Games in italics have been beaten in previous years.
Games that have an underlined x followed by a number shows the number of times I have beaten them this year. (example: x3)
Red Dead Redemption (PS3)
Demon's Souls (PS3)
Dead Space: Ignition (PSN)
Dead Space 2 (PS3)
Costume Quest (PSN)
Blueberry Garden (PC Download)
Donkey Kong (NES)
Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
Donkey Kong Jr. (NES)
Golf (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Mega Man 4 (NES)
Kororinpa: Marble Mania (Wii)
Mega Man 6 (NES)
Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard (PS3)
Tomb Raider Underworld (PS3)
The Conduit (Wii)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
Red Steel (Wii)
Puzzle Agent (PC Download)
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (GCN) Portal (PC Download)
Hamsterball (PSN) x2
Blue Toad Murder Files: Episode 1 (PSN)
Portal 2 (PS3)
The Path (PC Download)
Tag (PC Download)
*New*Narbacular Drop (PC Download)
The last stop in my portal quest also happened to be the first game release. Its a student project from Digipen avaliable here:
I was expecting the portal mechanic to be rather weak, and mearly a proof of concept rather then a full mechanic, but suprisingly the portals worked rather well. Unfortunately the rest of the game didn't really get the same polish. As well, it was incredibly short and easy, but since it was a student project, both of those are understandable, they were still learning. And yet what they did accomplish is amazing. If they had not tried to make this and instead opted for an easier to make game to simply get a good mark, well, then the world would have never have gotten the briliance that is Portal. For that I am grateful, and I am very glad I experienced these humble beginings.
*New*Sin and Punishment (Virtual Console)
Dissappointment. Thats how I would discribe this game after all the hype and praise I have heard about it over the years. The plot is a hot mess, making no damn sense at all. The models are bad, even for an N64 game. The texture work was spotty, sometimes it was great, sometimes it was terrible. But the worst offence of all was that many of the boss battles where entirely unclear as to what you were supposed to do.
I can not comment on the difficulty at all because well, I suck at shmups, I don't think I have ever beaten one on the default difficulty. I always have to go down to easy. And even on easy I barely finished this game (I had one credit left). So I can not fault the game on that, but there are simply better shmups. Even if I suck, I have had a ton of fun with games like Ikaruga, Big Bang Mini, Warning Forever, etc. In fact, the only level of Sin and Punishment I found fun was 2-2 (I think) where you fly around all the battle ships taking out planes and boats.
I do have the second game, which I have played briefly and enjoyed, so I am hoping that it improves a lot on this game.
Total: 29
Up next?
I started Greed Corp but its hard as balls so that will take me a while. I also want to play Bubble Bobble as I have never finished it, despite it being my favourite NES game. I always get stuck on some level where the baddies are at the top of the screen while you are on the bottom with no platforms up. I could never figure that one out. Also might play Condemned 2: Bloodshot which I got with my PS3 but have never gotten far into.
castle of illusion - sega
disney's aladdin - sega
the lion king - sega
mickey mania: the timeless adventure of mickey mouse - sega
mickey mania: the timeless adventure of mickey mouse - sega cd
disney's the jungle book - sega
dungeon explorer - sega cd
phelios - sega
doom - 32x
kolibri - 32x
mega turrican - sega
bc racers - sega cd
bloodlines x2 - sega
3 ninjas - sega cd
die hard arcade - saturn
final fight cd - sega cd quackshot - sega
hyperstone heist - sega
so school is over and work doesn't start for another month, which sucks. i foresee a lot of video game playing over the next few weeks.
a few members were recommending quackshot earlier in the year. 5 or so months later and i finally find a CIB copy in the wild for only 5 bucks. you can't go wrong with that price. i thought the game was fun. it seems longer than most platformers; after a few run throughs i got fairly efficient with the levels and it took me over an hour to beat. i don't ever time my runs, but that just seems longer than most. it ranks up there with my favorite disney games - lion king and mickey mania.
hyperstone heist was okay. it took me a few deaths to figure out how to beat shredder, but once i figured it out he was easy peasy lemon squeezy.
1/11 Guardian Heroes (SAT)
1/14 Sonic Adventure (GCN)
1/17 Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC)
1/17 X-Men vs Street Fighter (SAT)
1/22 Dragon Ball Z Budokai (GCN)
1/24 Street Fighter III - The New Generation (DC)
1/24 Street Fighter Alpha 3 (DC)
1/25 Mega Man X (GCN)
1/26 Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure (GBA)
1/31 Tatsunoko vs Capcom (Wii)
2/1 Megaman X2 (GCN)
2/2 Marvel vs Capcom (DC)
2/3 Megaman X3 (GCN)
2/3 Megaman X4 (GCN)
2/4 Megaman X5 (GCN)
2/5 Megaman X6 (GCN)
2/7 Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow (PS2)
2/8 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (DC)
2/9 Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors Dreams (PS2)
2/9 The King of Fighters XI (PS2)
2/11 The King of Fighters '99 Dream Match (DC)
2/13 SNK Gals Fighter (NGPC)
2/16 The King of Fighters '98 (Wii)
2/17 The King of Fighters '96 (Wii)
2/17 Metal Slug (Wii)
2/17 Metal Slug 2 (Wii)
2/18 SNK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)
2/19 The King of Fighters '97 (Wii)
2/19 Street Fighter II' (Wii / VC)
2/22 Metal Slug 3 (Wii)
2/25 Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
2/27 Capcom vs SNK 2 (DC)
2/27 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
3/3 Mega Man II (GB)
3/5 Super Street Fighter II: HD Remix (PS3)
3/6 Mega Man III (GB)
3/11 Mega Man IV (GB)
3/13 Mega Man: Powered Up! (PSP)
3/14 Garou: Mark of the Wolves (DC)
3/15 Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter Alpha 2 (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter EX 3 (PS2)
3/15 Real Bout Fatal Fury Special (PS2)
3/16 The King of Fighters R2 (NGPC)
3/16 Project Justice: Rival Schools (DC)
3/17 Capcom Fighting Evolution (PS2)
3/20 Zone of the Enders (PS2)
3/21 P.N.03 (GCN)
3/21 Super Puzzle Fighter II (GBA)
3/27 Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (3DS)
4/10 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (GCN)
4/28 Vampire Savior (SAT) 5/3 Advance Guardian Heroes (GBA)
Advance Guardian Heroes is video game design ala "Spring Time for Hitler and Germany". It's just so bad that I had to keep playing to see what else got messed up. Even if I weren't familiar with the original classic, this game would still be difficult to deal with.
The plot is shallow and pretentious, characterization is non-existent, the battle system is easily the most broken I have ever encountered, the music is forgettable, the graphics are hit and miss, and I could go on.
Every single choice the developers made turned out to be the wrong move. It is sad because there is so much potential in this game. Even the massive wealth of extra characters to play as probably will not motivate me to pick this one up again.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
1. Mercs (PS2)
2. Darkstalkers 3 (PS1)
3. House Of The Dead Overkill (Wii)
4. Mega Man 3 (PS2)
5. Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters (PS2)
6. Halo 2600 (Atari 2600)
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game (NES)
8. Castlevania Chronicles (PS1)
9. Shadow Of The Colossus (PS2)
10. Capcom Vs. SNK Pro (PS1)
11. Capcom Vs. SNK 2: Mark Of The Millennium (PS2)
12. Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
13. Mobile Light Force (PS1)
Ah, Mobile Light Force! You were forced to change yr name (Gunbird) upon entering our country. And your Japanese cover art was disguised behind a strange Charlie's Angels looking mess. You were passed off as a prequel to Castle Shikigami, who was also treated with the same Americanized cruel and unusual behavior. Just know, dear Gunbird that XS just thought we Americans wouldn't understand you.
But I do.
Mobile Light Force is generally overlooked. It tends to be remembered more in the US for its terrible cover than for its gameplay. Now in all honesty, it's not a phenomenal shmup by any means, but I'm quite sure I love it far more than it deserves to be loved. I can't exactly say way, other than it seems to have everything I like about shmups. It's vertical, it has a witch flying on a broom shooting stars, it has huge robotic bosses, it has brightly colored bullets making hypnotic patterns, it has far better music than anyone seems to remember.
Sure there are negatives -- short levels, load times, etc -- but honestly, this game just hits me the right way. I truly truly think it's a great game when it's accepted for what it is.
1. Karateka – Atari 7800
2. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest – SNES
3. Alien Crush – TG16
4. Altered Beast – GEN
5. Harmful Park – PS1
6. Mario Galaxy – Wii
7. Silent Hill Shattered Memories - Wii
8. Prototype – PS3
9. 3D Dot Game Heroes – PS3
10. Mario Tennis – VB
11. New Adventure Island – TG16
12. Pokemon SoulSilver – NDS
13. Street Fighter IV – PS3
14. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater – PS1
15. Halo 2 – PC *NEW*
16. Portal – PC *NEW*
17. Ninja Spirit – TG16 *NEW*
18. Halo Reach – XBOX360 *NEW*
19. Lost Odyssey – XBOX360 *NEW*
Halo 2 – PC
I’ve been playing Halo: Combat Evolved on PC for years, but never picked up the second one until recently, mostly due to needing Windows Vista or above to install the game. That always bothered me because I believe it was nothing more than a marketing move by Microsoft to help Vista sales as Vista was fairly new when Halo 2 dropped for PC.
I played through and enjoyed the campaign mode more than the original campaign. The original’s campaign always felt really repetitive to me, even when the game first came out. Halo 2 still felt a little repetitive at times but offered more variety and took a story that I didn’t find all that interesting and made it a little more engaging. Adding certain levels where you play as an Elite was a big step in the right direction in my eyes.
The new melee weapons, namely the energy sword and gravity hammer, were a blast to use whenever I got my hands on them, but I wasn’t too excited about any of the new firearms. There were problems with the way the game controlled though. You moved a little slower than the first game, and you jumped like you were on the moon. It just felt off to me and far less smooth than the previous game. For some reason the tab button which was used in the first game to switch weapons became an additional throw grenade button, so one of the first things I did in the game was blow myself up. Not a big issue, as you can easily map your own controls but I couldn’t figure out why they changed that particular key.
Now the multiplayer is why I still play the original Halo, and I was hoping for some really fun multiplayer action in Halo 2, but I didn’t find it fun. This Halo was built with the Xbox controller in mind like the first game, but when they ported it to PC, they didn’t make any changes to compensate for it being on a different platform other than removing the aim assist thing that Halo has when playing with an Xbox controller. I have a feeling when you push the thumbstick further on the Xbox controller in Halo 2 you run a little faster, but that doesn’t exist when using a keyboard. I think that might be what’s making it feel slower to me, but I’m not sure if it’s really what’s going on. Also, this game allows you to use the Xbox controllers that hook to your PC, which gives anyone playing with a controller aim assist, while anyone using a keyboard doesn’t have that feature. What it really comes down to though, is that I don’t care for the multiplayer maps in Halo 2 anywhere near as much as I liked the ones in the first game. This comes down to personal preference though; they’re not bad; I’m just not a fan of the layouts.
Portal – PC
Seeing as everyone’s been discussing Portal 2 lately, I decided to go back and play through the original. It was a fun puzzle game and the teleporting worked very well on the PC especially when you needed precision controls for moving through Portals while keeping momentum, but there were only a couple of puzzles where I felt like I had to step back and think “ok - what should I do next,” and that was only momentarily. I actually felt like I moved through the game really quickly, even for it being a short game. I was hoping for some real mind-bogglers, but I’m glad the game never got frustrating. The portal aspect was unique and new for me, so I really enjoyed playing something fresh, but it was the writing that made Portal an experience I’ll remember. The game was really good at pulling off a somewhat creepy big brother vibe while maintaining a sense of humor that kept me anticipating every bit of dialogue. I’m really looking forward playing through the sequel somewhere down the road.
Ninja Spirit – TG16
I couldn’t get enough of this game for a long time after I first played. You take control of a Ninja who comes equipped with a small arsenal of weapons. Each weapon can be upgraded, and you can gain dummy Ninjas who also attack with your equipped weapon through pick-ups dropped by enemies. There are constantly enemies coming at you from every direction as you attack while moving through the levels. The weapons at your disposal include a sword, shurikens, bombs and kusarigama. You move through seven different environments, each with a boss battle at the end and it’s just non-stop action. The game can be pretty unforgiving at times, but is just so much fun to play that you keep on trying. It’s quickly become one of my favorite games on the Turbografx-16.
Halo Reach – XBOX360
My friend recently got a Halo Reach addition Xbox 360 that she’s been keeping at my house because she doesn’t have anywhere to put the console for the time being. Since it came with Halo Reach, we played through the campaign on co-op mode. It’s a prequel to the first game, and you’re not playing as Master Chief, but you’re still playing as a Spartan so that doesn’t really affect the gameplay. My previous complaints about the first couple of Halo’s having repetitive campaigns were rendered pretty moot by this one. There is a lot more variety than in the other Halo games I’ve played. There was a space ship shooting frenzy level which was really fun and felt like what a modern 3D shmup could really be. There were also different goals during the campaign like blow up certain enemy utilities, protect something, etc. and other vehicle-oriented areas, so I didn’t have much of a chance to get bored like I did in previous games. The story was pretty cliché at times and by its very nature predictable, but was a lot of fun.
My friend had a two-month free trial of Xbox Live Gold so I played the multiplayer quite a bit to give it a good chance. It was pretty fun, a lot more so than I found Halo 2. There are tons of new game types in addition to the classics, some of which I didn’t get a chance to play long enough to figure out what was happening, but many of them were chaotic and enjoyable. I especially enjoyed using the various special abilities like the jetpack and armor lock. They added elements to the gameplay that I hadn’t experienced in a Halo game before. There’s also a ton of character customization available as you gain points for playing multiplayer that you can spend to unlock various armor pieces and styles, but I didn’t really care too much about customizing my Spartan.
The forge world element of making your own multiplayer maps was actually less fun than I had hoped and I didn’t spend much time playing with it, but I might revisit that at a later date. The firefights were a lot of fun, especially teaming up with a friend to fight the massive waves of enemies and a welcome addition to the game for me. I’ve had a lot of fun with the game, and will probably continue to pick it up to play with friends even though the Xbox Live membership has expired as long as the game’s being stored at my place.
Lost Odyssey – XBOX360
This was one of the most enjoyable JRPGs I’ve played in a long time. It was certainly the most enjoyable one I’ve played this generation. It features classic turn-based combat, but it utilizes rings that you have to time in order to enhance your attacks with whatever the ring’s ability is, so they act a lot like simple accessories but they specifically enhance your attack. There are also accessories typical of other RPGs that can be attached to your character in addition to weapons. I always enjoyed games that did the timing attack sort of thing such as Legend of Dragoon and Shadow Hearts because it felt like I was more directly involved in the battles and helped give them a feeling of rhythm. I also just found it addictive to try hitting perfects. It’s always nice to play a game where you find yourself looking forward to all the random battles instead of tiring of them. The game does suffer some slow-down in terms of gameplay and narrative about halfway through, and I’ve talked to several people who have set the game aside at this point, but it really is a minor hump in pacing, and the game picks up a lot during the last two thirds of the game.
The story in Lost Odyssey was pretty enjoyable. You start off as a 1000-year old immortal who has lost his memories in the middle of a power struggle between nations due in part to the immergence of magic energy as a viable power source, and as you meet other characters, some immortals, some not, you slowly gain some of your memories. Often times these are presented as narratives that you can read, many of which I thought were surprisingly engaging and well-written. The characters were really enjoyable and I genuinely liked most of them, aside from a couple ones I found a bit annoying, but managed to grow on me over the course of the game. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to enjoy a JRPG on the Xbox 360.
1- Streets of Rage 2- Gen
2- Golden Axe II- Gen
3- Space Harrier II- Gen
4- Play Novel: Silent Hill- GBA
5- Night Striker- Sega Mega CD
6- Silent Hill 2- PC
7- Silent Hill 4- PS2
8- Ys Seven- PSP
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (PC)(FPS)
X-Men: Mutant Academy (PS1)(Fighting)
Street Fighter Alpha (PS2)(Fighting)
Extermination (PS2)(Survival Horror)
Spyro the Dragon (PS1)(Platformer)
Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (PS1)(Platformer)
Myst III: Exile (PC)(Graphic Adventure)
Shaq Fu (GEN)(Fighting)
Spyro: Year of the Dragon (PS1)(Platformer)
God of War (PS2)(Action Adventure)
The Simpsons Game (PS2)(Platformer)
The King of Fighters '99 (PS1)(Fighting)
EOE: Eve of Extinction (PS2)(Beat 'Em Up)
Final Fight (Arcade)(Beat 'Em Up)
Gundam Battle Assault (PS1)(Fighting)
Dark Rift (N64)(Fighting)
Deadly Arts (N64)(Fighting)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PS2)(TPS)
Vampire Hunter (SAT)(Fighting) Super Scribblenauts (NDS)(Puzzle)
TOTAL: 20
Oh man, I love Super Scribblenauts. It rewards creativity while challenging the player to increase their verbosity with a simple interface that's designed to support both left- and right-handed people easily and accurately. I love the way it takes such a simple concept and then applies an interesting assortment of levels including quite a few popular culture references that had me laughing out loud. Add in a practically ridiculous adjective system, the more difficult Advanced Mode version of several stages, and the Merit system, and it's quite a game. If you have a DS of any shade, I suggest playing this.
I do have a couple of gripes, in particular dealing with the logic of certain puzzles. In one case I ended up on Wikipedia looking for flying hematophages which resulted in a maddening hour of trial and error only to then visit a guide and discover the answer was ridiculously nonsensical. There have been a couple of levels where issues like this occurred, where I tried everything I could think of only to discover that the answer was something which didn't make sense or something that was a very specific (and minor) variation of an answer I had already tried.
But the vast majority of levels allowed me to play a bit and try different things, and I've had a blast thinking up new ways of dealing with certain problems. And the audio manages to support this with a handful of soothing tracks that help relax the tension in my brain even during the most mindwarping of puzzles. In short, I think this game is great. I'm just upset that I'm almost finished with it... I have a few levels remaining to complete in S2, and I have about five or so Advanced Modes to complete currently. I've gotten most of the Merits from goofing off. Hopefully I'll have completed this sucker by the end of the weekend.
Plants Vs Zombies - PC
Halo 3: ODST - 360
Enslaved: Odyssey To The West - 360
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - NDS
Unreal Tournament 3 - 360
Dead Space - 360
Harms Way - XBLA
Starfox Assault - GC
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift - IOS
The House of the Dead: Overkill - Wii
Fallout 3 - 360
Peggle Extreme - PC
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast - PC
Marvel Vs Capcom 3 - 360
Portal - PC
The Great Gatsby - Browser
Kirby Super Star Ultra - NDS
Bulletstorm - PC
Half Life: Source - PC
Probotector - NES
Fable III - 360
Perfect Dark - N64
Crysis 2 - 360
Final Fantasy XIII - 360
Portal 2 - 360 Half Life 2 - 360 *NEW
Total Games for 2011: 26
Thoughts on the Game(s)
While I have finished it on PC before, I had never touched the Orange Box on the 360 until now, after how lame HL was on the PS2, I didn't have much faith in a console port, I was wrong, the game still rocks hard today.
01/15/11 Tatsunoko VS. Capcom - Wii
01/22/11 TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist - Genesis
01/30/11 A Boy and His Blob - Wii
02/01/11 Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Wii
02/26/11 Pier Solar - Genesis
03/26/11 Skies of Arcadia - DC
05/07/11 Portal - PC
I never played Portal even though I have owned it on Steam for a while. The hype for Portal 2 peaked my interest and I started playing the first game last weekend. This weekend I finished it. It was an awesome and satisfying game to play in 3 two hour chunks. Now I want the sequel.
BLOG | BST Systems Owned: Atari 2600 & 5200, NES, Game Boy (OG, Pocket, Color, GBA & GBA SP), DSi, 3DS, SMS, Genesis, Sega CD,
Nomad, SNES, Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, XBox, PS2, Gamecube, Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP, PS3, WiiU, XBOX, 360 XBONE & Switch.
1/11 Guardian Heroes (SAT)
1/14 Sonic Adventure (GCN)
1/17 Marvel vs Capcom 2 (DC)
1/17 X-Men vs Street Fighter (SAT)
1/22 Dragon Ball Z Budokai (GCN)
1/24 Street Fighter III - The New Generation (DC)
1/24 Street Fighter Alpha 3 (DC)
1/25 Mega Man X (GCN)
1/26 Dragon Ball Advanced Adventure (GBA)
1/31 Tatsunoko vs Capcom (Wii)
2/1 Megaman X2 (GCN)
2/2 Marvel vs Capcom (DC)
2/3 Megaman X3 (GCN)
2/3 Megaman X4 (GCN)
2/4 Megaman X5 (GCN)
2/5 Megaman X6 (GCN)
2/7 Gundam SEED: Never Ending Tomorrow (PS2)
2/8 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (DC)
2/9 Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors Dreams (PS2)
2/9 The King of Fighters XI (PS2)
2/11 The King of Fighters '99 Dream Match (DC)
2/13 SNK Gals Fighter (NGPC)
2/16 The King of Fighters '98 (Wii)
2/17 The King of Fighters '96 (Wii)
2/17 Metal Slug (Wii)
2/17 Metal Slug 2 (Wii)
2/18 SNK vs Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)
2/19 The King of Fighters '97 (Wii)
2/19 Street Fighter II' (Wii / VC)
2/22 Metal Slug 3 (Wii)
2/25 Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
2/27 Capcom vs SNK 2 (DC)
2/27 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
3/3 Mega Man II (GB)
3/5 Super Street Fighter II: HD Remix (PS3)
3/6 Mega Man III (GB)
3/11 Mega Man IV (GB)
3/13 Mega Man: Powered Up! (PSP)
3/14 Garou: Mark of the Wolves (DC)
3/15 Street Fighter III 3rd Strike (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter Alpha 2 Gold (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter Alpha 2 (PS2)
3/15 Street Fighter EX 3 (PS2)
3/15 Real Bout Fatal Fury Special (PS2)
3/16 The King of Fighters R2 (NGPC)
3/16 Project Justice: Rival Schools (DC)
3/17 Capcom Fighting Evolution (PS2)
3/20 Zone of the Enders (PS2)
3/21 P.N.03 (GCN)
3/21 Super Puzzle Fighter II (GBA)
3/27 Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (3DS)
4/10 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 (GCN)
4/28 Vampire Savior (SAT)
5/3 Advance Guardian Heroes (GBA) 5/7 Virtua Fighter Kids (SAT)
I'm not sure why Virtua Fighter Kids exists. It's not a particularly good fighter. When I liken it to other 3D fighters of its time, it still comes up wanting. It's slow. It's awkward and clumsy.
I am SO GLAD it exists. This is a game that so clearly defines what was awesome about the 'anything goes / we'll make a game about freaking ANYTHING!' attitude of the 90's. Even if this game wasn't that great, I am still happy it was made and that I have it.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
