Games Beaten 2015

[BoneSnapDeez]

I like Hotline Miami. But everything about it is very caustic and in-your-face. I can see how that would be off-putting to some.

[J T]

I was listening to M.O.O.N. from the Hotline Miami soundtrack and my wife really liked them. I burned a CD of music for her to listen to in the car that included their song Hydrogen, and it was her favorite song on the CD. When she found out later that it was from Hotline Miami, she got mad at me for tricking her into listening to video game music.

[Sarge]

So, just was goofing off after finishing SF2010, and fiddled in my translations folder. Came up with Yume Penguin Monogatari. It's a weird little shooter / platformer. Instead of life, though, you have both a timer that decreases when you get hit, and a "fitness" meter displaying how fat you are, and if you don't get under a certain threshold in a stage, you don't win back the heart of your penguin girlfriend. No, she's clearly not the least bit shallow.

It actually looks pretty good, and it made for a nice little snack of a game. It's not terribly long or challenging, but that's okay! Contrary to what it looks like, I don't always like to track down brutally difficult games.

[Blu]

1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3)
2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6)
3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14)
4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14)
5. Streets of Rage - Genesis (January 16)
6. F-Zero - SNES (January 21)
7. Super Mario 3D World - Wii U (January 28)
8. Hyrule Warriors - Wii U (February 5)

Wow, this game. It's so much fun and addicting at the same time. Never would I think Zelda and Hyrule Warriors would match up. The formula is there, this might be my favorite game of 2014...in 2015! I know I'll go back and play through adventure mode and tinker with Amiibos, maxing stats, unlocking weapons, you name it. There's definite replayability, and can't wait to sink some more time into this fun game!

[BogusMeatFactory]

1. Super Smash Brothers - N64 (January 3)
2. Shovel Knight - Wii U (January 6)
3. NES Remix - Wii U (January 14)
4. NES Remix 2 - Wii U (January 14)
5. Streets of Rage - Genesis (January 16)
6. F-Zero - SNES (January 21)
7. Super Mario 3D World - Wii U (January 28)
8. Hyrule Warriors - Wii U (February 5)

Wow, this game. It's so much fun and addicting at the same time. Never would I think Zelda and Hyrule Warriors would match up. The formula is there, this might be my favorite game of 2014...in 2015! I know I'll go back and play through adventure mode and tinker with Amiibos, maxing stats, unlocking weapons, you name it. There's definite replayability, and can't wait to sink some more time into this fun game!

I know right!? That was definitely the most surprising game for me that year, as I was expecting a fun little romp and found myself have a lot more fun than I expected! I hear a lot of complaints about the multiplayer, because of, "Slow down." The frame rate drops, but at no time was there lag and at no point was I like, "this is compromising the gameplay and making it less fun!" So good! Glad you enjoyed it!

[Key-Glyph]

Came up with Yume Penguin Monogatari.

This game! I've only heard about it, but the premise was so goofy that we were semi-seriously considering buying it for our household. That's even knowing it would require looking into doing the Gyromite converter thing and possibly having to get a toploader.

Oh, except that I just looked at the eBay prices for those required bits. Egad! Nevermind!

Nice to know you enjoyed it, though. And thanks for the article on the Gyromite adapters, CRTGAMER, Ziggy587, and Ack. Super interesting and informative stuff. I will be a compulsive cart checker at all retro stores and flea markets forevermore.

[BoneSnapDeez]

After I beat it, I watched a long play of a fan translation on YouTube so I could understand the story, and among other things learned that my shield would block projectiles if I stood still. Whoops! I was dodging everything. And I mean everything. Playing on hard mode!

Received a copy of Alcahest yesterday and fired it up this afternoon. You're told about the shield thing within the first 15 seconds of play. Of course one must know Japanese to understand this.

Anyhow, nice work completing it on "hard mode."

[Hobie-wan]

Ok, I haven't gotten every item and achievement, but I just cleared the last ending, so I'm considering it beaten, if not 'completed'.

02-06-15 - Binding of Isaac Rebirth.

Good night Mega Satan!

Man, the boss rush room you can get if you defeat mom in under 20 minutes is a gauntlet, but sheesh! All the vices and horsemen plus a couple of angels.

[Stark]

Ok, I haven't gotten every item and achievement, but I just cleared the last ending, so I'm considering it beaten, if not 'completed'.

02-06-15 - Binding of Isaac Rebirth.

How's this compare to the original?

[Hobie-wan]

Ok, I haven't gotten every item and achievement, but I just cleared the last ending, so I'm considering it beaten, if not 'completed'.

02-06-15 - Binding of Isaac Rebirth.

How's this compare to the original?

It's a big improvement over the original. I have issues with a few things, as I noted back when I first got it, but yeah, more of the same but better. Initially it seemed a lot harder in general, but now I see it was mostly the inrush of new enemies that I had to learn that were on par with the difficulty of playing the original for the first time. Summary of points below.

The Good
Proper controller input which also gives you analog for the walking.
Free screen resizing.
More items.
Items combine in more interesting ways and don't bug out like they often did in the original when you got crazy combinations.
More level tile variety.
Lots of little animated details everywhere that weren't in before.
More room configurations. Most are still 1x1, but you can also have 1x2, 2x1, and 2x2 as well as some secrets that are yet another Zelda call out.

The Meh
Apparently Edward always wanted pixel art. The pixel art is good with more details as I said, but I liked the smooth shapes too.

The Bad
Occasionally there are really annoying or unfair rooms. Sometimes more than half a room will be blocked off but there will be fast flying enemies that rush you at high speed as you enter the room and you will take damage. There's a particular 2x2 room with constantly spitting stone heads and roaming enemies that you can't hit until they open up. Trying to time avoiding the stone heads while coaxing the enemies open and hitting them is maddening. I always die or am nearly dead when I encounter that room.
The new music is good, but the original music was better IMHO.
Hate hate hate the new voices. Where the original had sympathetic whimpers, there are now annoying whines. Mom was all nice and creepy before when fighting her, now she's just... angry.