Games Beaten 2021

[ElkinFencer10]

Well, here we are. With this, I've beaten every game in the God of War series including the one that no one remembers existed and the one even more obscure than that one.

Games Beaten in 2021 - 8
* denotes a replay

January (8 Games Beaten)

1. God of War - PlayStation 3 - January 1
2. God of War II - PlayStation 3 - January 2
3. God of War: Chains of Olympus - PlayStation 3 - January 3
4. God of War: Ghost of Sparta - PlayStation 3 - January 4
5. God of War III - PlayStation 4 - January 6
6. God of War: Ascension - PlayStation 3 - January 9
7. God of War [2018] - PlayStation 4 - January 16
8. God of War: Betrayal - Mobile - January 17

8. God of War: Betrayal - Mobile - January 17



This is a game I honestly never thought I'd play. It's not that I never wanted to; I never thought I'd be able to. Apparently there isn't a whole lot of demand for old Java mobile phone games' being made playable on modern Androids and iPhones. Fortunately, after some Googling and Reddit scouring, I managed to find an Android-based Java emulator that mostly works along with a file of the game. It wasn't perfect - the controls weren't always the most responsive, and the right part of the screen got cut off - but it worked well enough for me to play through the game and experience it.



I went into this game with very low expectations. I usually scoff at mobile phone games in 2021 despite the fact that many are objectively excellent, so I was positive that I'd be disappointed if not downright disgusted with a mobile phone God of War game from 2007. I have to admit, though, I was wrong. It's obviously no masterpiece, but considering the limitations of the time and the platform, it's an extremely competent and impressive game, and it does a much better job of capturing the tone and gameplay feel of God of War than I had ever hoped.



Visually, I'd say it looks somewhere between an impressive Game Boy Color game and a so-so Game Boy Advance game, but what really impressed me was how the game felt to play. Despite being played on a solidly okay emulator with a touch screen, the game controlled really well. It didn't always register my button presses as well as I'd have wished, but even with that, it was remarkable how enjoyable I found the experience to be. The sound in the game, while obviously limited, was pretty good too. It won't be winning any awards for audio design, but it's not nearly the auditory train wreck I'd been expecting.



The game takes place between the events of God of War: Ghost of Sparta and God of War II. Kratos is waging a war for the sake of war, fighting this weird eye monster, Argos, whom Hera sent to stop Kratos. Then this assassin dude shows up and tries to kill Kratos. It doesn't work, and Kratos goes on this revenge-fueled rampage through Greece. It's simple, but it gets the job done. The game is pretty short - as one would expect from a mid-2000s mobile game - with ten levels each taking between ten and fifteen minutes to finish. It may be lacking in quantity, but the quality is there all things considered.



God of War: Betrayal is by no means a must-play even for hardcore fans of the series, but it is definitely a neat novelty, and if you do decide to go through the effort to getting it running on your phone or tablet, it's a fun little romp. I doubt anyone other than fans of God of War or obscure old game connoisseurs would get much enjoyment out of this, but it's definitely a cool game to experience if you feel so inclined. I definitely don't regret going through the effort of figuring out how to play it.

[BoneSnapDeez]

What the hell.

When you started this little marathon I chuckled to myself and thought "well, it won't be the whole series as he won't play God of War: Betrayal."

[ElkinFencer10]

What the hell.

When you started this little marathon I chuckled to myself and thought "well, it won't be the whole series as he won't play God of War: Betrayal."

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE ME, BONE.

[Gunstar Green]

Super Mario Odyssey

This game has always felt like somewhat of a risk for me. I've never been a fan of 3D platformers from the very first time I played Mario 64. My awful depth perception combined with control that just never felt as precise as their 2D ancestors has always kept me from really enjoying them. One of the only ones I've ever had a legitimately good time with was Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS which used the handheld's 3D gimmick possibly the best of any game in its library.

That said, I loved Odyssey. The quirky kingdoms were an exciting breath of fresh air for the franchise that filled the world with life and character and made the simple act of moving around and exploring exciting and fun. The high number of moons scattered around were mostly fun to collect and allowed me to play at my own pace. If something was too hard or I didn't enjoy some mini-game I could just move on and get moons elsewhere. While I'm sure this drove completionists up a wall, for my playstyle it was perfect and ensured the experience was always a breezy and laid back one. Odyssey is a game that just wants you to have a good time and not stress over the little things.

From beginning to end the game threw new mechanics and scenarios at you thanks in part to Cappy's capture ability which was more than a little reminiscent of Kirby. It was however almost exclusively used in solving platforming puzzles and not as much for offensive purposes. When you do beat the game, which can be done fairly quickly with the bare minimum of moons, the levels are repopulated with even more moons. It's a pretty good way to give players a reason to revisit levels and adds a great deal of playing time for anyone who hasn't had enough.

I also enjoyed how outside of the main, incredibly tired, old story of "Save Peach" (which also had an amusing subversion during the ending) that every kingdom had its own thing going on and you felt like you were actually having a positive impact as you helped those around you and completed objectives. Mario actually felt like he was being a hero and not just the avatar that you make jump through levels for the sake of beating the level. There's nothing wrong with that as I love good level-based gameplay but it did add some motivation to the moon collecting.

Initially I planned on quitting here but I was having such a good time that I kept going. I can see the argument some people have for this being padding. There's only a few truly new things to see in the old levels and the game started to drag its feet, but it's a game that welcomes you to play it as much as you want and makes its ending easy enough to achieve that you can walk away as soon as it stops being fun. Most of the negative opinions I've seen tossed Odysseys way tends to come from people who refuse to walk away once they've gotten tired of it.

I partially ignored my own advice here and pressed on and get the 500 moons needed to unlock the final kingdom and conquered the sadistic platforming challenge that waited for me there even though it was extremely difficult for me and reminded me why I generally hate this genre. It's optional content though, so I can only blame myself for not letting the game beat me and powering through it. With that beaten I think I can safely say I'm satisfied with the game despite hundreds of moons still hiding out there somewhere.

Super Mario Odyssey confirmed that a lot of the biases I have against this sort of game persist, but it also made a powerful effort in mitigating those issues by allowing itself to be approached in different ways, rewarding experimentation and letting anyone with an open mind have a good time with it from 3D platforming veterans to casual losers like myself. I'm always happy to find a game I think I won't connect with prove me wrong. It's an extremely charming adventure and a triumph of modern game design.

[Markies]

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2021!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*

1. Midtown Madness 3 (XBOX)
2. X-Men 2: Clone Wars (GEN)
3. Sonic Adventure 2 (SDC)



I beat Sonic Adventure 2 on the Sega DreamCast this evening!

I picked up the original Sonic Adventure when I bought my first load of DreamCast games. I remember seeing the game on my friend's 80" Projector and almost feeling sick at the speeds and movement of the first level. I then played the game months later and got to experience it for myself. It was the first and only video game I ever called, "It's so bad, it's good." If you looked at the details, then the game is bad, but as a whole, I actually kind of liked it. With some deep hesitation, I picked up Sonic Adventure 2 a few years ago at a local store. Apparently, I was dragging my feet too much on the game as the Fortune Cookie decided that I should play Sonic Adventure 2.

You know how I just called Sonic Adventure, "It's so bad, it's good"?? Well, Sonic Adventure 2 is so bad that it is bad. The game is split up into fast action stages with Sonic, shooter stages with Tails and exploring levels with Knuckles. Much like the first game, the camera and controls are utterly terrible. The camera switches constantly and it makes hard to see where you are going some of the times. You miss jumps on Sonic levels and you can't look around in Knuckles levels. The controls also jump around as you go break neck speeds right into enemies or bounce around falling off ledges. The Sonic levels are mostly fine until the end when the game throws too much at you and you have to do some precise platforming. Tails' levels are mostly fine, but every time you shoot or lock onto enemies you hear this loud buzzing noise. You hear that throughout the entire level. Knuckles' stages are the worst. You have to find three pieces of the Chaos Emeralds in incredibly precise locations on a giant map. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. And your guide only helps you on one at a time. Several of Knuckles' stages took me over 45 minutes to complete. And their locations are all random, so there is no help that way either.

Overall, I really began to dislike my time with Sonic Adventure 2. At first, I could put up with the game's faults on smaller and more contained stages. But, once annoying boss fights, large stages and constant death pits everywhere started showing up, my patience for the game was done. I'm probably done with the Sonic series and I need the rest. The only people who would enjoy this game are diehard Sonic fans. Everybody else should just pass.

[Gunstar Green]

Yeah I'm with you on Sonic Adventure 2. Popular opinion seems to hold that game on a high pedestal but for me it had none of quirky the charm of the first game and all of the BS times ten (minus Big at least).

[prfsnl_gmr]

What the hell.

When you started this little marathon I chuckled to myself and thought "well, it won't be the whole series as he won't play God of War: Betrayal."

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE ME, BONE.

Dude...you are killing it. It’s been a delight reading your reviews, and the fact you played through the mobile game is totally awesome.

[ElkinFencer10]

Games Beaten in 2021 - 9
* denotes a replay

January (9 Games Beaten)

1. God of War - PlayStation 3 - January 1
2. God of War II - PlayStation 3 - January 2
3. God of War: Chains of Olympus - PlayStation 3 - January 3
4. God of War: Ghost of Sparta - PlayStation 3 - January 4
5. God of War III - PlayStation 4 - January 6
6. God of War: Ascension - PlayStation 3 - January 9
7. God of War [2018] - PlayStation 4 - January 16
8. Epic Dumpster Bear 2: He Who Bears Wins - PlayStation 4 - January 16
9. God of War: Betrayal - Mobile - January 17

9. Epic Dumpster Bear 2: He Who Bears Wins - PlayStation 4 - January 16



This is the game I've dreamt of since I first played Epic Dumpster Bear on my Wii U years ago. I spent sleepless night wondering what became of Dumpster Bear after he destroyed the evil corporation's space station and put a halt to their nefarious plans. Finally, at long last, I have an answer...but will this answer my questions, or will it just raise more? -cue ominous music-



Let me be up front right here at the beginning; I know Epic Dumpster Bear is not a masterpiece of platforming perfection. It's an indie game made in Unity. It does, however, have something that a lot of bigger budget 2D platformers lack - soul. This game just oozes personality and style. It's message is a serious one - a warning about the dangers that unchecked and unrestrained capitalism poses to the environment and wildlife - but that message is delivered in a way that's both humorous and interesting. Not necessarily interesting in a compelling narrative with deep characters and philosophical undertones but rather interesting in that the writing is so clever that you can't help but be curious what the next bit of text dialogue is.



Visually, it's identical to the first game. Even the icon is the same except for the addition of fire behind the dumpster and the number 2 with the subtitle. The obviously low budget aesthetic is part of its charm, though, and I don't mean that ironically. It really does just ooze charm. You can tell that this was a dude's passion project, and that's one of the most endearing things about the game for me. The sound design is pretty much like the visuals - virtually identical to the first game. The enemies and level traps add a bit to the first game, but you'll still see fire jets and barrel gators return. God, I missed the barrel gators. So stupid but so awesome. You do get two cool new mechanics; a forward attack and some special hats. In the first game, you could only attack by landing on enemies a la Super Mario Bros. In this game, you get an attack kind of like Mario's Tanooki suit tail. Depending on the level, you may also get one of two hats. One hat lets you throw curling stone bombs that slide across the ground until they explode, and the other hat lets you throw more traditional looking bombs that explode on impact. You have be on a level that gives you these hats, but they add a super cool element both to enemy destruction as well as obstacle destruction.



The controls are mostly pretty good. Dumpster Bear's movement feels super slick almost as if he's sliding on ice whenever he moves, but it didn't take me long to get used to that. Jumping feels good, and aside from a few instance of spotty hit detection, the attacking feels solid and responsive. If this were a $10 or $15 game, I'd be complaining more about the controls, but between the game's charm and its low price point, it's really a solid package here. The controls aren't bad by any means; there's just a little bit of a learning curve to get used to the rather slick movement.



Epic Dumpster Bear 2 may not be a Sonic Mania or a New Super Mario Bros, but for its price, it's a solid game, and it's probably my favorite indie platformer simply for how charismatic the game is. It's normally $5 - a completely reasonable price in my opinion - but for PlayStation Plus subscribers, you can get it and the first game for just under $5. I'm not sure if that's a regular PS+ deal or a limited time sale, but that's what I paid, and it's MORE than worth that price of admission. If you're good at platformers, it'll probably only take you a couple hours to get through the game. If you're not so good at platformers (like me), it may take a few more hours, but even then, I played through the game start to finish in an afternoon. Whether you're playing on PS4 or Windows, I absolutely recommend both the first Epic Dumpster Bear (psssst...play it on Wii U) and Epic Dumpster Bear 2. I'm hoping for an eventual Switch release (fingers crossed).

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever (Pico)
2. Countermeasure (Atari 5200)
3. Alex Kidd: High-Tech World (Sega Master System)
4. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Game Boy)
5. Night Stalker (Intellivision)
6. Space Battle (Intellivision)
7. Utopia (Intellivision)

Anyone who's familiar with the world of pre-NES video games has become acquainted with the wide array of singe-screen "space shooters" with the iconic Space Invaders being the most recognizable example. But there was another style of "space" game that emerged from the same era -- the space combat sim. Atari's Star Raiders is perhaps the first game of this type to make a big splash, and Sega's multi-platform Star Trek additionally became a minor hit. Games of this style traditionally featured at least two alternating gameplay modes: shooting segments displayed from a first-person perspective and the "simulation" segments that demanded the player focus on strategic maneuvers and resource management. Just as the Space Invaders "fixed shooter" genre evolved into what we now call "shmups" the space sims of old eventually paved for the way for massive interplanetary explorative adventures. One mostly forgotten space sim from back in the day, 1979 no less, was Mattel's Space Battle. This was actually intended to be a Battlestar Galactica game, though Mattel ended up losing the license after development but before the actual release. As such, the enemy spaceships resemble the Cyclon Raiders from the television series.

First things first: like many Intellivision games, Space Battle is completely incomprehensive to those who don't possess the instruction manual and controller overlay. Unprepared players will be stuck pushing random buttons, resulting in a bunch of "fart" noises indicating an illegal move. But things are not nearly as complicated as they first appear. Here's a breakdown. First, a speed selection is made from the title screen (instruction booklet required as the five speeds are essentially mapped to random buttons). And yes, "speed" here is synonymous with difficulty. Then the game begins. The opening screen is the radar screen. In the middle is the player's immobile mothership, which must be protected at all costs. Dot clusters represent encroaching formations of alien invaders (the dots actually correspond to how many aliens are within a group). The white rectangles represent boundary lines; once a group of aliens crosses a certain boundary an alarm goes off, indicating imminent danger. A round is won if all aliens are vanquished; a round is lost if aliens reach the mothership.

Thankfully, the player can dispatch three squadrons from the mothership: blue, white, and gold, which are sent out by pressing buttons 1, 2, and 3. The squadrons amble about in a somewhat meandering fashion, though a specific cluster of aliens can be targeted by repeatedly pressing the "alien" button (the enter button) until a given group is highlighted. Now, it is possible for all three squadrons to float far from the mothership, which is a risky move as the mothership then becomes defenseless. Buttons 4, 5, and 6 are used to navigate a given squadron back towards the base. When a squadron comes into contact with an alien fleet, it begins to blink on the radar screen. Battles do not begin automatically; the player must push one of the three dedicated buttons (7, 8, 9) to instigate. And the fun begins.

First-person combat is undoubtedly the highlight of the Space Battle experience. Missiles are launched by pressing any one of the four fire buttons on the side of the controller and the player's crosshairs are controlled by moving the disc. The battle mechanics are intriguing for a few reasons. Due to the speed of the alien ships, aiming at them directly and firing will typically result in a miss. Instead, the player must fire a small distance ahead of an alien ship's trajectory.. Blasting a ship results in a large explosion, which can then initiate a chain reaction and take out other nearby enemies as well. Damage is only dealt to the player if their crosshairs are hit, so it's surprisingly easy to avoid enemy attacks. Each of the player's squadrons consists of three ships, and each ship can be destroyed by a single enemy blast. The number of alien combatants is displayed in the screen's bottom left-hand corner and a battle ends automatically when that number reaches zero, transporting the player back to the radar screen.

This is where things get really interesting. On the easiest difficulty setting, all the alien hordes will stop moving towards the mothership if a battle is initiated... but that's only on the easiest setting. On higher difficulties the aliens that are not currently facing off with the player will continue creeping forward. The game's AI, running in the background, is on the player's side and will guide squadrons to take on the aliens, but the AI performs somewhat poorly. For every three alien ships destroyed one player ship will be lost. With that said, it is possible for a human player to attempt to juggle multiple battles at once, as a battle can bailed on (turning things over to the AI) by pressing the "radar" button (the clear button), which appropriately returns the player to the radar screen. Missions become highly strategic as difficulty increases, as one is forced to play both offense and defense, calculate the odds, and decipher when and where to rely on the AI fighters. It makes for a tense, challenging experience.

Visuals are a mixed bag. The battle screen looks great with a nice star backdrop and beautifully animated alien fighter ships. The animations displayed during the evasive maneuvers are especially impressive for '79 standards. The radar screen, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired. As indicated, the sprites are but ambiguous symbols and the green background isn't exactly pleasant to look at. Sound effects are fairly standard, and there's a cool little victory horn used to signal successful completion of a round. All told, this isn't the most impressive of the early space sims, but is still a fun little game in its own right. Once you can figure out how to play it.

Utopia is one of the earliest examples of a city-building real-time strategy game. An obscurity in its day, as it was released exclusively for Mattel's systems, it has since become something of a cult classic. The game challenges a single player to create a thriving island city-state, or pits two players against each other giving each the power to sabotage development of a rival nation. When compared to its descendants, the mechanics of Utopia feel a bit dated and clumsy, but this remains one of the more unique specimens on the Intellivision.

Technically speaking, the game is always locked into a two-player mode. If no one picks up the second controller, "island #2" remains completely barren for a stretch before being overrun by rebels. When the game boots, a "term in office" and "term length" are determined, to be agreed upon by both players if applicable. Simply put, this refers to how many "turns" make up the duration of a game and how many seconds each one lasts. Note that an "allowance" of money is automatically doled out to all players once a turn has been completed, so a ten-minute game comprised of many short terms may play out quite differently than a ten-minute game comprised of very few long terms.

Though it's critical to maintain an appropriate supply of money and to nurture a vast population, success in the game is ultimately determined by points, which are calculated by some complex under the hood formula. Elements are placed upon one's island by first moving a cursor to a given spot. Controller overlays are mostly intuitive, with buttons 1 through 9 detailing the specific budget expenditures. While total gold, round number, and remaining time remain onscreen, census figures and total score are displayed by pushing the controller's side action buttons. There's an additional "tally" segment after each round, where the game pauses to display each player's progress.

Strategy is of the risk-reward variety, as placing anything on one's island comes with both pros and cons and money must be spent wisely. Crops, for example, are needed to sustain a population, but are dependent on rain which is outside of the player's control, and will inevitably need to be replanted after several rounds. Factories generate income but it's bundled with pollution that can kill civilians (yikes!). Forts can prevent rebel invasions but are on the pricey side and typically need to be constructed early to be effective. Housing projects are additionally expensive, but quickly boost population. Hospitals, a whopping 75 gold each, increase both total population and productivity of nearby factories. Schools are cheaper and have a similar effect, just less pronounced. Rebels can be dispatched to another island to wreak havoc, though this is obviously only useful in a two-player game. There are also the randomly-assigned AI elements to contend with. Rain is helpful at most times, but hurricanes will destroy anything in their path. And rebels will eventually be automatically assigned to islands that are unproductive and dysfunctional, representing an internal insurrection.

As these are islands, ocean tactics come into play as well. A player may send forth a fishing boat, which will generate money quickly if steered over a nearby school (of fish, that is!). The fishing boat is one of the only elements of the game that the player can directly control once dispatched. Pressing the cursor button (the 0 button) allows one to begin steering the boat around the screen. Since fish move they must be continually chased after, and there are AI pirate ships to avoid. It's also possible to dispatch PT boats, which will defend against pirates and can sink an opponent's fishing boat. Successful players must learn to manage the happenings of both land and sea: focus too much on the boats and the island's development goes unchecked and may fall into ruin; ignore the boats and they'll be hit by storms and pirates.

While Utopia is filled to the brim with possibilities, a lack of balance often hampers the experience. Single player games get stale fast. And recording high scores is only useful for a player who pledges to adhere to the same terms & lengths every time the game is booted, otherwise scores are rendered incomparable. Money runs out very quickly, even among frugal players, and many turns will be spent "doing nothing" while waiting for cash to accumulate and/or lazily fishing. It's also impossible to experiment with all budget expenditures unless the game is set up to be sufficiently long.

Graphics fare about as well as one would expect. Everything looks competent enough for the time, but some objects will be ambiguous to those who haven't read the instruction booklet. Sound effects are standard, with pleasant chimes indicating success and annoying buzzes used to warn of an illegal move. All told, the game is fun for what it is, even if it feels a bit too ambitious for its era. Above all else, any person who possesses even a small interest in the Intellivision needs to take this one out for a spin.

[prfsnl_gmr]

EPIC. DUMPSTER. BEAR. GREATEST. GAME. EVER???

Awesome review, Elkin.

Likewise, Bone. Great reviews. Utopia is, I think, one of the most influential games of all time, and I really need to spend some time with it. Keep your eyes open for a remake that will be exclusive to...The Intellivision Amico!