Games Beaten 2015

[Ack]

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Alien vs Predator (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES)(Action Platformer)
8. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
9. Shadowrun (SNES)(RPG)
10. Quake II (PC)(FPS)
11. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)(RPG)
12. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)(Action)
13. A Story About My Uncle (PC)(Platformer)
14. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)(FPS)
15. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC)(FPS)
16. Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
17. Catacomb Abyss (PC)(FPS)
18. Catacomb Armageddon (PC)(FPS)
19. Catacomb Apocalypse (PC)(FPS)
20. The Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
21. Catacomb 3-D (PC)(FPS)

After some test runs earlier to get the hang of the changes, I sat down and powered through Catacomb 3-D this evening. A few of the cryptic puzzles took some thinking(rich friends and the number of council chambers is 23...), but I managed to figure them out successfully and work my way through. With that, I finish up the Catacomb series.

Catacomb 3-D is the final entry on the id Software side of things before Softdisk took over the series entirely, and it's a strong departure point; built from the bones of Hovertank 3D(and supposedly inspired by a demo of Ultima Underworld), Catacomb 3-D is truly a first person perspective version of the previous two Catacomb games: the controls are the same, the heavy use of secrets in the design is the same, the creatures are different but still reminiscent of some of the Catacomb monsters, the chargeable attack is the same, the use of a hub world and messages which must be found to understand the path is the same, even the bumping into walls and making a sound is the same.

But yet, there are some major differences beyond the perspective change that would be a sign of things to come for the series, id Software, and the FPS genre. First, Catacomb 3-D introduces Nemesis, the series' recurring villain, who would go on to appear in the next three Catacomb Adventure titles. Second, while health is still registered in a bar manner similar to the previous games, this game was id Software's introduction to a floating head that visually registered damage, a relatively minor design choice but one that would stay with them through Wolf3D, the Doom series, and into Quake. Third, the saving system has been changed again, now allowing the player to save anywhere in the level and keep his progress up to that point.

Still, this game does feature some notable differences from later titles in the series; first, you cannot shoot and destroy spells, chests, and potions. The ability to destroy your own upgrades was introduced in Abyss, so feel free to spam the attack button. You can still charge up your attack too, though in the same amount of time you can spam the attack button rapidly for a ton of damage. All enemies are stunned by your hits in this game too, so you can even hold the mighty demons at bay if you press the Ctrl button fast enough. But of all the changes I found the most important, it was the inability to slide along the walls. In later Catacomb titles, you would slide along the wall if you bumped into it. That isn't the case in Catacomb 3-D. Here, you stick to the walls, meaning they can be absolutely deadly if you find yourself getting swarmed. As a result, caution is always urged, because escape is far more difficult. The tactics that work to evade critters in the later games do not work as well here.

On a side note, there are a few little touches that I really like about the game. The first is the music, of which there is only one repetitive track, but it is very reminiscent of what id would later be pumping out with Doom. This music and the sound effects were also used in the Commander Keen series. Second, there is a Pong knock off available for play in the game's main menu. And third, you don't actually have to defeat Nemesis in this game at all. Instead you win by rescuing Grelminar. Who is Grelminar, you ask? Why, he's actually from John Carmack's Dark Designs RPG series that he developed while still at Softdisk in 1990.

Ooph, I'm about Catacombed out!

[BoneSnapDeez]

So I heard u like Catacomb

[Ack]

So I heard u like Catacomb

Yeah, so they put Catacomb in my Catacomb Pack so I can emulate DOS games in my Windows.

[elricorico]

1. Fatal Fury (GEN)
2. DuckTales Remastered (WiiU)
3. Final Fantasy IV (PSP)
4. Journey (PS3)
5. The Legend of Zelda - A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
6. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
7. Super Mario Kart (SNES)

8. King Oddball Ends the World (Android)

Grabbed this for free on the amazon app store a couple months back and played from time to time when I had nothing better to do. Yesterday on the train ride home I beat the end boss.

This is a take on the oh so common destroy the enemies through trial and error "Angry Birds" type game. It plays fine and has a funny looking main character. Good time waster, but nothing terribly deep here.

[Exhuminator]

1. Devil's Attorney (Android | 2012 | strategy) (7/10)
2. Resident Evil 5 (360 | 2009 | action adventure) (8/10)
3. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (360 | 2010 | kart racer) (8/10)
4. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2 | 2005 | JRPG) (9/10)
5. Gears of War (360 | 2006 | cover shooter) (6/10)
6. Uncharted: Golden Abyss (Vita | 2012 | action adventure) (7/10)
7. Orcs & Elves (DS | 2007 | dungeon crawler) (7/10)
8. From The Abyss (DS | 2008 | action-RPG) (5/10)
9. Army of Two (360 | 2008 | cover shooter) (7/10)
10. Psychic World (Master System | 1991 | platformer) (4/10)
11. Endless Ocean: Blue World (Wii | 2010 | adventure / simulation) (9/10)
12. Journey to Silius (NES | 1990 | platformer) (6/10)
13. Sword Master (NES | 1992 | platformer) (3/10)
14. Project: Snowblind (PC | 2005 | FPS) (7/10)
15. Yakyuuken Part II - Gal's Dungeon (Famicom | 1989 | maze / puzzle) (5/10)
16. Bishoujo Sexy Derby (Famicom | 1988 | horse racing) (2/10)
17. SiN Episodes: Emergence (PC | 2006 | FPS) (5/10)
18. Seirei Gari (AKA Ghost Hunter) (NES | 1989 | puzzle / adventure) (4/10)
19. The Guardian Legend (NES | 1989 | action-RPG / shmup) (9/10)
20. Prey (PC | 2006 | FPS) (7/10)
21. Ys IV: Mask of the Sun (SFC | 1993 | action-RPG) (4/10)
22. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader (GameCube | 2001 | combat flight sim) (3/10)
23. Ys V: Lost Kefin, Kingdom of Sand (SFC | 1995 | action-RPG) (7/10)
24. Bonk's Adventure (TurboGrafx-16 | 1990 | platformer) (6/10)
25. Lost Kingdoms (GameCube | 2002 | CCG-action-RPG) (8/10)
26. Bonk's Revenge (TurboGrafx-16 | 1991 | platformer) (6/10)
27. Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx-16 | 1989 | shmup) (7/10)
28. Heatseeker (PS2 | 2007 | arcade flight combat) (7/10)
29. Castlevania: The Adventure (Game Boy | 1989 | platformer) (3/10)
30. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy | 1991 | platformer) (7/10)
31. Castlevania Legends (Game Boy | 1998 | platformer) (5/10)
32. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy | 1994 | platformer) 7/10
33. Bonk's Adventure (Game Boy | 1992 | platformer) 7/10

Bonk's Adventure on Game Boy is not the same game as it is on TurboGrafx-16. Although it shares the same basic gameplay elements and concept, there are improvements. The level layouts are much better designed for example, and enemy placement is more respectful to the player. Actually the difficulty has been toned down quite a bit in the Game Boy version, and it feels fair now rather than aggravating. That said, bosses still take too many hits to kill (especially the final boss), but unlimited continues help with this issue. Bonk's Adventure on GB has very nice and clean graphics, and excellent music, with good controls. Honestly it's a better game overall than the original trilogy was on TG-16, and I'm not just saying that from all the head trauma either.

[bmoc]

1. Radiant Historia
2. Halo: Combat Evolved (Master Chief Collection)
3. Halo 2 (Master Chief Collection)
4. Killer Instinct (Season 1 Story Mode)
5. 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
6. Ori and the Blind Forest (Xbox One)
7. Rayman Legends (Xbox One)
8. Mortal Kombat X (Xbox One)

Since I have completed Mortal Kombat X's Story Mode and played around with the majority of the game's other modes, I'm going to consider it beaten. The Mortal Kombat series has seen some highs and lows but with the release of Mortal Kombat (2011), the series is certainly on the upswing. Most of Mortal Kombat's (2011) cast was comprised of returning characters from MK 1 through MK Trilogy. If memory serves me, the lone exception being Quan Chi who first appeared in MK4.

Quan Chi's appearance provided the segway needed to reintroduce characters from MK4+ into MK X. His master, Shinnok, and the Netherealm play a key role in MK X's story mode. Netherealm Studios has once again crafted a really well done Story Mode. During the course of Story Mode, you are primarily playing as Earthrealm's defense forces but you do have the opportunity to play as some of Outworld's as well. All of the game's playable cast makes an appearance in some form (except for Goro). And there are quite a lot of cameo appearances from characters that didn't return from MK9 and characters hailing from MK4+. For example, you fight against both Baraka and Tanya during the Story Mode at one point. Netherealm Studios has done a great job weaving together so many characters in a manner that makes sense.

My one criticism of Story Mode is a big spoiler so read at your own risk:

Some of MK X's regular playable cast were killed off in MK9. During MK X's Story Mode, some of these characters come back from the dead and some don't. Liu Kang and Kitana in particular are undead revanants through the entirety of Story Mode yet they are in the game's cast outside of Story Mode. That doesn't make much sense. I guess they picked the cast before completing the game's story.

Next let's talk some about the game's online features. I only played a handful of games against online opponents but the Xbox One version's netcode seemed hit or miss. About half of the games that I played were really laggy. Not unplayable but certainly laggy enough to mess up some of your timings. It also took me quite a while to get connected with other players. Upon trying to find an online opponent, the game would tell me that it had found an opponent but it would then just sit there at that screen for what seemed like a few minutes. Sometimes I think the other players would get impatient and quit. Then I would have to attempt to connect again starting the whole process over again. Hopefully they will improve the online experience because as of right now, it is not so good.

But the online matchups are not the only online feature. MK X also has what is known as Faction Wars. When you first start up MK X it prompts you to join one of five factions. Most everything you do in MK X will award your faction a certain amount of points. There are also special "fatalities" called Faction Kills that are really easy to pull off and award more faction points than if you were to do one of the game's more flashy finishers. At the end of the Faction War (I'm not sure how long they last. Maybe a month?) all the players in that faction are awarded special prizes. I'm not sure what those prizes are at the moment.

There are Faction Wars specific game modes as well. There is the Invasion Boss where you get 30 seconds to beat on an insanely hard version of an MK X character. The Invasion Boss has a ton of hit points that are eventually whittled down by all the online players that partake in the mode. Whichever faction does the most damage to the Invasion Boss wins. Next there are Faction Towers. MK X has a variety of tower modes but this one obvious has the potential to add more points to you faction versus any of the other towers. Towers are a series of battles or challenges (think Test your Might from MK1) in which you climb for points and Kombat Koins.

As with MK9, the in-game currency is in the form of Kombat Koins. Kombat Koins are spent at the Krypt where you unlock fatalities, brutalities, skins, concept art, etc. The Krypt has seen a bit of an upgrade since its last iteration. Now it is sort of a mini first person RPG. You explore various areas of the Krypt which are gated by items that you find along the way. There are also occasional jump scare enemies that pop up along the way which you defeat with a simple quicktime event. Defeating them earns you a small amount of koins. Completing Story Mode awards you tens of thousands of koins and completing a normal match will get you anywhere from 200 to 1000ish koins depending on how you play and what finisher you use. Personally, I think the rate at which you gain koins is a bit on the low side. Also, playing against online opponents doesn't earn you any koins.

Aesthetically, the MK X is a real treat. All the characters have good animations and the graphics are all well done. The interactable stages are also a nice touch. You can perform some decent mixups jumping of walls and other things in the background. There are also some items that you can pick and throw at your opponent which do a respectable amount of damage. The music is also very well done in my opinion. The music isn't as upbeat as say Killer Instinct but it does a really good job of setting the mood of the stages.

Gameplay wise, I think MK X plays really well. Like any fighting game, it takes a little while to become accustomed to the mechanics and timings. But the game has depth and feels really polished. So far I haven't found anything really broken or extremely overpowered. I'm sure such things will be discovered and patched but as of right now, it seems fairly well balanced. The combo system requires pretty fast inputs compared to other fighting games but it is not an insurmountable challenge. Again, it just takes a little while to become accustomed to it. The super meter is back as it was from MK9. You have three stocks of meter. One stock and be spent of powered up versions of your special moves, two stocks on combo breakers, and three stocks on x-ray moves. There is also an energy meter below you health bar. It allows you to run by double tapping forward and holding block. I believe it also allows you interact with the stages. It refills very quickly and I never had a problem with running out of it. By and large, it just ignore it.

While I am enjoying the heck out of MK X, I have a hard time recommending it right now to anyone but the most hardcore MK fans and fighting game fans. Warner Bros (who owns Netherealm Studios) seems really intent on nickel and diming you for DLC. Goro is a pre-order bonus and there are four other character that are coming in the "Kombat Pack" which is priced at $30. Personally I am going to wait for a sale on the Kombat Pack or wait for the inevitable Komplete Edition to come down to $20 or so.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Shit didn't that come out like..... yesterday?

[bmoc]

Shit didn't that come out like..... yesterday?

Two days ago. It doesn't exactly take a long time to beat a fighting game. I took some vacation time to play it and Final Fantasy Type-0. I have a bunch of vacation to use up before July or I lose it.

[MrPopo]

Shit didn't that come out like..... yesterday?

Two days ago. It doesn't exactly take a long time to beat a fighting game. I took some vacation time to play it and Final Fantasy Type-0. I have a bunch of vacation to use up before July or I lose it.

All you have to do is learn the right AI trap and you're good, right?

[bmoc]

All you have to do is learn the right AI trap and you're good, right?

The default difficulty setting of medium was not very challenging for me. I haven't increased it yet because I am still learning the characters. Once I settle on 2-3 main characters, I'll bump it up. That said, the higher difficulties must have good AI because the Invasion Boss punishes each and every screwup. Sometimes I couldn't even land a hit.

The difficulty settings are Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Very Hard.