Games Beaten 2015

[Sarge]

I was wondering how the first Uncharted would hold up for you. Apparently not well! I still say the second game is the best, hopefully you'll enjoy that one more.

[prfsnl_gmr]

But in Uncharted, the graphics devolve in such a way that the battle you're already losing becomes even harder because of forced visual impairment.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Kaboom! both do this too. (That is, the games get harder the worse you are doing at them.) Call of Cthulhu even does the whole fade-to-black-as-you-bleed-out thing. I thought the mechanic was fine in Uncharted, and it was straight-up awesome in Call of Cthulhu. Accordingly, I would not say that a game mechanic that makes a game harder as you do worse at it is necessarily a sign of bad design.

(I endorse all of your other criticisms of Uncharted, BTW.)

[Ack]

But in Uncharted, the graphics devolve in such a way that the battle you're already losing becomes even harder because of forced visual impairment.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth and Kaboom! both do this too. (That is, the games get harder the worse you are doing at them.) Call of Cthulhu even does the whole fade-to-black-as-you-bleed-out thing. I thought the mechanic was fine in Uncharted, and it was straight-up awesome in Call of Cthulhu. Accordingly, I would not say that a game mechanic that makes a game harder as you do worse at it is necessarily a sign of bad design.

(I endorse all of your other criticisms of Uncharted, BTW.)

It also happens in a little known Japan-only survival horror game for the PS1 called The Note.

Not that this adds to the conversation, I'm just saying.

[BoneSnapDeez]

This is pretty crappy honestly. It's a top-down run 'n' gun that manages to be just as sloggy and brown as Ikari Warriors.

that's why I hate retro games. All they are is the same brown shooter over and over again.

I should just play Splatoon instead.

[Sarge]

Beat Shadow of the Ninja. Repeat, of course. Garuda gave me fits at the end, when he goes hyperdrive. Turns out I was doing it wrong, got it pretty easily the last time.

Anyway, it and Shatterhand are two of my favorites, not only for the gameplay, which both give me a heavy Sunsoft vibe, but for the rockin' music.

[ExedExes]

Beat Shadow of the Ninja. Repeat, of course. Garuda gave me fits at the end, when he goes hyperdrive. Turns out I was doing it wrong, got it pretty easily the last time.

Anyway, it and Shatterhand are two of my favorites, not only for the gameplay, which both give me a heavy Sunsoft vibe, but for the rockin' music.

Natsume seemed to have a mastery of NES music by the early 90s.

Dat intro.
Although now that title screen looks like it says "Shanow of The Ninja". ShamWOW of the ninja? Made by Natsume, you know they always put out good stuff.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Made by Natsume, you know they always put out good stuff.

They put out S.C.A.T.

[ExedExes]

They put out S.C.A.T.

Yes and I happen to like that game!
YOU MUST DESTROY THEM THE EARTH IS COUNTING ON YOU GOOD LUCK

[Sarge]

Made by Natsume, you know they always put out good stuff.

They put out S.C.A.T.

I see what you did there.

Also, even if the games aren't quite as good, Dragon Fighter and Choujin Sentai Jetman have awesome soundtracks.

EDIT: Just finished Shatterhand. I'd forgotten how tricky that end run can be. Thankfully, if you can get far enough in, you get to respawn infinitely at the approach run to the final boss, not having to go through the three other bosses on the way. Awfully nice of them. Still one of those overlooked gems on the system.

[Flake]

1/3: Super Mario Bros 2: Lost Levels (Luigi Run) (3DS VC/NES)
1/4: Super Mario Bros. (Wii / All-Stars)
1/15: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)
1/20: Super Mario Kart 8 (WiiU)
1/28: Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)
2/15: Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon (3DS)
2/15: Super Mario Land (3DS VC/GB)
2/16: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS VC/GB)
3/3: Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (3DS VC/GB)
3/13: Dragon Ball Xenoverse (PS4)
3/23: Metroid Prime (Wii)
4/18: Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Wii)
5/3: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
5/10: Donkey Kong Country (WiiU VC/SNES)
5/16: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Hyper Stone Heist (GEN)
5/23: Mario Party 10 (WiiU)
5/25: New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
6/18: Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)

Super Mario 3D Land is so absolutely amazing. That a game this good graphically can exist in the palm of my hands is a point of wonder for me. I feel like this is an oddly neglected entry in the Mario series. I think this is for two reasons: 1 - it's on a handheld platform which is always held up as a negative for almost any entry in a mainline Nintendo franchise except for Zelda.

2 - There is this really weird concept that this game is short and easy. It is like no one bothers to play the game again after beating the story mode and they are therefor missing 50% of the game. I probably cleared about 85% of the Special World levels before finally deciding I'd played enough. At World 8-2 with over 260 gold coins, I feel like I've gotten my moneys worth from the game. I might come back to it at some point though, maybe as part of a double feature when I revisit Mario 3D World to finish up the Special Worlds in that game, too.