Games Beaten 2015

[Sarge]

I want a Duo so bad. I might even pay the exorbitant amount to get one on eBay...

[Exhuminator]

Yeah that's one thing you ain't gonna find in Dirt Cheap buddy.

[Sarge]

No kidding. I haven't even really found much in gaming lately, either. Well, I take that back, I haven't found much that I wanted to purchase there. I saw copies of Mario Kart 8 and Smash, but I'm not taking the chance that they won't work at $30. Plus, I already bought Smash... and haven't played it a lot. I'm sure it'd get more playtime if I were still in undergrad.

I did actually see a 360 console in there last time. It's rare to spot them in there, though. I also saw an Ouya, and I've seen those float through fairly regularly. Heck, this last time, they had some iPad minis and Galaxy Tab 3s (and a 4 with a busted screen).

(For everyone that is wondering, Dirt Cheap is a local closeout / salvage store that I get a lot of stuff at for, well, dirt cheap. Most everything starts at 50% off, but they also have no refunds, returns, or exchanges, so it's a bit of a crapshoot at times. The best deals are on games that no one is really interested in, when they hit 80% or 90% off. They have a lot more than electronics, and stock rotates very, very often.)

[BoneSnapDeez]

Anyone play the original Zaxxon? I have it on the 2nd gen trio (Atari 2600 / Intellivision / ColecoVision) but haven't sunk much time into it. May be one to try out later.

Technically I also have an ancient TRS-80 copy as well, but no way to play it.

Arcade original? Regularly.

2600 port? Yes. Perspective is lost but the idea (as well as the action) are still there.

Also...you know you can unlock the arcade original on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis collection, right? (You need to collect five bonus coins in Decap Attack to unlock it.)

Ah yes! One of the few things I haven't unlocked.

Here's the reason: I don't like Decap Attack.

Then again, I forced myself to push through a few levels of Super Thunder Blade to unlock Space Harrier...

[prfsnl_gmr]

Ah yes! One of the few things I haven't unlocked.

Here's the reason: I don't like Decap Attack.

Then again, I forced myself to push through a few levels of Super Thunder Blade to unlock Space Harrier...

Me neither.

I was able push myself just far enough to unlock Zaxxon, however. (The goal is not that hard.)

[fastbilly1]

Finally beat Space Quest 1. Just sucked it up, and powered through. I had a whole boatload of saves though. And had to go through the cave a dozen times, stupid glass... Also beat Mario 64 again. I was learning the ins and outs of different controllers with it for the Blissbox 4play video and figured, what the heck.

Space Quest 2 and the rest of Shadows of the Empire are my goals for next week.

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Grandia (PlayStation)
2. Jungle Hunt (Xbox - Taito Legends)
3. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
4. Jungle Hunt (Plug & Play - ColecoVision Flashback)
5. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
6. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
7. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
8. Bubble Bobble (NES)
9. Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
10. 1941: Counter Attack (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
11. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PSP)
12. The Ninja Kids (Xbox - Taito Legends)
13. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
14. Golden Axe Warrior (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
15. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 (Dreamcast)
16. Growl (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
17. Arabian Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
18. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
19. Gekirindan (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
20. Ys II (Saturn - Falcom Classics II)
21. Darius Gaiden (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
22. G Darius (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
23. Giana Sisters DS (DS)
24. RayStorm (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
25. Mr. Do! (ColecoVision)
26. Beauty & the Beast (Intellivision)
27. Boxing (PlayStation 2 - Activision Anthology)
28. Crystalis (NES)
29. Dragon Warrior (NES)
30. Faxanadu (NES)
31. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
32. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
33. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
34. Kirby Super Star (SNES)
35. Hoshi no Kirby 64 (Nintendo 64)
36. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
37. Dig Dug (Wii - Namco Museum Megamix)
38. Phoenix (Xbox - Taito Legends)
39. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
40. Pleiads (Xbox - Tecmo Classic Arcade)
41. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
42. Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy)

Released back in 1991, Square's Final Fantasy Adventure is one of the earliest RPGs on Game Boy. Given the age and hardware limitations, it makes an impressive showing and cements itself as a strong opener to what would blossom into an extremely impressive series of games.

In Japan Final Fantasy Adventure was known as Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden. This makes the game not just a Final Fantasy spin-off, but also the first entry in the Seiken Densetsu series (Mana series in the West). Following the release of this game, subsequent Seiken Densetsu titles dropped the Final Fantasy affiliation altogether. I suppose it's also worth noting that this game was titled Mystic Quest in Europe, not to be confused with Final Fantasy Mystic Quest!

Players expecting a game similar to the original Final Fantasy on NES may be shocked to find that Adventure is a full-fledged action-RPG. Combat occurs in real time, much like the Legend of Zelda. In fact, Zelda was clearly an inspiration for many of the design elements found in Adventure. The game world is divvied up into single screens, there's an overworld littered with dungeons, and keys and mattocks (essentially a substitute for bombs) must be used to traverse said dungeons. Some other aspects appear to be lifted from Crystalis: attacks can be "charged", specific enemies are only vulnerable to certain weapons, and items and magic need to be equipped before use (with both occupying the same "slot"). FFA even uses the same clunky menu system found in Crystalis, with separate menus triggered by START or SELECT.

FFA's dialogue is rather wooden and the "story" is unimpressive, though there's a fascinating atmosphere and "mythology" present here that would find itself expanded upon in later series entries. The game begins with not one but two heroes: a boy and a girl. Both are nameable by the player, though I've read that their canonical names are supposed to be Sumo and Fuji. I find this hilarious - it's like an American was asked to create names for the characters and just picked the first two Japanese words he could think of. I guess it's better than Futon and Karaoke.

Sumo is the game's main protagonist and the only playable character. Fuji is AI-powered, attacks occasionally, and can heal Sumo when ASK is selected from the status screen. She's one of many assistants found throughout the game: there's also a robot who restores MP, a chocobo for taking rides, and a Red Mage straight out of the original Final Fantasy! Combat is very fluid and mostly weapons-based, and Sumo has swords, chains, axes, and spears in his arsenal. In addition to damaging enemies, weapons may also be used to clear rocks, trees, and so on. Offensive spells are available, but they're mostly useless and do little except drain MP that could be used for precious HP recovery instead. The enemy line-up is pretty killer. Black Mages and Ninjas make appearances as villains, as well as the monsters that would become Mana series staples (rabites, for example). Boss fights are delightfully frequent, though they could have used a little work. Only the earliest skirmishes present any difficulty. In the game's later areas any sufficiently leveled player will find that most bosses can be felled simply by mashing the attack button and healing on occasion.

Kenji Ito composed the Adventure's music, which is quite lovely. At the front of the queue is the title theme, which was later reused in Children of Mana among others. Graphics are serviceable. While the characters and their respective animations look great, the game "world" itself can be rather dull.The overworld is so nondescript that it becomes easy to get turned around and lost, and dungeons don't look much better. To be fair, the hardware itself is to blame for much of this. And while it's easy to say "Link's Awakening did this better!" that game had the benefit of being released two years after FFA.

I've never been able to talk about Mother objectively. I played the sequel (EarthBound) first, and that game is superior in just about every respect. The same goes for Final Fantasy Adventure. It's a decent little game, but ultimately feels like a warm-up for the phenomenal Secret of Mana. FFA is worth playing once, if only to discover the roots of this great series, but don't expect anything quite on par with installments two and three.

[noiseredux]

FFA was amazing, as it came out before we had a Game Boy Zelda game.

Also, FFA > Sword Of Mana.

[Ack]

At some point around 1996, I beat a Final Fantasy game. For years I thought it was Final Fantasy Adventure but just wasn't sure because I could only vaguely remember the game. Reading your post and seeing that FFA is an action RPG, I finally sat down and looked through it to figure out just what it was I had beaten so many years ago.

It wasn't Final Fantasy Adventure. It was Final Fantasy Legend III. Just how I came into possession of FFLIII long enough to beat it, I don't know, because I don't recall ever actually owning the game. But the final boss fight has stayed with me for years.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I always mix up "Legend" and "Adventure". I actually had to reread my post to make sure I hadn't written "Legend" anywhere.

But yeah, those games are completely different and more like traditional JRPGs. Of course they are really SaGa games too...