Welcome to the Games Beaten 2018 thread! In this thread, we list and discuss what games we've beaten this year.
Per Racketboy tradition, this thread is not a competition, not a place where we hold to hard and fast rules about what games can count, when, or why, etc. The only expectation is that you perhaps talk a bit about what you've beaten: What were your thoughts? Why did you play? Would you recommend it? This thread is about sharing our personal accomplishments and engaging one another about the games we have played!
Are you curious about what kinds of reviews people like to read in this thread? Take a look at this poll and discussion from 2017.
If you are new to this thread for the year, feel free to jump in any time between now and the end of the year. If you have questions or need help, feel free to hit me up! For reference, here's a couple of past threads so you can see how people have approached their participation, their list making, etc.
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013
- dsheinem
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 23190
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:56 pm
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ElkinFencer10 - Next-Gen
- Posts: 8506
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2018
Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 1
* denotes a replay
January (1 Game Beaten)
1. Phantasy Star Portable - PlayStation Portable - January 1
Despite my insistence that the original Phantasy Star on Sega Master System is the greatest JRPG of the 8-bit era, I don't have a lot of experience with the series as a whole; this makes only the second game in the series that I've actually finished. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one knowing that it was an action RPG instead of a JRPG, but whatever I expected, this wasn't it.
The basic premise of Phantasy Star Portable is that the SEED - this alien thingy - that was supposedly sealed away has started reappearing, and you're part of a team that's looking into why and trying to contain the threat before word gets out and causes a general panic throughout the Guhral system. You get some pretty good freedom to customize your character with multiple character types (gunman, balanced hunter, tank, etc) and four species from which to choose (human, Neuman, Beast, and CAST). You meet a cast of characters of all four races, but unfortunately, only one or two of them are at all interesting, and even those two are only mildly interesting. Most characters are completely flat and uninspired.
The game's quests follow a strict pattern - chapter of two or three story missions, mandatory random free mission, chapter of two or three story missions, mandatory random free mission. Rinse and repeat for eight chapters. Each of the free missions have four levels with the only difference being the level of the enemies. Great for grinding. Not much good for anything else as none of them are particularly interesting. I mean, the story missions weren't super interesting in my opinion, but they were at least enough to keep the narrative moving even if utterly predictable.
The visuals and soundtrack were both fine. The PSP isn't exactly a graphical powerhouse (although better than the DS), but the game manages to do decently well with what the system had to work with. The soundtrack is your typical generic JRPG affair - classical music trying perhaps a little too hard to sound dramatic. The scores are all well composed, but nothing really stands out like Final Fantasy VII's or Legend of Zelda's superb soundtracks or Xenoblade Chronicles X's....unique....soundtrack. The voice acting, on the other hand, definitely stands out and for all the wrong reasons. It's simply abysmal. Much worse than Crisis Core's voice acting was. If you had told me the dialogue was recorded in the mid 90s, I'd have believed you without hesitation. It's that bad.
Phantasy Star Portable isn't a bad game, but it's not exactly what I'd call a good game. It falls smack dab in the middle. It's the Purgatory of RPGs. I didn't hate playing it, but at no point would I say I was having fun. It's probably a lot better playing multiplayer with some folks, but considering that I don't have friends (at least none with PSPs who live near me and own Phantasy Star Portable), that wasn't really an option for me. Okay story, god awful voice acting, mundane combat, and repetitive dungeons all make this an extraordinarily "meh" game. My current stance on Phantasy Star - unless a game convinces me otherwise later - is that it's better as a JRPG than an ARPG.
* denotes a replay
January (1 Game Beaten)
1. Phantasy Star Portable - PlayStation Portable - January 1
Despite my insistence that the original Phantasy Star on Sega Master System is the greatest JRPG of the 8-bit era, I don't have a lot of experience with the series as a whole; this makes only the second game in the series that I've actually finished. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one knowing that it was an action RPG instead of a JRPG, but whatever I expected, this wasn't it.
The basic premise of Phantasy Star Portable is that the SEED - this alien thingy - that was supposedly sealed away has started reappearing, and you're part of a team that's looking into why and trying to contain the threat before word gets out and causes a general panic throughout the Guhral system. You get some pretty good freedom to customize your character with multiple character types (gunman, balanced hunter, tank, etc) and four species from which to choose (human, Neuman, Beast, and CAST). You meet a cast of characters of all four races, but unfortunately, only one or two of them are at all interesting, and even those two are only mildly interesting. Most characters are completely flat and uninspired.
The game's quests follow a strict pattern - chapter of two or three story missions, mandatory random free mission, chapter of two or three story missions, mandatory random free mission. Rinse and repeat for eight chapters. Each of the free missions have four levels with the only difference being the level of the enemies. Great for grinding. Not much good for anything else as none of them are particularly interesting. I mean, the story missions weren't super interesting in my opinion, but they were at least enough to keep the narrative moving even if utterly predictable.
The visuals and soundtrack were both fine. The PSP isn't exactly a graphical powerhouse (although better than the DS), but the game manages to do decently well with what the system had to work with. The soundtrack is your typical generic JRPG affair - classical music trying perhaps a little too hard to sound dramatic. The scores are all well composed, but nothing really stands out like Final Fantasy VII's or Legend of Zelda's superb soundtracks or Xenoblade Chronicles X's....unique....soundtrack. The voice acting, on the other hand, definitely stands out and for all the wrong reasons. It's simply abysmal. Much worse than Crisis Core's voice acting was. If you had told me the dialogue was recorded in the mid 90s, I'd have believed you without hesitation. It's that bad.
Phantasy Star Portable isn't a bad game, but it's not exactly what I'd call a good game. It falls smack dab in the middle. It's the Purgatory of RPGs. I didn't hate playing it, but at no point would I say I was having fun. It's probably a lot better playing multiplayer with some folks, but considering that I don't have friends (at least none with PSPs who live near me and own Phantasy Star Portable), that wasn't really an option for me. Okay story, god awful voice acting, mundane combat, and repetitive dungeons all make this an extraordinarily "meh" game. My current stance on Phantasy Star - unless a game convinces me otherwise later - is that it's better as a JRPG than an ARPG.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
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Sarge - Next-Gen
- Posts: 7277
- Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:08 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2018
EDIT: I think I'm just going to start updating my games beaten in this post alone.
First 50:
Second 50:
101) Guardian Heroes (SAT) (7.0) (9/16) (1 hour)
102) Octopath Traveler (NS) (9.0) (10/4) (55 hours)
103) Gargoyle's Quest (GB) (9.0) (10/8) (1.5 hours)
104) Abadox (NES) (6.5) (10/13) (0.5 hours)
105) Night Slashers (ARC) (6.5) (10/24) (0.75 hours)
106) Power Blazer (NES) (3.5) (10/27) (1.5 hours)
107) Thief Gold (PC) (7.5) (11/5) (~20 hours)
108) Power Blade (NES) (7.5) (11/6) (0.9 hours)
109) Choujin Sentai Jetman (NES) (6.5) (0.5 hours)
110) Power Blade 2 (NES) (7.5) (1 hour)
111) Mitsume Ga Tooru (NES) (8.5) (.8 hours)
112) Cross Fire (NES) (5.5) (11/10) (0.5 hours)
113) Shatterhand (NES) (9.0) (11/11) (1.5 hours)
114) Shadow of the Ninja (NES) (8.0) (11/11) (0.75 hours)
115) Dragon Fighter (NES) (7.0) (11/11) (0.7 hours)
116) S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team (NES) (7.0) (11/11) (0.75 hours)
117) Time Lord (NES) (3.0) (11/12) (1.5 hours)
118) Time Diver: Eon Man (NES) (6.0) (11/13) (0.5 hours)
119) Soul Calibur (DC) (9.5) (11/14) (0.25 hours)
120) Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (NES) (5.0) (11/17) (2.5 hours)
121) Idol Hakkenden (NES) (6.5) (11/19) (2 hours)
122) Gear Senshi Dendoh (PSX) (7.0) (11/20) (2.25 hours)
123) Ninja Commando (ARC) (5.0) (11/21) (0.5 hours)
124) Batman: The Video Game (NES) (9.0) (11/25) (0.75 hours)
125) Bio Force Ape (NES) (4.5) (11/25) (0.35 hours)
126) Secret Ties (NES) (5.5) (11/25) (1 hour)
127) Bay Route (ARC) (4.0) (11/30) (0.45 hours)
128) Operation Logic Bomb (SNES) (8.0) (12/4) (1.1 hours)
129) Desert Assault (ARC) (6.5) (12/4) (0.75 hours)
130) Rohga: Armor Force (ARC) (7.5) (12/6) (1.2 hours)
131) Superman (GEN) (3.5) (12/9) (3 hours)
132) Batman (GEN) (5.5) (12/9) (1 hour)
133) Batman: Return of the Joker (GB) (3.5) (12/12) (1 hour)
134) Fighter's History (SNES) (6.5) (12/15) (0.5 hours)
135) Project S-11 (GBC) (7.0) (12/25) (0.75 hours)
136) Hollow Knight (NS) (9.0) (12/30) (30.75 hours)
137) Revenge of the Gator (GB) (7.0) (12/29) (0.5 hours)
138) Vanguard (2600) (4.0) (12/31) (0.25 hours)
139) Trax (GB) (6.5) (12/31) (0.3 hours)
140) Kirby's Dream Land (7.5) (12/31) (0.4 hours)
Legendary Axe II took me a whole year! As in, I started in 2017 and finished in 2018. I'm sure no one has ever used that joke before, so original material, do not steal.
Anyway, long story short, the game is very different from its forebearer. It's still a platforming hack-'n'-slasher, but it no longer plays a bit like Astyanax, instead more resembling a typical side-scroller. There were moments where it almost felt a bit like the platforming in ActRaiser, although the level design isn't quite so good.
You get to power up your weapons, which are a sword, a spiked chain, and, of course, the Legendary Axe. When you get this, you'll want to hang on to it. It may not have the range of the chain or the area-effect of the powered-up sword, but it's wickedly powerful.
The game isn't all that bad, honestly, until you hit stages 7 and 8. Stage 7 is not fun because of climbing a tower with falling platforms, culminating in a jaunt across the top of said towers in which a few trollishly-placed enemies can send you plummeting all the way back to the beginning of the stage. Whee! (Barf.) The last stage fills itself with tough enemies and a rather complex structure. Poking around a bit is encouraged, however, if you're weak, since there are a few life-extending items. Some aren't worth going for, though, depending on the strength of the enemy guarding them. And you have to play nearly perfectly the entire way or you likely won't have enough gas for the final encounter.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I finally gave in and emulated the last stage after nearly killing the final boss on the actual console. My frustration level was pretty high, so for the sake of my blood pressure at that point, I finished it off with some save states and called it a day. I have no doubt I could finish it now... but the game isn't really good enough to warrant that. On to better things!
First 50:
Second 50:
101) Guardian Heroes (SAT) (7.0) (9/16) (1 hour)
102) Octopath Traveler (NS) (9.0) (10/4) (55 hours)
103) Gargoyle's Quest (GB) (9.0) (10/8) (1.5 hours)
104) Abadox (NES) (6.5) (10/13) (0.5 hours)
105) Night Slashers (ARC) (6.5) (10/24) (0.75 hours)
106) Power Blazer (NES) (3.5) (10/27) (1.5 hours)
107) Thief Gold (PC) (7.5) (11/5) (~20 hours)
108) Power Blade (NES) (7.5) (11/6) (0.9 hours)
109) Choujin Sentai Jetman (NES) (6.5) (0.5 hours)
110) Power Blade 2 (NES) (7.5) (1 hour)
111) Mitsume Ga Tooru (NES) (8.5) (.8 hours)
112) Cross Fire (NES) (5.5) (11/10) (0.5 hours)
113) Shatterhand (NES) (9.0) (11/11) (1.5 hours)
114) Shadow of the Ninja (NES) (8.0) (11/11) (0.75 hours)
115) Dragon Fighter (NES) (7.0) (11/11) (0.7 hours)
116) S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team (NES) (7.0) (11/11) (0.75 hours)
117) Time Lord (NES) (3.0) (11/12) (1.5 hours)
118) Time Diver: Eon Man (NES) (6.0) (11/13) (0.5 hours)
119) Soul Calibur (DC) (9.5) (11/14) (0.25 hours)
120) Star Trek: 25th Anniversary (NES) (5.0) (11/17) (2.5 hours)
121) Idol Hakkenden (NES) (6.5) (11/19) (2 hours)
122) Gear Senshi Dendoh (PSX) (7.0) (11/20) (2.25 hours)
123) Ninja Commando (ARC) (5.0) (11/21) (0.5 hours)
124) Batman: The Video Game (NES) (9.0) (11/25) (0.75 hours)
125) Bio Force Ape (NES) (4.5) (11/25) (0.35 hours)
126) Secret Ties (NES) (5.5) (11/25) (1 hour)
127) Bay Route (ARC) (4.0) (11/30) (0.45 hours)
128) Operation Logic Bomb (SNES) (8.0) (12/4) (1.1 hours)
129) Desert Assault (ARC) (6.5) (12/4) (0.75 hours)
130) Rohga: Armor Force (ARC) (7.5) (12/6) (1.2 hours)
131) Superman (GEN) (3.5) (12/9) (3 hours)
132) Batman (GEN) (5.5) (12/9) (1 hour)
133) Batman: Return of the Joker (GB) (3.5) (12/12) (1 hour)
134) Fighter's History (SNES) (6.5) (12/15) (0.5 hours)
135) Project S-11 (GBC) (7.0) (12/25) (0.75 hours)
136) Hollow Knight (NS) (9.0) (12/30) (30.75 hours)
137) Revenge of the Gator (GB) (7.0) (12/29) (0.5 hours)
138) Vanguard (2600) (4.0) (12/31) (0.25 hours)
139) Trax (GB) (6.5) (12/31) (0.3 hours)
140) Kirby's Dream Land (7.5) (12/31) (0.4 hours)
Legendary Axe II took me a whole year! As in, I started in 2017 and finished in 2018. I'm sure no one has ever used that joke before, so original material, do not steal.
Anyway, long story short, the game is very different from its forebearer. It's still a platforming hack-'n'-slasher, but it no longer plays a bit like Astyanax, instead more resembling a typical side-scroller. There were moments where it almost felt a bit like the platforming in ActRaiser, although the level design isn't quite so good.
You get to power up your weapons, which are a sword, a spiked chain, and, of course, the Legendary Axe. When you get this, you'll want to hang on to it. It may not have the range of the chain or the area-effect of the powered-up sword, but it's wickedly powerful.
The game isn't all that bad, honestly, until you hit stages 7 and 8. Stage 7 is not fun because of climbing a tower with falling platforms, culminating in a jaunt across the top of said towers in which a few trollishly-placed enemies can send you plummeting all the way back to the beginning of the stage. Whee! (Barf.) The last stage fills itself with tough enemies and a rather complex structure. Poking around a bit is encouraged, however, if you're weak, since there are a few life-extending items. Some aren't worth going for, though, depending on the strength of the enemy guarding them. And you have to play nearly perfectly the entire way or you likely won't have enough gas for the final encounter.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I finally gave in and emulated the last stage after nearly killing the final boss on the actual console. My frustration level was pretty high, so for the sake of my blood pressure at that point, I finished it off with some save states and called it a day. I have no doubt I could finish it now... but the game isn't really good enough to warrant that. On to better things!
Last edited by Sarge on Tue Jan 01, 2019 2:13 am, edited 100 times in total.
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BoneSnapDeez - Next-Gen
- Posts: 20085
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2018
ElkinFencer10 wrote:Despite my insistence that the original Phantasy Star on Sega Master System is the greatest JRPG of the 8-bit era, I don't have a lot of experience with the series as a whole; this makes only the second game in the series that I've actually finished. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one knowing that it was an action RPG instead of a JRPG, but whatever I expected, this wasn't it.
This post makes my sac itch.
Some of these spin-offs are okay, but for the love of all that is holly you need to play the original Phantasy Star Online. It's incredibly well-crafted and addictive -- and it lacks all the needless "story" elements that plague these newer entries. Just pure ARPG action in a beautifully-crafted world.
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BogusMeatFactory - Next-Gen
- Posts: 6770
- Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:16 pm
- Location: Farmington Hills, MI
Re: Games Beaten 2018
BoneSnapDeez wrote:ElkinFencer10 wrote:Despite my insistence that the original Phantasy Star on Sega Master System is the greatest JRPG of the 8-bit era, I don't have a lot of experience with the series as a whole; this makes only the second game in the series that I've actually finished. I wasn't really sure what to expect with this one knowing that it was an action RPG instead of a JRPG, but whatever I expected, this wasn't it.
This post makes my sac itch.
Some of these spin-offs are okay, but for the love of all that is holly you need to play the original Phantasy Star Online. It's incredibly well-crafted and addictive -- and it lacks all the needless "story" elements that plague these newer entries. Just pure ARPG action in a beautifully-crafted world.
Elkin... you.. me.. blue burst... let's do this!
Also, play episode 3 C.A.R.D. battle.. it's good
Ack wrote:I don't know, chief, the haunting feeling of lust I feel whenever I look at your avatar makes me think it's real.
-I am the idiot that likes to have fun and be happy.
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Fragems - Next-Gen
- Posts: 5430
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:01 am
- Location: Proctorville, OH
Re: Games Beaten 2018
1. Saints Row Gat out of Hell (1/1/18)
If you didn't like Saints Row IV you aren't going to care for this one. It's basically a no effort reskin of 4 with a heavy focus on collectibles and side activities. There is hardly a story with all of 4-5 cutscenes and 4 story missions. Everything else is just collecting thousands of orbs around the city while doing repetitive side missions like time trials, horde modes, and etc. to fill up a meter enough to get Satan pissed off enough to fight you in the final show down. The lack of story content is even joked at in one of the handful of ctuscenes when they flash a drawing of Gat in the dev's office bitching about the grindy filler content
. Altogether it took 4 hours to complete and that was with me collecting around 90% of the collectibles and doing maybe 60% of the side content. Unless you really really like the SR series I wouldn't recommend picking up this one it's probably the worst game in the series.
If you didn't like Saints Row IV you aren't going to care for this one. It's basically a no effort reskin of 4 with a heavy focus on collectibles and side activities. There is hardly a story with all of 4-5 cutscenes and 4 story missions. Everything else is just collecting thousands of orbs around the city while doing repetitive side missions like time trials, horde modes, and etc. to fill up a meter enough to get Satan pissed off enough to fight you in the final show down. The lack of story content is even joked at in one of the handful of ctuscenes when they flash a drawing of Gat in the dev's office bitching about the grindy filler content
. Altogether it took 4 hours to complete and that was with me collecting around 90% of the collectibles and doing maybe 60% of the side content. Unless you really really like the SR series I wouldn't recommend picking up this one it's probably the worst game in the series.
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Segata - Next-Gen
- Posts: 2492
- Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:19 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2018
All the talk of Ys lately I went ahead and played Ys 1 on my PSP. A short game so I beat it again. I lost count how many times I've beaten this game. The one thing I still struggle with is navigating some of the dungeons at first but then it comes back to me every time.
- dsheinem
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 23190
- Joined: Wed Dec 12, 2007 12:56 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2018
Games Beaten 2018
Darkwing Duck - NES (PS4) *new*
DuckTales - NES (PS4) *new*
DuckTales 2 - NES (PS4) *new*
Talespin - NES (PS4) *new*
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers - NES (PS4) *new*
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - NES (PS4) *new*
Total: 6
To join in with this month's Together Retro, I started off 2018 by playing through these Capcom classics on the Disney Afternoon Collection. Shockingly, though I had played some significant chunks of most of them beforehand, I had never actually beaten any of them until the past few days. I think the inclusion of the rewind button in the Collection certainly helped with my success this go round, but I did my best to not abuse the feature too much. These are all charming games, though I thought both sequel games were step-downs from their iconic/better predecessors. Darkwing Duck is a great Mega Man game, and Talespin just gets easier (and better) as it goes - and become a nice pseudo Fantasy-Zone type of shmup by the end. I posted more thoughts on some of these in the TR thread...but suffice to say, the collection is excellent (and has some nice extras). Highly recommended.
Previously: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
Darkwing Duck - NES (PS4) *new*
DuckTales - NES (PS4) *new*
DuckTales 2 - NES (PS4) *new*
Talespin - NES (PS4) *new*
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers - NES (PS4) *new*
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - NES (PS4) *new*
Total: 6
To join in with this month's Together Retro, I started off 2018 by playing through these Capcom classics on the Disney Afternoon Collection. Shockingly, though I had played some significant chunks of most of them beforehand, I had never actually beaten any of them until the past few days. I think the inclusion of the rewind button in the Collection certainly helped with my success this go round, but I did my best to not abuse the feature too much. These are all charming games, though I thought both sequel games were step-downs from their iconic/better predecessors. Darkwing Duck is a great Mega Man game, and Talespin just gets easier (and better) as it goes - and become a nice pseudo Fantasy-Zone type of shmup by the end. I posted more thoughts on some of these in the TR thread...but suffice to say, the collection is excellent (and has some nice extras). Highly recommended.
Previously: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010
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BoneSnapDeez - Next-Gen
- Posts: 20085
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2018
1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
I've always had an affinity for those games released during the initial second and third generation overlap. This is when we began to see games evolve significantly in terms of mechanics and aesthetics, but most still stuck to that classic looping high score chaser design. One such title released during this era (1984) was Konami's Antarctic Adventure. Originally on the MSX, it was soon ported to the ColecoVision (in North America) and Famicom (in Japan). These days, the Famicom port is likely the cheapest and easiest to track down, regardless of what continent you inhabit. As an aside, YouTube comments inform me that every European played this on pirate multicarts back in the day.
The goal is to guide a cute penguin named Penta around the perimeter of Antarctica. Each stage concludes with our feathered friend raising a nation's flag at an ice station. The game ends (well, loops) when the flag of Japan ascends, naturally. The viewpoint presented here is similar to that of Sega's classic Turbo, with the player's vantage point situated behind Penta. It's a race against the clock, and instead of other "drivers" on each course Penta must instead hop over and steer clear of various chasms and dastardly seals.
Controls are solid. The up button is used to gain acceleration, and there's little reason to ever not travel at the top speed. Penta jumps gracefully, and if he's travelling fast enough multiple pitfalls can be cleared with a single bound. Note that Penta isn't your typical video game hero -- falling in a hole does not spell certain doom, but it does certainly slow him down. There are actually a variety of chasms, some merely trip up Penta a bit while others result in some more serious stalling. Then there are the seals -- these really cause issues, occasionally popping out of holes about a millisecond before Penta can clear them. For this reason I recommend going around obstacles whenever possible.
Each stage is littered with items in the forms of flags and fish that leap up from the depths. Most do nothing but divvy out good ol' points, but the flashing flags defy the laws of zoology, allowing Penta to fly for a spell. These are all but required in the final stage on the standard difficulty, and are necessary to clear multiple stages on the game's hardest mode.
Graphics are serviceable. Antarctic Adventure certainly looks like an early Famicom game; in fact it looks about identical to its ColecoVision brethren. A sea of stark white dominates the screen (hey, it is Antarctica) though Konami was kind enough to experiment with varying sky colors. It's as if the sun is setting upon Penta as he traverses the stark landscape. Penta's animated well and strikes an adorable pose upon level completion. The game's main theme is undeniably catchy though also unoriginal -- it's instantly recognizable as being an 8-bit rendition of Émile Waldteufel's The Skater's Waltz.
Ultimately, Antarctic Adventure is a tasty morsel of retro gaming fun. The game's goals and control scheme are immediately clear, even to someone just picking up the cartridge for the first time. The frustration factor can be a bit high at first (again, go around the holes) but after a bit of practice everything felt second nature; and there's no better way to kill an afternoon than with a playthrough of something like Antarctic Adventure. It's great for kids too, if my four-year-old's approval is any evidence. She swears Penta is wearing roller skates. I don't see it.
I've always had an affinity for those games released during the initial second and third generation overlap. This is when we began to see games evolve significantly in terms of mechanics and aesthetics, but most still stuck to that classic looping high score chaser design. One such title released during this era (1984) was Konami's Antarctic Adventure. Originally on the MSX, it was soon ported to the ColecoVision (in North America) and Famicom (in Japan). These days, the Famicom port is likely the cheapest and easiest to track down, regardless of what continent you inhabit. As an aside, YouTube comments inform me that every European played this on pirate multicarts back in the day.
The goal is to guide a cute penguin named Penta around the perimeter of Antarctica. Each stage concludes with our feathered friend raising a nation's flag at an ice station. The game ends (well, loops) when the flag of Japan ascends, naturally. The viewpoint presented here is similar to that of Sega's classic Turbo, with the player's vantage point situated behind Penta. It's a race against the clock, and instead of other "drivers" on each course Penta must instead hop over and steer clear of various chasms and dastardly seals.
Controls are solid. The up button is used to gain acceleration, and there's little reason to ever not travel at the top speed. Penta jumps gracefully, and if he's travelling fast enough multiple pitfalls can be cleared with a single bound. Note that Penta isn't your typical video game hero -- falling in a hole does not spell certain doom, but it does certainly slow him down. There are actually a variety of chasms, some merely trip up Penta a bit while others result in some more serious stalling. Then there are the seals -- these really cause issues, occasionally popping out of holes about a millisecond before Penta can clear them. For this reason I recommend going around obstacles whenever possible.
Each stage is littered with items in the forms of flags and fish that leap up from the depths. Most do nothing but divvy out good ol' points, but the flashing flags defy the laws of zoology, allowing Penta to fly for a spell. These are all but required in the final stage on the standard difficulty, and are necessary to clear multiple stages on the game's hardest mode.
Graphics are serviceable. Antarctic Adventure certainly looks like an early Famicom game; in fact it looks about identical to its ColecoVision brethren. A sea of stark white dominates the screen (hey, it is Antarctica) though Konami was kind enough to experiment with varying sky colors. It's as if the sun is setting upon Penta as he traverses the stark landscape. Penta's animated well and strikes an adorable pose upon level completion. The game's main theme is undeniably catchy though also unoriginal -- it's instantly recognizable as being an 8-bit rendition of Émile Waldteufel's The Skater's Waltz.
Ultimately, Antarctic Adventure is a tasty morsel of retro gaming fun. The game's goals and control scheme are immediately clear, even to someone just picking up the cartridge for the first time. The frustration factor can be a bit high at first (again, go around the holes) but after a bit of practice everything felt second nature; and there's no better way to kill an afternoon than with a playthrough of something like Antarctic Adventure. It's great for kids too, if my four-year-old's approval is any evidence. She swears Penta is wearing roller skates. I don't see it.
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prfsnl_gmr - Next-Gen
- Posts: 12108
- Joined: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:26 pm
- Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Re: Games Beaten 2018
You’re crazy. Penta is totally wearing roller skates. How can you not see that?
Also, DSH, I am glad to read that you enjoyed the Disney Afternoon games. The platformers were some of my favorite NES games growing up, and your thoughts on them mirror my own. The only one I didn’t like was Tail Spin, but I would probably appreciate it more now that I have more experience with Fantasy Zone.
Also, DSH, I am glad to read that you enjoyed the Disney Afternoon games. The platformers were some of my favorite NES games growing up, and your thoughts on them mirror my own. The only one I didn’t like was Tail Spin, but I would probably appreciate it more now that I have more experience with Fantasy Zone.
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