (DS)
Power Stone - (DC)
Ao no 6gou - Saigetsu Fumachibito ~Time & Tide~ - (DC)
Metroid - (NES)
Shin Souseiki Ragnacenty - (MD)
Ristar - (GEN)
Mickey's Ultimate Challenge - (GEN)
McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure - (GEN)

Gunstar Heroes - (GEN)
World of Illusion - Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck - (GEN)
Shining Force II - (MD)
Sin & Punishment - Star Successor - (Wii)
Bushido Blade - (PS)
Vampire Hunter - (Saturn)
Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari - (Saturn)
Princess Crown - (Saturn)
Mario Power Tennis - (GC)
Chaotix - (32X)
Kirby Squeak Squad - (DS)
Phantasy Star Fukkokuban - (MD)
Dragon Quest I - (SFC)
Dynamite Deka - (Saturn)
Aladdin - (GEN)
Ibara - (PS2)
Blast Wind - (Saturn)
The Monkey King: The Legend Begins - (Wii)
Little Nemo: The Dream Master - (NES)
Rockman Mega World - (MD)
-Rockman
-Rockman 2
-Rockman 3
-Wily Tower
Mega Man 2 - (NES)
Rockman 8 - (Saturn)


Two things strike me about this list: 1) I haven't been keeping up with it much at all. 2) I've been on a bit of a Rockman/Mega Man tear. I have to say that I really enjoy 1, 2, 3 and 8 on particular platforms, but I'm not here to talk about Rockman I already did enough of that here. (Although, it occurred to me that if Rockman wasn't heavily (HEAVILY) inspire by Jinzou Ningen Kikaider, I would be shocked. SHOCKED, I say!)

No, what's really gotten me excited (aside from Rockman) is how good Little Nemo the Dream Master is. After playing it, I honestly thought it changed my perception of the NES. (At least from a software perspective.) Then I played a bit of Blaster Master, and Mega Mans 1, 2 and 4, which made the good feelings stop. But, I've still resolved to acquire a number of other Capcom NES games--and enjoy them, damnit--because of Little Nemo. As for what makes Little Nemo so special: For one thing, I'm really sweet on surrealism, especially in animation; and Little Nemo pulls off some very seductive surrealist motifs, given the limitations of the platform it's running on. The art direction in general is top notch. I don't think Winsor McCay's publications could have been adapted to an NES game any better than they were. I actually think the NES version looks substantially better than the arcade version in terms of presentation and gameplay; though I've not actually played any of the arcade version. The music is fantastic--although, I don't find it especially fitting, personally. I enjoy listening to them more on their own, than as backdrops to the stages themselves, in most cases.

The controls are especially good for an NES game. Nemo is very maneuverable, and the tameable 'frien-a-mies' are very fun to derp around with. It's a very challenging game, but I generally feel that any game which lets one continue from the beginning of the stage to his hearts content is never really that difficult. I enjoy the challenge of Little Nemo, but it may throw some people off. Stage 8 is fairly unforgiving. I generally didn't feel overly challenged until that point. Especially the second area in Stage 8. (Those fire pillars can eat me.) Word of warning to anyone interested in playing this game though: If you intend to continue, do not let the title screen fade before you choose to continue. If the intro scene starts playing again, "Continue" will send you to the first stage. I learned that the hard way, and rage quit after. (One could just as easily use the level select, but that's the quitter's way out. Also, I didn't know about it at the time--.)

The game also made me look into the movie that it was based on, and wow; what a steaming pile. So, maybe it's not all that bad, but I guess there's some fairly depressing development history to the movie. I found two early trailers of the movie on youtube--here and here--and the latter, by Osamu Dezaki, is especially saddening given the end result. Inevitably, what was released feels much more like a whimsical tale in a far off land, than a series of dream states, which doesn't end up feeling very faithful to the source material. Icarus is still an adorable little bastard, either way (almost wish he were in the game) and I like the littlest goblin character, but I think the movie feels very generic, and underwhelming. A sad fact that I have to live with. The game, and the comic strip more than make up for it, anyway. (Although, that turn-of-the-century insensitivity is still a little off putting.)

January 2013:

Mario Kart Wii - Wii
Mario Kart 7 - 3DS
Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse - SNES

February 2013:

Chrono Trigger - DS

March 2013:

Sonic Wings Special - PSN
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled - PSN
Army of Two: 40th Day - PS3

Great Co-Op Campaign 3rd person shooter, love the weapon customization.Good alternative to Gears of War if you dont have a Xbox 360 like me, but even if i had a Xbox 360 i would still play the shit out of this. Completed the game with 6 hours 52 minutes played on Normal, going to replay on Contractor mode.