Games Beaten 2013

[Luke]

Isn't there 30 something rounds on that one?

Seemed like more actually.

I've done it a lot in the past, used to run through this game all the time heh.

Get all of the chaos emeralds you. With the extra time ufo, it's almost simple to do.

[Ack]

1. Sniper Elite V2 (PS3)(TPS)
2. Teen Agent (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
3. Alpha Protocol (PS3)(RPG)
4. Beneath A Steel Sky (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
5. Imscared - A Pixelated Nightmare (PC)(Horror)
6. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES)(RPG)
7. Celestial Mechanica (PC)(Platformer)
8. Gravity Bone (PC)(First Person Adventure)
9. Secret of Mana (SNES)(RPG)
10. Lure of the Temptress (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
11. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Numbers (SNES)(Edutainment)
12. CoD of Duty (PC)(FPS)
13. The Bard's Tale (PS2)(RPG)
14. The Great Circus Mystery, Starring Mickey and Minnie (SNES)(Platformer)
15. Deus Ex (PC)(FPS)
16. The King of the Wood (PC)(FPS)
17. Shadows of the Damned (PS3)(Horror Adventure)
18. Chuck Rock (SNES)(Platformer)
19. Arcana (SNES)(RPG)
20. Jurassic Park (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
21. Brawl Brothers (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
22. Monopoly (SNES)(Boardgame)
23. Dr. Mario (SNES)(Puzzle)
24. Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (SNES)(Platformer)
25. Breath of Fire (SNES)(RPG)
26. The Death and Return of Superman (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Battle Blaze (SNES)(Fighting)
28. Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
29. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters (SNES)(Edutainment)
30. Dwarfs!? (PC)(I have no idea)
31. Super Adventure Island (SNES)(Platformer)
32. Batman Returns (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)

Now THIS is a Batman game. Not only does it allow me to play as one of my favorite comic book superheroes, it also presents a diverse and entertaining beat 'em up experience that no fan of the genre should go without. And it even manages to circumvent the pit falls of many other beat 'em ups from the era. Instead of simply throwing nearly identical hordes of enemies at us, Batman Returns uses a significant amount of variation amongst its hordes: yes, there are many thin clowns. Some flip across the screen, some juggle knives, some throw dynamite. Yes, there are two types of fat clowns, but both feature a different variety of moves to throw their weight around. And then there are the bazooka clowns, tall clowns, fire clowns, motorcycle riders, sword swallowers, and knife-wielding Indians. And then the bosses, all of which offer a variety of moves to get around or try to avoid. Add in levels switching between a 2D and 2.5D approach which play very different, as well as a driving level, environmental hazards including penguins firing missiles or jumping over barriers on a train, burning timbers falling, riding window cleaner carts while clowns leap through windows to try and take you down...this is a hell of a ride.

Good thing Batman is no slouch. He is brutally adept at hand to hand combat. He can throw batarangs to temporarily stun his enemies. He can perform a variety of jump kicks, perfect for dropping in on a group or knocking a rider off a motorcycle. He can block incoming attacks for significantly less damage. He can hang from the ceiling with his grappling hook and swing to safety. And above all of this, he can throw like a FIEND! But more on that in a second. Batman must fight smart to take down his enemies at times, such as using a batarang to detonate an explosive in midair, knocking dynamite out of the hands of a clown or causing a knife juggler to lose his weapons, or even causing massive internal hemorrhaging to the sword swallowers when they try to show off by shoving their blades down their throats.

But now back to the throws, which I absolutely adored because it gave me a comparison point to another DC Comics superhero who had his own game in that generation. It should be noted that Batman's throws in Batman Forever are very similar to Superman's in The Death and Return of Superman, with a couple of noticeable (but very important) differences. First, Batman doesn't destroy environments the way Superman does, which I consider a good thing. Yes, there are some destructive environments, such as throwing clowns into shop windows or through park benches. But Batman doesn't dent walls or smash floors the way Superman's throws did. Batman also can't hold on as long to his opponents as Superman could. But Batman can grab two enemies at once for double takedowns and drop two clowns at once, something Superman couldn't even fathom. Having played both of these games within a few weeks of each other, the end result is that Superman feels stronger (which he is), but Batman has much more capable fighting skills (which he does) The difference between the two in terms of alien strength versus martial technique is highlighted here in a way that the savvy DC fan can enjoy.

One of the other points where I consider this game vastly superior to many other beat 'em ups of its generation is that increasing the difficulty actual has a valid effect: enemies do not simply get tougher and do more damage. Instead, enemies become faster and more aggressive. I was delighted to see the thin clowns dodging barricades on the train level on higher difficulties, something that they did not even attempt on Easy (yes, I tried different difficulties). Enemy arrangement is also different, with enemies like the fat clown variants appearing much earlier in the game. Boss battles also change significantly, giving fewer opportunities to take hits and requiring the player plan better for their counterattacks.

Now is the game perfect? Well, no, I have one big criticism. I found Catwoman to be the hardest boss in the game. This wouldn't bother me normally, but she's the final boss of level 3, so every boss afterward feels like a joke. Especially Penguin. I felt a little let down by that. I also didn't care for the Batmobile level so much, but that's because I felt the controls were much slower than I wanted them to be. Come on, it's the Batmobile! It shouldn't take that long to change lanes. But I concede that these are minor gripes I have with an otherwise excellent game.

Oh, there's also a couple of other benefits to beating the game on higher difficulties: first, you can eventually get other difficulties, so instead of just Easy, Normal, and Hard, you get Special and Mania. Also, more of the ending appears, depending on the difficulty you pick. So what is just text and then a splash screen featuring Catwoman on Easy becomes a short video clip showing Penguin go down to Batman while Catwoman escapes, followed by credits, followed by a screen proclaiming the player to be The Dark Knight. Good times.

[Luke]

I found Catwoman to be the hardest boss in the game...

I usually block her in a corner off screen and punch, punch, punch until I drain her meter. How do you finish her off?

[Ack]

I found Catwoman to be the hardest boss in the game...

I usually block her in a corner off screen and punch, punch, punch until I drain her meter. How do you finish her off?

I found that if you are quick enough, you can catch her for a throw when she cracks her whip or does her sliding claw attack. Also, when she walks up and kicks you, if you are close enough, you can catch her in a combo.

1. Sniper Elite V2 (PS3)(TPS)
2. Teen Agent (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
3. Alpha Protocol (PS3)(RPG)
4. Beneath A Steel Sky (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
5. Imscared - A Pixelated Nightmare (PC)(Horror)
6. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (SNES)(RPG)
7. Celestial Mechanica (PC)(Platformer)
8. Gravity Bone (PC)(First Person Adventure)
9. Secret of Mana (SNES)(RPG)
10. Lure of the Temptress (PC)(Point and Click Adventure)
11. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Numbers (SNES)(Edutainment)
12. CoD of Duty (PC)(FPS)
13. The Bard's Tale (PS2)(RPG)
14. The Great Circus Mystery, Starring Mickey and Minnie (SNES)(Platformer)
15. Deus Ex (PC)(FPS)
16. The King of the Wood (PC)(FPS)
17. Shadows of the Damned (PS3)(Horror Adventure)
18. Chuck Rock (SNES)(Platformer)
19. Arcana (SNES)(RPG)
20. Jurassic Park (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
21. Brawl Brothers (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
22. Monopoly (SNES)(Boardgame)
23. Dr. Mario (SNES)(Puzzle)
24. Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday (SNES)(Platformer)
25. Breath of Fire (SNES)(RPG)
26. The Death and Return of Superman (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Battle Blaze (SNES)(Fighting)
28. Todd McFarlane's Spawn: The Video Game (SNES)(Action-Adventure)
29. Mario's Early Years: Fun With Letters (SNES)(Edutainment)
30. Dwarfs!? (PC)(I have no idea)
31. Super Adventure Island (SNES)(Platformer)
32. Batman Returns (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
33. Pit-Fighter (SNES)(Fighting)
34. Lester the Unlikely (SNES)(Platformer)

Yeah, I did it. So what? I have beaten the game considered one of the worst on the Super Nintendo (if not THE worst), as well as another that is mediocre at best.

First, Pit-Fighter. This port is heavily bastardized. Large swaths of the game's material were cut out, sprites are tiny, colors are bland and obscure, there are no options available, there is no story (not even the small one found in the arcade version), health bars are now presented as numerical values, most of the speech in the arcade was removed, and there are really only four fighters in the game to oppose you through 10 rounds, then yourself for the grudge matches, and finally the final boss. Oh, and frames of animation were removed, to the point that you can have single frame attacks, which is why I managed to beat this game. I figured out the range for the single-frame punch and kick for Ty and then spammed all of my opponents to death.

Lester the Unlikely was a better game. Not that that means much, but it at least had some interesting ideas concerning rotoscoping for games. They just didn't work out, and the game controls are stiff and slow. But I have to give it credit for the large variety of locales and the attempt to introduce puzzles to the gameplay. At the end of the credits, I read that Lester was supposed to appear in another game. I'm not really upset that he didn't.

[Opa Opa]

1- Gravity Rush - Vita
2- Erst Kerf - PC
3- Resident Evil 6 - PS3
4- PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale - Vita
5- Battlefield 3 - PS3
6- The Legend of Zelda - 3DS Virtual Console
7- Monster Hunter Tri - Wii
8- Pilotwings Resort - 3DS
9- Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir - 3DS

Haven't updated in a while... here we go.

Pilotwings Resort filled the flight-sim itch I was having and it was an okay game. Truthfully, it wasn't very challenging except for two or three stages; but it was still fun, nonetheless.

Despite the story mode being less than two hours, Spirit Camera was actually pretty good. I never quite got into the Fatal Frame games but this spin-off was very engrossing. The 3DS became the camera and through it you viewed the game world. I give this game a solid recommendation for horror fans; not that the game is scary, mind you, but it does get kind of creepy at times.

[Gamerforlife]

1. Thomas Was Alone - PC
2. Sam & Max Save the World - The whole season - PC, GOG versions
3. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - The whole season - PC, GOG versions
4. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1 - PC, GOG version
5. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 2 - PC, GOG version
6. Sam & Max The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 3 - PC, GOG version
7. The Walking Dead Series - PC
8. Sly Thieves in Time - PS3
9. Guacamelee - PS3
10. Castlevania: Mirror of Fate - 3DS
11. Resident Evil Revelation - 3DS

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask - 3DS

I have some mixed feelings on this one. One the one hand, I found some of the game's puzzles irritating. There are fundamental flaws in the way some of them are presented. At times, the game doesn't give you enough info to solve the puzzle, not presenting all the conditions for solving the puzzle, or simply making the assumption that you're privy to certain info that you may not be. Other times, you get a puzzle with multiple possible solutions, but you are expected to read the designers' minds and know the one that they are looking for. Other times, the game simply tries to trick you, misleading you and getting your brain to go in one direction when it really wants it to go in another one. All of these elements made some of the game's puzzles frustrating.

Also, the story moves along at a rather sluggish pace early on. Part of this is due to the nonstop flow of puzzles coming at you interrupting game play. It's rather freakish the way every person you interact with in the game wants you to solve a puzzle, or how ever area of a map has hidden puzzles in it. This game's world feels very much like something out of a video game, completely disconnected from reality. People will just randomly bust out, "solve this puzzle" in the middle of a conversation like that's a normal thing for people to do when they converse with each other. It's the sort of weirdness you expect from a Japanese game

On the plus side, there are more good puzzles than bad ones in this game and there's a certain amount of diversity and variety to them that I appreciated. It's not just the same thing all the time like most puzzle video games. The amount of puzzles in the game is staggering. That's part of the problem though. With that much content in the game, at least some of it will not be good. Less is more as they say. This game keeps throwing crap at the wall to see how much sticks. Some of it doesn't, but most of it does so I can't bash the game too hard. It's just annoying when you get through 9 decent puzzles and number 10 is something illogical or stupid. I can't help it if the bad puzzles stick out in my memory more than the good ones.

There's a hint system in the game where you can draw from a limited pool of coins to purchase a hint. It's a stupid system though because the game keeps track of how many coins you collect throughout the game. If you're an OCD gamer who wants to collect everything 100%, you're never going to want to use the coins. Also, the game has a scoring system. For every wrong answer you give for certain puzzles you permanently lose points from your overall score. Essentially, the game penalizes you harshly for not answering a question or solving a puzzle on the first attempt. This is kind of stupid too though as you can simply reload the game when you get a wrong answer and even use trial and error to solve some of the game's puzzles. In fact, some of them seem to REQUIRE trial and error.

Overall, the story mode was somewhat underwhelming for me due to the uneven quality of the puzzles and the sluggish pace of the story. Layton and his crew aren't exactly the greatest characters I've ever seen in a game either. Luke in particular is one of the lamest kid characters I've seen in a video game. Layton is rather dull, and his assistant is a little too prissy. There's a certain smugness to the main characters that I found off putting. Layton is always going on and on about what a gentlemen he is. Luke gets mad when people call him a kid even though he acts like a dumb kid, and Emmy keeps trying to act smarter than everyone. I just don't like these characters. Perhaps I should try the Ace Attorney games for characters with more fun personalities.

On the plus side, the game really shines once you start playing around with optional mini-games. There are three of them in the story mode, a particular favorite of mine being one that has you running a store and having to arrange the items on the shelves in a way that will make customers buy them all. The presentation here is funny as customers appear as these Popsicle stick-like figures bouncing around onscreen like some sort of kid's puppet show. There's a cool little robot mini-game too. The third game involves teaching a rabbit to perform in some circus shows. This last one's fun in its own way too, but the dialog between the rabbit (who can apparently talk) and Luke (who keeps him as a pet) is nauseating. Luke goes on and on about how cute his little pet rabbit is in a way that makes you roll your eyes. He's quite a girly little boy...not that there's anything wrong with that. The mini-games are puzzles as well, but more fun and intuitive than many of the ones you're forced to play through in the story.

The game also has over a hundred free mini-games that you can download as part of an ongoing program that will release a new puzzle every day for a total of 365 days. They come in a variety of forms that are different from the stuff in story mode. Ironically, I honestly found them more fun than most of the puzzles in the main game. If I can recommend the game for one thing, it's these. For me, this is the real meat of the game. The DLC is worth the price of the game alone and there's a lot to go through with more being released daily. I spent hours on them. The quality standard on these is higher than the stuff in story mode as I haven't encountered a bad one yet while seemingly 1 out of every 10 puzzles in story mode I thought was badly thought out or put together. The DLC is the best part of the game IMO, and it's all free! Lots of humor in the DLC too. One has you playing as a dog cop going around punching out criminal cats and tossing them in jail. Occasionally, you'll run into a big, tough looking dog with a weapon and you get to punk him out too! Another one I enjoyed has you moving around lasers off reflectors to blast some ghosts! Fun stuff! It's interesting how impressive side content for games can sometimes be. For example, the mini games in Bentley's Hack Pack are based off of the ones in Sly 4, but way more fun and interesting. And there are people who don't like Resident Evil Revelation's campaign (for many of the reasons I pointed out in my rant on it), but love the optional Raid Mode.

[Luke]

Well, I guess beating T&C Surf Designs is impossible as apparently it has no ending.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Well, I guess beating T&C Surf Designs is impossible as apparently it has no ending.

You are correct, sir!

It is still a fun game, however, and if you completed each section (i.e., surfed or skated without wiping out) and got a high score, I think that you have "beaten" it.

[Luke]

You are correct, sir!

Nuts.

Well, I'm keeping it off my list as there is no "ending". Still, I was impressed that I made it to round 15 as I have no clue how I beat any of surfing levels.

[Nintendork666]

1. Amazing Spider-man (PS3) - Jan 16
2. Ape Escape 2 (PS2) - March 10
3. The Last Story (Wii) - May 8

Pushed through the epilogue tonight...errr, this morning, got to see the end credits and fought some extra bosses. Yay.