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)
This run of New Super Mario Bros 2 is the closest I've come to 100%ing a Mario Game. I managed to get enough star coins to unlock and finish Star World and made it through all of the worlds, including the hidden ones. Coin rushed a lot, too.
This game is both one of my favorite platformers of all time and also one of the most disappointing Mario games I have ever played. In terms of level design and fun factor, this game is absolutely perfect. It seems to get overlooked a lot but I think that is a mistake. Each level seems to have been built around the player needing to totally utilize all of the abilities available in that zone to unlock everything. There is an assumption that the player will want to find the star coins and as long as the player tries to explore, they are going to have a great time.
The disappointment comes in the end game and the post game content. There simply isn't enough and the difficulty seems to critically ramp down the closer you get to the final boss. The extra final boss in Star World should have been an epic battle but it felt like the original final boss with a 1% difficulty boost. The core game was good enough that I wanted more and the lack of more colored the final experience.
But hey, a game that is great 95% of the time is still a great game.
Games Beaten 2015
Re: Games Beaten 2015
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Re: Games Beaten 2015
mjmjr25 wrote:dsheinem wrote:Escape Goat 2 is nowhere near as good as the first. Compared to the first it is far too easy, the graphical charm has been largely replaced with a less pixely style, and even the structure of the map and stuff feels less substantive. I suppose there may be more goodies hidden in the end game content/secret rooms, but the first one kicked your ass and made an impression through the main game. This one, by comparison, was a cake walk.
I'm at a loss if you're serious.
EG 2 has more rooms, more multi-step puzzle solving, greatly enhanced graphics and sounds, and the controls are much smoother. I don't say this to argue - I just want to ensure people who haven't played either are sure to spend their money wisely.
EG 2 > $40 > Cutting toenails > EG 1
Totally serious. The "puzzles" in EG2 are super easy cheesy. There's very little that emphasizes pixel perfect platforming, and most moving parts/timing issues can be figured out with minimal effort.
The graphics in EG2 are more impressive from a technical standpoint, but I vastly prefer the aesthetic created by the more rudimentary/retro graphics of EG1. That's purely subjective, of course.
I can't find a good comparison that shows how many levels exist in each game (that is, what levels are required playing to "beat" the games and get to the credits). I know that Steam says it took me ~3.5 hours to play through EG1 and the PS4 says it only took ~2 hours to beat EG2. I doubt that I am that much better at the basic game, so either the levels are way easier, far fewer, or both.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
mjmjr25 wrote:dsheinem wrote:Escape Goat 2 is nowhere near as good as the first. Compared to the first it is far too easy, the graphical charm has been largely replaced with a less pixely style, and even the structure of the map and stuff feels less substantive. I suppose there may be more goodies hidden in the end game content/secret rooms, but the first one kicked your ass and made an impression through the main game. This one, by comparison, was a cake walk.
I'm at a loss if you're serious.
EG 2 has more rooms, more multi-step puzzle solving, greatly enhanced graphics and sounds, and the controls are much smoother. I don't say this to argue - I just want to ensure people who haven't played either are sure to spend their money wisely.
I also far preferred the graphics from EG1; I felt a lot of the charm of the original is lost in the second entry.
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
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Markies
- Next-Gen
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- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2015
prfsnl_gmr wrote:Also, the first two entries in the Samurai Shodown series are amazing. I can't recommend them highly enough, but you should not go into them expecting games like Street Fighter II. Each one is much more like a 2D Bushido Blade.
That is kind of what the game became for me.
I am not a good counter fighter at all. I am like 100% offense all of the time and that worked for some of the easier enemies, but Hanzo, Charlotte and the final boss utterly destroyed me with that strategy.
By the end of the game, I was picking my spots, knowing the patterns and figuring out how to damage the enemies. It became quite enthralling and a great learning experience. I got destroyed several times by the final boss and then I beat him in two consecutive matches with taking very little damage. It became like a high paced chess match.
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alienjesus
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- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:10 pm
- Location: London, UK.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
Flake wrote:This game is both one of my favorite platformers of all time and also one of the most disappointing Mario games I have ever played.
This is my favourite of the New Super Mario Bros. series, which is a slightly controversial opinion I feel. My biggest issue with the game was that it needed a whole heap more of those cannon stages, because they were awesome.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
alienjesus wrote:Flake wrote:This game is both one of my favorite platformers of all time and also one of the most disappointing Mario games I have ever played.
This is my favourite of the New Super Mario Bros. series, which is a slightly controversial opinion I feel. My biggest issue with the game was that it needed a whole heap more of those cannon stages, because they were awesome.
Exactly this. My only complaints about the game are that I wanted more of it. I wanted Star World to be bigger and I wanted more boss fights. I especially wanted more Coin Rush levels based on the original trilogy. It really was a great game and perfectly designed to be consumed in bits.
And a slight gripe: I miss having Luigi directly accessible as the game character the way he was in the original New Super Mario Bros.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Re: Games Beaten 2015
Well, beat my first game of the year (yes, I'm serious).
Knights of the Old Republic II (with cut content mod)
Fantastic game but not without flaws. The good was overall stronger than the bad, but just because of my own predilections I have a lot more to say about the bad.
First the good:
The characters are very well written, and most of the dialogue is spoken well. There are some really interesting character moments. I also love some of the very complex ideas this game tries to introduce to the Star Wars universe. So, yeah, for the most part the writing is very good and the characters are great. The BioWare combat engine is also pretty good most of the time. It largely works well, with only occasional frustrations (see below).
The bad:
BioWare combat engine with Obsidian at the helm. There were a couple long battles where I could not prevent my teammates from charging off after enemies no matter what I did. Well, scratch that. I could make them stand still and get shot. I could not get them to break off and follow me. This wouldn't have been a problem, except in one VERY hard battle early on, there are groups of enemies just far enough apart that you only fight one group at a time, but near enough together that your allies spot them and then tear off after them right after dispatching the current group. That turned out to be a VERY frustrating experience. I think some of that was Obsidian's design exacerbating weaknesses in the engine Fortunately, the game hands out enough gear that you can turn most of your characters into crazed death machines about midway through the game. By the end of the game my main character had a 40+ Armor Class unbuffed, and topped out at about 55 with various Force buffs. The last boss managed to get two hits in on me and I downed her in 3 rounds of combat.
Also, the plot is too complex to be well-contained by the game. It's clear BioWare had big dreams, but they were on a budget and a timetable, and so content got cut. Some of the cuts between characters or scenes feel very sudden, with no transition at all. Especially later in the game, it can be hard to figure out why there isn't more connective tissue between events. You are rushed from scene to scene at a hectic pace.
Would play again. Absolutely. Might be interesting to toss skills out the window and go full-on combat death machine. I became one by endgame, but it might be nice to be able to tear people apart from step 1.
Knights of the Old Republic II (with cut content mod)
Fantastic game but not without flaws. The good was overall stronger than the bad, but just because of my own predilections I have a lot more to say about the bad.
First the good:
The characters are very well written, and most of the dialogue is spoken well. There are some really interesting character moments. I also love some of the very complex ideas this game tries to introduce to the Star Wars universe. So, yeah, for the most part the writing is very good and the characters are great. The BioWare combat engine is also pretty good most of the time. It largely works well, with only occasional frustrations (see below).
The bad:
BioWare combat engine with Obsidian at the helm. There were a couple long battles where I could not prevent my teammates from charging off after enemies no matter what I did. Well, scratch that. I could make them stand still and get shot. I could not get them to break off and follow me. This wouldn't have been a problem, except in one VERY hard battle early on, there are groups of enemies just far enough apart that you only fight one group at a time, but near enough together that your allies spot them and then tear off after them right after dispatching the current group. That turned out to be a VERY frustrating experience. I think some of that was Obsidian's design exacerbating weaknesses in the engine Fortunately, the game hands out enough gear that you can turn most of your characters into crazed death machines about midway through the game. By the end of the game my main character had a 40+ Armor Class unbuffed, and topped out at about 55 with various Force buffs. The last boss managed to get two hits in on me and I downed her in 3 rounds of combat.
Also, the plot is too complex to be well-contained by the game. It's clear BioWare had big dreams, but they were on a budget and a timetable, and so content got cut. Some of the cuts between characters or scenes feel very sudden, with no transition at all. Especially later in the game, it can be hard to figure out why there isn't more connective tissue between events. You are rushed from scene to scene at a hectic pace.
Would play again. Absolutely. Might be interesting to toss skills out the window and go full-on combat death machine. I became one by endgame, but it might be nice to be able to tear people apart from step 1.
Dope Pope on a Rope
B/S/T thread
My Classic Games Collection
My Steam Profile
The PC Engine Software Bible Forum, with Shoutbox chat - the new Internet home for PC Engine fandom.
B/S/T thread
My Classic Games Collection
My Steam Profile
The PC Engine Software Bible Forum, with Shoutbox chat - the new Internet home for PC Engine fandom.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
I've always wanted to play through with the restoration mod. I played on XBOX back in the day. I remember enjoying both in the series, of course, and I believe they're the first Western RPGs that I ever finished.
Re: Games Beaten 2015
1. Call of Duty United Offensive Expansion Pack - PC (January 16)
2. Dead To Rights - Gamecube (January 24)
3. River City Ransom EX - GBA (February 21)
4. Call of Duty 2 - PC (February 28) (link missing due to this game's post being wiped during the great RB server move)
5. Quake - PC (March 31)
6. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC) (April 5)
7. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (PC) (April 18)
8. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (PC) (May 19)
9. *NEW* Super Puzzle Fighter II (GBA) (May 23)
I had some time to get back to this, found a character I liked and even though it took me a few tries to do, completed it. This port plays 99% like the arcade, save for the screen size of course, some of the things are a little tough to read, but Atomic Planet nailed this, every aspect and even added cool extra modes and other touches. This was one of the better ports, and it's a great portable game.
2. Dead To Rights - Gamecube (January 24)
3. River City Ransom EX - GBA (February 21)
4. Call of Duty 2 - PC (February 28) (link missing due to this game's post being wiped during the great RB server move)
5. Quake - PC (March 31)
6. The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (PC) (April 5)
7. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon (PC) (April 18)
8. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (PC) (May 19)
9. *NEW* Super Puzzle Fighter II (GBA) (May 23)
I had some time to get back to this, found a character I liked and even though it took me a few tries to do, completed it. This port plays 99% like the arcade, save for the screen size of course, some of the things are a little tough to read, but Atomic Planet nailed this, every aspect and even added cool extra modes and other touches. This was one of the better ports, and it's a great portable game.
Xeogred wrote:The obvious answer is that it's time for the Dreamcast 2.
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BoneSnapDeez
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- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2015
First 50:
51. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
52. Tic-Tac-Toe / Shooting Gallery / Doodle / Quadra-Doodle (Channel F)
53. Robot War / Torpedo Alley (Channel F)
54. Pinball Challenge (Channel F)
55. Elevator Action (Xbox - Taito Legends)
56. Elevator Action II (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
57. Altered Beast (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
58. Congo Bongo (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
59. International Soccer (Commodore 64)
60. Out of this World! / Helicopter Rescue! (Odyssey²)
61. Alien Invaders - Plus! (Odyssey²)
62. Ice Hockey (Atari 2600)
63. River Raid (Atari 2600)
64. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600)
65. Ys II (Famicom)
66. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Turbo CD)
67. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
68. Frogs and Flies (Atari 2600)
69. Ice Climber (NES)
70. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (PlayStation 2)
71. Ghosts 'n Goblins (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
72. Ikari Warriors (Atari 2600)
These are two of my Summer Challenge games. I wrote about them here and here.
51. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
52. Tic-Tac-Toe / Shooting Gallery / Doodle / Quadra-Doodle (Channel F)
53. Robot War / Torpedo Alley (Channel F)
54. Pinball Challenge (Channel F)
55. Elevator Action (Xbox - Taito Legends)
56. Elevator Action II (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
57. Altered Beast (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
58. Congo Bongo (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
59. International Soccer (Commodore 64)
60. Out of this World! / Helicopter Rescue! (Odyssey²)
61. Alien Invaders - Plus! (Odyssey²)
62. Ice Hockey (Atari 2600)
63. River Raid (Atari 2600)
64. Frankenstein's Monster (Atari 2600)
65. Ys II (Famicom)
66. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Turbo CD)
67. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
68. Frogs and Flies (Atari 2600)
69. Ice Climber (NES)
70. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (PlayStation 2)
71. Ghosts 'n Goblins (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded)
72. Ikari Warriors (Atari 2600)
These are two of my Summer Challenge games. I wrote about them here and here.