Games Beaten 2016
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Fun fact: the TT engine is modified (a lot) from the engine created to make Telltale Texas Hold'em. (psst: It's time for a new engine TT)
Let strength be granted, so the world might be mended...so the world might be mended.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Trogdor was a man. I mean, he was a dragon man. Or maybe he was just a dragon. But he was still...
TROGDOOOOORRRR! TROGDOOOOOORRRR!
Burninating the countryside! Burninating the peasants! Burninating all the peoples, in their thatched roof COTTAGES!!! THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!!
Okay, now I have to link the song from Strong Bad Sings.
TROGDOOOOORRRR! TROGDOOOOOORRRR!
Burninating the countryside! Burninating the peasants! Burninating all the peoples, in their thatched roof COTTAGES!!! THATCHED ROOF COTTAGES!!
Okay, now I have to link the song from Strong Bad Sings.
-
fastbilly1
- Site Admin
- Posts: 13775
- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 7:08 pm
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I cant remember if I posted this, but since there are other Homestar fans here. Back in the day there was a trailer released for Peasants Quest the Movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GpEyVZyAY8
The important part is the Knight at 1:30:
Thats a friend of the Brothers Chaps named Matt Yates. You may know him better as Lucky Yates. Or possibly as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GpEyVZyAY8
The important part is the Knight at 1:30:
Thats a friend of the Brothers Chaps named Matt Yates. You may know him better as Lucky Yates. Or possibly as:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
Lucky's a cool guy too. I enjoy watching his improv stuff, especially when he works with Amber Nash.
-
alienjesus
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8776
- Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:10 pm
- Location: London, UK.
Re: Games Beaten 2016
More walls of text to enjoy! Jesus guys, I truly am sorry for the length of this post. I've spoilered my games beaten list to try and save space, but it doesn't help much...
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
OK, so I'm not going to talk much about this one. I've made clear elsewhere on the forums that I just don't like Street Fighter. I don't know all the nuances, I don't know all the moves, I certainly am not very good at it. But I also don't have much fun despite lots of attempts.
Anyhow, I beat this game twice - once as Sakura, and once as E.Honda. I used continues. It was sure Street Fighter. Objectively, I can't say I find fault with anything much, it was fine. I just didn't like any of the time I spent with it, so I decided to stop spending time with it and move on. But hey, it sure is pretty for a launch title for the system.
Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu Remix
-1459884797.png)
So, following on from beating my third version of Puyo Puyo (I've beaten Mean Bean Machine, Kirby's Ghost Trap and Puyo Puyo CD over the years), I decided I would finally move onto the sequel and see how things have improved. And the answer to that is 'it depends on your perspective'.
Puyo Puyo Tsuu's big change to the Puyo Puyo formula is the ability to counter garbage blocks before they land on your side. If you make a combo before the garbage hits you, it will be reduced until eventually there's none left and garbage will start piling up on your opponents side. This is certainly a nice feature, although I feel it's a little underpowered - maybe it's better for high level play, but the game only gives you a single turn to activate a counter combo, so if you don't have one waiting in the wings right then, it doesn't make much odds. This means that this feature doesn't change the gameplay as much as you might hope overall, except it one crucial way - it means the computer will wipe the floor with you harder than ever.
Unlike the first major Puyo game, where you fight 13 stages in a row, Puyo Puyo Tsuu features 20 stages over 8 levels. Your opponents on each level are randomly selected until you've beaten enough to progress to the next tier. Each opponent has different AI, and some will tear you apart. Despite starting off WAY easier than Puyo Puyo 1, Puyo Puyo Tsuu ramps up in difficulty very quickly, and by stage 6 you're fighting AI opponents who are comparable to the hardest opponents in the first game, with 14 stages still to go. They fire off combos every other turn, countering your own attacks whilst decimating you with theres. It's brutal. In my run of Puyo Puyo Tsuu, I used at least 99 continues. I say 'at least' because I suspect the game stopped counting at that point and there are only 2 display digits. The difficulty is also wildly inconsistent. The 2 stages I struggled with the most were stage 6 and stage 18. 19 probably represents 3/4 of my continues, easily. 19 took me 3 attempts, and I beat the final boss first time.
-3.jpg)
Puyo Puyo Tsuu's single player campaign was absolute torture. It was hellishly unfun and almost put me off the series. But it's multiplayer modes are compelling and interesting, and lets face it, probably how the game should be played anyway. The 'Remix' version I have has some extra features apparently, but being it's all in Japanese and untranslated, I don't have many ideas what they are. My understanding is it adds a 'super hard' difficulty (Fuck. That.) and some extra multiplayer modes.
Puyo Puyo Tsuu is hard to rate. In multiplayer, I would say it's objectively better than the first game. In single player its just too cruel to be fun. The most hilarious thing for me? There's a secret boss if you beat the game with no continues.
I was only 99 off!
Super Aleste
Super Aleste is a game I beat for the Summer Games Challenge. It's my first game beaten for the challenge this year, and it is a game which has been long overdue - it was on my challenge list in 2014 and 2015 as well, and got played on neither occasion.
And how foolish I was! Super Aleste is an absolute treat. In America, you might know the game better as Space MegaForce, but whichever name it goes by it represents one of the best shmups on the system and of it's generation, despite arriving so early in the life of the console and on the infamously 'slower' Nintendo console which isn't as well regarded on the shooter front.
I've played Blazing Lazers before (also by Compile), and they're very similar. The game features the traditional Compile weapon system - multiple numbered weapons with different effects who can be powered up by collecting more icons to bigger better versions. Unlike Blazing Lazers, which features 4 weapons and 4 sub weapons, Super Aleste features a whopping 8 weapons, all of which have alternate firing modes. These can very from minor switches (like being able to tilt your fire when moving, or change firing patterns on spread bullets) to major functionality changes, like adding homing abilities or freezing options into a wall of shooting cannons that fundamentally change how the weapon plays. The diversity here is incredible - even the basic weapon at max power has SIX different firing patterns. It's also better balanced than Blazing Lazers. In that game, the shield subweapon was so good that it was almost essential, relegating the other 3 subweapons to uselessness.
-1460170700.png)
With the system here (you lose 4 weapon levels if hit) all weapon choices are equal defensively, meaning your choices are down to preference on their firing pattern, not thei utility. They're not perfectly balanced, but I'm sure everyone will have a favourite (even if it's probably weapon 2, because weapon 2 is awesome.)
Stage design differs too. Super Aleste does 2 major things differently to Blazing Lazers - it's generally more oppresive - levels tend to feature lots of tight spaces (thankfully, colliding with walls doesn't hurt you at all unless you get crushed by screen scroll) compared to Lazers' more open fields (besides the bubble level). Secondly, it likes to make use of this fancy 'Mode 7' thing, and likes to make things move and spin a lot. Stage 2 takes place over a battleship fortress thign which constantly moves in and out and turns around to show off the effect.
Difficulty wise, I'd have to imagine this game is on the lower end of the spectrum for the genre. It didn't take me long to beat it, that's for sure. I'd say it's probably a bit easier than Blazing Lazers, mostly due to infinite continues, but both are fairly comparable in difficulty.
Super Aleste is a fantastic little shooter though, and a must-own for the system if you like the genre I'd say. I've only played 2 of their shmups (I've played some other games they made too, hint hint, read the last entry if you didn't) but they're amongst my favourite of the era, and they're certainly very special feeling. The only thing I've found thats like them is other shmups by Compile. I just wish those other shmups were generally a bit cheaper
Sega Rally Championship
-8.jpg)
And here is my second finished game from the Summer Challenge.
Sega Rally Championship is a game I've own for a few years. It's a game I always thought was 'fine' when I gave it a go, enough to keep hold of it at least, especially considering it's worth almost nothing to sell, but one which I've never really devoted much time to. Now I have, and again, I wish I had done so sooner - its a lot of fun.
Sega Rally is a very short game. There are 4 courses, one of which you unlock by beating the game, which requires you to finish in 1st on your 3rd course. Positions carry over, and you need to work up the ranks over the 3 races. You start in 15th at the beginning of race 1, and need to advanced to 1st by the end of race 3. This is no mean feat, as it requires some pretty great times on course 1 and 2, but thankfully is more lenient on the tougher course 3. Opponents always appear in the same spots on each course, so if you finish the 1st track in 10th, then 9th place will be just in front of you on the next course, but if you finish in 11th, 10th place will be where 9th was. Because of this, it's crucial to pass enough people each course to be able to see 1st place ahead of you on the third track.
Speaking of the tracks, they're fairly varied and interesting to drive, if a little unremarkable graphically. The first is a long desert course with wide, gentle corners, but very slippery track service making it easy to skid if you turn too sharply. It finishes with a quick left and right turn followed by a long corner that requires you to break in order to gain traction and stop sliding sideways. You'll need to learn to break in Sega Rally - pelting into sharper corners tends to result in your car pinballing around for a while and will cost you your chances of 1st.
-5.jpg)
The 2nd course is a forest course which starts with some sweeping gentle curves, followed by some harsher corners to ease you in. Then it turns nasty half way through with a brutal u-turn followed by some fairly tight corners on muddy ground (the rest of the course is tarmac) to finish. The 3rd stage is on the mountain and features lots of terrain changes, with some narrow roads and some nasty corners, especially an absolutely abohrrent u-turn early on where other cars tend to ram into the side of you while turning. The 4th and final course is exclusive to the Saturn game and franly sucks. It's all muddy, very narrow and full of sharp turns. It's also boring to drive and boring to look at. A let down after the other 3 great tracks.
Sega Rally lets you choose between 2 cars, with a third unlockable. Generally the faster the car, the slidier it's steering is. I beat the game with the basic Celica, which is the slowest but easiest to handle. And that's all there is to the game - Sega Rally Championship is fun, controls well and is compelling - a real 'one more try' kind of game. Thats also because it is 3 and a half minutes long. No joke. If you play all 4 courses, your time will be a good way under 5 minutes in total. If you played all 4 courses with all 3 cars, you could beat the game in less time than it would take to drink a cup of tea (super British time scale go!). Sega Rally is great and everyone should own it. It's also very cheap, which is uncommon for Saturn.
Thats good, because I'm very glad I got this amount of content for £1 and not £60, like the sticker on the box of my copy says.
Knuckles' Chaotix
So, I recently passed 1000 video games on my backloggery. It's not an exact figure - it counts compilations as seperate games, and includes all my download games as well as physical. Either way, I wanted to treat myself to a game to celebrate - something I wouldn't normall splash out on.
I eventually decided on a 32X with Knuckles' Chaotix. As a kid I used to read a comic book on occasion called Sonic the Comic. They had a whole story arc about Chaotix when the game came out, as well as loads of adverts for the game. At the time, I was really into Knuckles the Echidna, who I thought was super cool (I would have been, what, 7 years old at the time?). But obviously I never got the game, and over time I kinda forgot it existed.
Skip forward about 13 years though, to when I started university, was into virtual console games, and decided to start buying games for my old consoles again. I trawled the interner looking for stuff about old games, discover racketboy, buy old consoles I never owned before, and rediscover Chaotix. And also see the price. The 32X and the game aren't nearly as crazy as the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga to buy, but they're not cheap, especially as an investment into both - and frankly, there's not much other reasons to own a 32X.
Skip forward another 8 years. Now I'm an adult, I own Knuckles' Chaotix and a 32X and I can finally play the game, 21 years on. I'm not a kid anymore, and the unbridled joy of it being a game where I can be Knuckles has gone. I'm not just getting into retro collecting, so I don't have quite the same joy I had then of just playing strange stuff I don't know much about, just because someone told me it was good. Instead, I have a couple dozen years of good old-fashioned British cynicism, knowledge from reviews that the game is generally considered mediocre and experience of several hundred games beaten to compare it to. It's not looking good for Chaotix.
And you know what? I had a blast!
-4.png)
Chaotix is not a great game. It's not a bad one, that's for sure, but it's flawed for sure. The elastic mechanic the game has causes you to flail around hopelessly more than it should. Basic Sonic features like springs can be a hassle to co-ordinate with your AI partner. The 5 zones feature 5 acts each, which is way too many frankly, and they needed more variety. The levels are sparse and don't feature many enemies. The game is buggy - I've fallen through floors multiple times on both 2S and 3D levels. These are all issues the game has. But the game is just fun.
The elastic mechanic is a handful, but it shoots you and your partner around - this is one of the faster games in the series, helped tremendously by the lower number of enemies and the absence of bottomless pits. It's also probably the easiest - there are unlimited lives, save points, and several ways to keep your rings secure. But the game is like being in a pinball machine. It's frenetic, it's chaotic (lol, I typoed chaotix by mistake here and was tempted to leave it) and it's a joy to fling myself about in.
I also love the style. Vector the Crocodile is a character I never cared for in recent Sonic games. Here, in 2D? Vector is fucking awesome. I love all of his animations. I love how he moves. I love his air dash ability, which is one of the most useful in sonic history, even though it's so basic. I love Charmy Bee. I love how his sprite barely reaches Vector's knee. I love how he can fly about the whole level freely exploiting the shit out of the game's engine, and the game doesn't punish you for that. ....The other guys are OK, but y'know, it's hard to top the Vector & Charmy combo. Poor old Mighty - forgotten from this point on, and he wasn't even good in this game to begin with.
Anyway, there's not a lot to Chaotix really. It's 3 hours or so of springy, floucy, bouncy, trouncey, pouncy fun fun fun fun fun. It turns out Tigger's are not the only one! I don't adore it by any means, and it's never gonna hit my top games of all time list. But it's just such a nice thing to be able to say "here's that thing I always wanted to try, and 2 decades and £150 or so later, I'm glad I did".
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition
OK, so I'm not going to talk much about this one. I've made clear elsewhere on the forums that I just don't like Street Fighter. I don't know all the nuances, I don't know all the moves, I certainly am not very good at it. But I also don't have much fun despite lots of attempts.
Anyhow, I beat this game twice - once as Sakura, and once as E.Honda. I used continues. It was sure Street Fighter. Objectively, I can't say I find fault with anything much, it was fine. I just didn't like any of the time I spent with it, so I decided to stop spending time with it and move on. But hey, it sure is pretty for a launch title for the system.
Super Puyo Puyo Tsuu Remix
So, following on from beating my third version of Puyo Puyo (I've beaten Mean Bean Machine, Kirby's Ghost Trap and Puyo Puyo CD over the years), I decided I would finally move onto the sequel and see how things have improved. And the answer to that is 'it depends on your perspective'.
Puyo Puyo Tsuu's big change to the Puyo Puyo formula is the ability to counter garbage blocks before they land on your side. If you make a combo before the garbage hits you, it will be reduced until eventually there's none left and garbage will start piling up on your opponents side. This is certainly a nice feature, although I feel it's a little underpowered - maybe it's better for high level play, but the game only gives you a single turn to activate a counter combo, so if you don't have one waiting in the wings right then, it doesn't make much odds. This means that this feature doesn't change the gameplay as much as you might hope overall, except it one crucial way - it means the computer will wipe the floor with you harder than ever.
Unlike the first major Puyo game, where you fight 13 stages in a row, Puyo Puyo Tsuu features 20 stages over 8 levels. Your opponents on each level are randomly selected until you've beaten enough to progress to the next tier. Each opponent has different AI, and some will tear you apart. Despite starting off WAY easier than Puyo Puyo 1, Puyo Puyo Tsuu ramps up in difficulty very quickly, and by stage 6 you're fighting AI opponents who are comparable to the hardest opponents in the first game, with 14 stages still to go. They fire off combos every other turn, countering your own attacks whilst decimating you with theres. It's brutal. In my run of Puyo Puyo Tsuu, I used at least 99 continues. I say 'at least' because I suspect the game stopped counting at that point and there are only 2 display digits. The difficulty is also wildly inconsistent. The 2 stages I struggled with the most were stage 6 and stage 18. 19 probably represents 3/4 of my continues, easily. 19 took me 3 attempts, and I beat the final boss first time.
Puyo Puyo Tsuu's single player campaign was absolute torture. It was hellishly unfun and almost put me off the series. But it's multiplayer modes are compelling and interesting, and lets face it, probably how the game should be played anyway. The 'Remix' version I have has some extra features apparently, but being it's all in Japanese and untranslated, I don't have many ideas what they are. My understanding is it adds a 'super hard' difficulty (Fuck. That.) and some extra multiplayer modes.
Puyo Puyo Tsuu is hard to rate. In multiplayer, I would say it's objectively better than the first game. In single player its just too cruel to be fun. The most hilarious thing for me? There's a secret boss if you beat the game with no continues.
I was only 99 off!
Super Aleste
Super Aleste is a game I beat for the Summer Games Challenge. It's my first game beaten for the challenge this year, and it is a game which has been long overdue - it was on my challenge list in 2014 and 2015 as well, and got played on neither occasion.
And how foolish I was! Super Aleste is an absolute treat. In America, you might know the game better as Space MegaForce, but whichever name it goes by it represents one of the best shmups on the system and of it's generation, despite arriving so early in the life of the console and on the infamously 'slower' Nintendo console which isn't as well regarded on the shooter front.
I've played Blazing Lazers before (also by Compile), and they're very similar. The game features the traditional Compile weapon system - multiple numbered weapons with different effects who can be powered up by collecting more icons to bigger better versions. Unlike Blazing Lazers, which features 4 weapons and 4 sub weapons, Super Aleste features a whopping 8 weapons, all of which have alternate firing modes. These can very from minor switches (like being able to tilt your fire when moving, or change firing patterns on spread bullets) to major functionality changes, like adding homing abilities or freezing options into a wall of shooting cannons that fundamentally change how the weapon plays. The diversity here is incredible - even the basic weapon at max power has SIX different firing patterns. It's also better balanced than Blazing Lazers. In that game, the shield subweapon was so good that it was almost essential, relegating the other 3 subweapons to uselessness.
With the system here (you lose 4 weapon levels if hit) all weapon choices are equal defensively, meaning your choices are down to preference on their firing pattern, not thei utility. They're not perfectly balanced, but I'm sure everyone will have a favourite (even if it's probably weapon 2, because weapon 2 is awesome.)
Stage design differs too. Super Aleste does 2 major things differently to Blazing Lazers - it's generally more oppresive - levels tend to feature lots of tight spaces (thankfully, colliding with walls doesn't hurt you at all unless you get crushed by screen scroll) compared to Lazers' more open fields (besides the bubble level). Secondly, it likes to make use of this fancy 'Mode 7' thing, and likes to make things move and spin a lot. Stage 2 takes place over a battleship fortress thign which constantly moves in and out and turns around to show off the effect.
Difficulty wise, I'd have to imagine this game is on the lower end of the spectrum for the genre. It didn't take me long to beat it, that's for sure. I'd say it's probably a bit easier than Blazing Lazers, mostly due to infinite continues, but both are fairly comparable in difficulty.
Super Aleste is a fantastic little shooter though, and a must-own for the system if you like the genre I'd say. I've only played 2 of their shmups (I've played some other games they made too, hint hint, read the last entry if you didn't) but they're amongst my favourite of the era, and they're certainly very special feeling. The only thing I've found thats like them is other shmups by Compile. I just wish those other shmups were generally a bit cheaper
Sega Rally Championship
And here is my second finished game from the Summer Challenge.
Sega Rally Championship is a game I've own for a few years. It's a game I always thought was 'fine' when I gave it a go, enough to keep hold of it at least, especially considering it's worth almost nothing to sell, but one which I've never really devoted much time to. Now I have, and again, I wish I had done so sooner - its a lot of fun.
Sega Rally is a very short game. There are 4 courses, one of which you unlock by beating the game, which requires you to finish in 1st on your 3rd course. Positions carry over, and you need to work up the ranks over the 3 races. You start in 15th at the beginning of race 1, and need to advanced to 1st by the end of race 3. This is no mean feat, as it requires some pretty great times on course 1 and 2, but thankfully is more lenient on the tougher course 3. Opponents always appear in the same spots on each course, so if you finish the 1st track in 10th, then 9th place will be just in front of you on the next course, but if you finish in 11th, 10th place will be where 9th was. Because of this, it's crucial to pass enough people each course to be able to see 1st place ahead of you on the third track.
Speaking of the tracks, they're fairly varied and interesting to drive, if a little unremarkable graphically. The first is a long desert course with wide, gentle corners, but very slippery track service making it easy to skid if you turn too sharply. It finishes with a quick left and right turn followed by a long corner that requires you to break in order to gain traction and stop sliding sideways. You'll need to learn to break in Sega Rally - pelting into sharper corners tends to result in your car pinballing around for a while and will cost you your chances of 1st.
The 2nd course is a forest course which starts with some sweeping gentle curves, followed by some harsher corners to ease you in. Then it turns nasty half way through with a brutal u-turn followed by some fairly tight corners on muddy ground (the rest of the course is tarmac) to finish. The 3rd stage is on the mountain and features lots of terrain changes, with some narrow roads and some nasty corners, especially an absolutely abohrrent u-turn early on where other cars tend to ram into the side of you while turning. The 4th and final course is exclusive to the Saturn game and franly sucks. It's all muddy, very narrow and full of sharp turns. It's also boring to drive and boring to look at. A let down after the other 3 great tracks.
Sega Rally lets you choose between 2 cars, with a third unlockable. Generally the faster the car, the slidier it's steering is. I beat the game with the basic Celica, which is the slowest but easiest to handle. And that's all there is to the game - Sega Rally Championship is fun, controls well and is compelling - a real 'one more try' kind of game. Thats also because it is 3 and a half minutes long. No joke. If you play all 4 courses, your time will be a good way under 5 minutes in total. If you played all 4 courses with all 3 cars, you could beat the game in less time than it would take to drink a cup of tea (super British time scale go!). Sega Rally is great and everyone should own it. It's also very cheap, which is uncommon for Saturn.
Thats good, because I'm very glad I got this amount of content for £1 and not £60, like the sticker on the box of my copy says.
Knuckles' Chaotix
So, I recently passed 1000 video games on my backloggery. It's not an exact figure - it counts compilations as seperate games, and includes all my download games as well as physical. Either way, I wanted to treat myself to a game to celebrate - something I wouldn't normall splash out on.
I eventually decided on a 32X with Knuckles' Chaotix. As a kid I used to read a comic book on occasion called Sonic the Comic. They had a whole story arc about Chaotix when the game came out, as well as loads of adverts for the game. At the time, I was really into Knuckles the Echidna, who I thought was super cool (I would have been, what, 7 years old at the time?). But obviously I never got the game, and over time I kinda forgot it existed.
Skip forward about 13 years though, to when I started university, was into virtual console games, and decided to start buying games for my old consoles again. I trawled the interner looking for stuff about old games, discover racketboy, buy old consoles I never owned before, and rediscover Chaotix. And also see the price. The 32X and the game aren't nearly as crazy as the likes of Panzer Dragoon Saga to buy, but they're not cheap, especially as an investment into both - and frankly, there's not much other reasons to own a 32X.
Skip forward another 8 years. Now I'm an adult, I own Knuckles' Chaotix and a 32X and I can finally play the game, 21 years on. I'm not a kid anymore, and the unbridled joy of it being a game where I can be Knuckles has gone. I'm not just getting into retro collecting, so I don't have quite the same joy I had then of just playing strange stuff I don't know much about, just because someone told me it was good. Instead, I have a couple dozen years of good old-fashioned British cynicism, knowledge from reviews that the game is generally considered mediocre and experience of several hundred games beaten to compare it to. It's not looking good for Chaotix.
And you know what? I had a blast!
Chaotix is not a great game. It's not a bad one, that's for sure, but it's flawed for sure. The elastic mechanic the game has causes you to flail around hopelessly more than it should. Basic Sonic features like springs can be a hassle to co-ordinate with your AI partner. The 5 zones feature 5 acts each, which is way too many frankly, and they needed more variety. The levels are sparse and don't feature many enemies. The game is buggy - I've fallen through floors multiple times on both 2S and 3D levels. These are all issues the game has. But the game is just fun.
The elastic mechanic is a handful, but it shoots you and your partner around - this is one of the faster games in the series, helped tremendously by the lower number of enemies and the absence of bottomless pits. It's also probably the easiest - there are unlimited lives, save points, and several ways to keep your rings secure. But the game is like being in a pinball machine. It's frenetic, it's chaotic (lol, I typoed chaotix by mistake here and was tempted to leave it) and it's a joy to fling myself about in.
I also love the style. Vector the Crocodile is a character I never cared for in recent Sonic games. Here, in 2D? Vector is fucking awesome. I love all of his animations. I love how he moves. I love his air dash ability, which is one of the most useful in sonic history, even though it's so basic. I love Charmy Bee. I love how his sprite barely reaches Vector's knee. I love how he can fly about the whole level freely exploiting the shit out of the game's engine, and the game doesn't punish you for that. ....The other guys are OK, but y'know, it's hard to top the Vector & Charmy combo. Poor old Mighty - forgotten from this point on, and he wasn't even good in this game to begin with.
Anyway, there's not a lot to Chaotix really. It's 3 hours or so of springy, floucy, bouncy, trouncey, pouncy fun fun fun fun fun. It turns out Tigger's are not the only one! I don't adore it by any means, and it's never gonna hit my top games of all time list. But it's just such a nice thing to be able to say "here's that thing I always wanted to try, and 2 decades and £150 or so later, I'm glad I did".
Re: Games Beaten 2016
I think I'd rather play a new Sonic than Knuckles Chaotix. The string-clinging thing is like the worst design choice you could ever possibly imagine.
-
Exhuminator
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 11573
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2013 8:24 am
- Contact:
-
BoneSnapDeez
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 20118
- Joined: Mon May 02, 2011 1:08 pm
- Location: Maine
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. Tenchi Sōzō (Super Famicom)
2. Eternal Senia (Steam)
3. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
4. Magic Knight Rayearth (Super Famicom)
5. Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy (Famicom Disk System)
6. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
7. Seiken Psycho Caliber: Majū no Mori Densetsu (Famicom Disk System)
8. Deep Dungeon: Madō Senki (Famicom Disk System)
9. Deep Dungeon II: Yūshi no Monshō (Famicom Disk System)
10. Suishō no Dragon (Famicom Disk System)
11. Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu (Famicom Disk System)
12. Lagoon (SNES)
13. Contra (NES)
14. Super C (NES)
15. Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
16. OutRun (Sega Master System)
17. OutRun (Genesis)
18. Ninja Gaiden (NES)
19. Written in the Sky (Steam)
20. Wendy: Every Witch Way (Game Boy Color)
21. Mario Bros. (NES)
22. Popeye (NES)
23. Super Mario Bros. (NES)
24. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Famicom Disk System)
Super Mario Bros.
In order to truly appreciate this game, I suggest playing some second gen platformers that predate it. The difference is staggering. In addition to Mario's obvious perks - the graphics, controls, fully-realized gameworld - it's the little nuances that make the experience so special. Like the subtle tweaks that can be made while jumping and accelerating, and the way that "big" Mario can slide under low-hanging blocks should he have enough momentum. A classic in every way, it's the first game I ever completed and one I return to annually.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Oh dear. I think everyone here is familiar with the Mario 2 story: the original FDS game stayed in Japan while we got a reskinned Doki Doki Panic in the West. An enhanced port of the FDS Mario 2 (renamed The Lost Levels) later showed up as part of Super Mario All-Stars (SNES), which is how I suspect most every here played the game for the first time.
I figured it was time to explore FDS Super Mario Bros. 2 now that I have a Sharp Twin Famicom. It's a relatively cheap and common game - if you can get past the expense of the hardware required to run it.
I really don't know how this even exists. It's only remotely playable.
At first it feels like the first Mario. The graphics are mostly identical, with a smattering of new scenery. Music is the same, as are enemies. Eight worlds with four levels each, same as the first game (this is sort of true, more on this in a bit).
One noticeable change that's apparent from the get-go is the option to play as Mario or Luigi. Both control a bit differently, which seems cool at first until you realize that both are substantially worse than the Mario/Luigi of the first game. Mario is fat. Yeah, I know the character is supposed to be but he feels fat here. He's slow, sluggish, jumps like his shoes are made of concrete, smells, thinks PS2 games are retro, isn't bothered by the fact that every Seinfeld rerun has about a minute hacked out of it, has a small wiener, etc. Mario sucks. Luigi, on the other hand, can do moon jumps without a running start. He also slides all over the place, making every stage feel like an ice level. The green man is still the lesser of two evils so I chose him for this playthrough. You don't get the option to switch back and forth as you play through the game.
The levels are designed in the most haphazard way possible. The game ends up feeling like a ROM hack. There are poisonous mushrooms, warpzones that take you backwards, insanely aggressive piranha plants, wind storms, and some ludicrously difficult platforming sections (90% of my deaths were caused by holes). It's not fun, and that smooth "flow" of the original Super Mario Bros. is nowhere to be found here.
Mercifully, there are continues but Game Over sends you back to the beginning of a World, rather than an individual level. So Game Over in 8-4 means 8-1 through 8-3 must be beaten all over again. This is devastating, especially when one considers how hard the final stretch of the game is. That said, if you really wanna be cheap it's actually somewhat easy to farm for extra lives early via repeated turtle shell hopping. Finishing the first stage with over 100 lives is a possibility. Cheap, but so is this game.
The princess is rescued once Koopa plunges into the lava at the end of 8-4. However, finishing level 8-4 without having previously visited a warpzone leads to the bonus world 9. It's a trippy experience, what with Mario swimming in mid-air and Koopa showing up in 9-3 instead of the anticipated 9-4. Only one life is allotted to complete world 9, but it's the easiest stretch in the entire game and arguably the only part that's actually enjoyable.
Being a FDS game there is a save feature, but this save feature just laughs in your face. All that's recorded is the number of times the game has been beaten. Finish it eight times and the super-bonus worlds A through D are unlocked. What were they thinking.
There is one silver lining to this whole mess: the All-Stars version of The Lost Levels is actually really fun! The control issues have been rectified, the continue system is much more forgiving, you can actually save whenever you choose, and worlds A-D come immediately after world 8 (or 9) making the entire game playable in one start-to-finish stretch. I'm generally a big proponent of playing the oldest/most original version of any given game, but in this case you're better off skipping the Famicom Disk System and going right to the SNES (or Wii).
2. Eternal Senia (Steam)
3. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
4. Magic Knight Rayearth (Super Famicom)
5. Zelda no Densetsu: The Hyrule Fantasy (Famicom Disk System)
6. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)
7. Seiken Psycho Caliber: Majū no Mori Densetsu (Famicom Disk System)
8. Deep Dungeon: Madō Senki (Famicom Disk System)
9. Deep Dungeon II: Yūshi no Monshō (Famicom Disk System)
10. Suishō no Dragon (Famicom Disk System)
11. Dandy: Zeuon no Fukkatsu (Famicom Disk System)
12. Lagoon (SNES)
13. Contra (NES)
14. Super C (NES)
15. Wonder Boy (Sega Master System)
16. OutRun (Sega Master System)
17. OutRun (Genesis)
18. Ninja Gaiden (NES)
19. Written in the Sky (Steam)
20. Wendy: Every Witch Way (Game Boy Color)
21. Mario Bros. (NES)
22. Popeye (NES)
23. Super Mario Bros. (NES)
24. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Famicom Disk System)
Super Mario Bros.
In order to truly appreciate this game, I suggest playing some second gen platformers that predate it. The difference is staggering. In addition to Mario's obvious perks - the graphics, controls, fully-realized gameworld - it's the little nuances that make the experience so special. Like the subtle tweaks that can be made while jumping and accelerating, and the way that "big" Mario can slide under low-hanging blocks should he have enough momentum. A classic in every way, it's the first game I ever completed and one I return to annually.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Oh dear. I think everyone here is familiar with the Mario 2 story: the original FDS game stayed in Japan while we got a reskinned Doki Doki Panic in the West. An enhanced port of the FDS Mario 2 (renamed The Lost Levels) later showed up as part of Super Mario All-Stars (SNES), which is how I suspect most every here played the game for the first time.
I figured it was time to explore FDS Super Mario Bros. 2 now that I have a Sharp Twin Famicom. It's a relatively cheap and common game - if you can get past the expense of the hardware required to run it.
I really don't know how this even exists. It's only remotely playable.
At first it feels like the first Mario. The graphics are mostly identical, with a smattering of new scenery. Music is the same, as are enemies. Eight worlds with four levels each, same as the first game (this is sort of true, more on this in a bit).
One noticeable change that's apparent from the get-go is the option to play as Mario or Luigi. Both control a bit differently, which seems cool at first until you realize that both are substantially worse than the Mario/Luigi of the first game. Mario is fat. Yeah, I know the character is supposed to be but he feels fat here. He's slow, sluggish, jumps like his shoes are made of concrete, smells, thinks PS2 games are retro, isn't bothered by the fact that every Seinfeld rerun has about a minute hacked out of it, has a small wiener, etc. Mario sucks. Luigi, on the other hand, can do moon jumps without a running start. He also slides all over the place, making every stage feel like an ice level. The green man is still the lesser of two evils so I chose him for this playthrough. You don't get the option to switch back and forth as you play through the game.
The levels are designed in the most haphazard way possible. The game ends up feeling like a ROM hack. There are poisonous mushrooms, warpzones that take you backwards, insanely aggressive piranha plants, wind storms, and some ludicrously difficult platforming sections (90% of my deaths were caused by holes). It's not fun, and that smooth "flow" of the original Super Mario Bros. is nowhere to be found here.
Mercifully, there are continues but Game Over sends you back to the beginning of a World, rather than an individual level. So Game Over in 8-4 means 8-1 through 8-3 must be beaten all over again. This is devastating, especially when one considers how hard the final stretch of the game is. That said, if you really wanna be cheap it's actually somewhat easy to farm for extra lives early via repeated turtle shell hopping. Finishing the first stage with over 100 lives is a possibility. Cheap, but so is this game.
The princess is rescued once Koopa plunges into the lava at the end of 8-4. However, finishing level 8-4 without having previously visited a warpzone leads to the bonus world 9. It's a trippy experience, what with Mario swimming in mid-air and Koopa showing up in 9-3 instead of the anticipated 9-4. Only one life is allotted to complete world 9, but it's the easiest stretch in the entire game and arguably the only part that's actually enjoyable.
Being a FDS game there is a save feature, but this save feature just laughs in your face. All that's recorded is the number of times the game has been beaten. Finish it eight times and the super-bonus worlds A through D are unlocked. What were they thinking.
There is one silver lining to this whole mess: the All-Stars version of The Lost Levels is actually really fun! The control issues have been rectified, the continue system is much more forgiving, you can actually save whenever you choose, and worlds A-D come immediately after world 8 (or 9) making the entire game playable in one start-to-finish stretch. I'm generally a big proponent of playing the oldest/most original version of any given game, but in this case you're better off skipping the Famicom Disk System and going right to the SNES (or Wii).
Re: Games Beaten 2016
1. 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors (DS)
2. The Order 1886 (PS4)
3. The Division (PS4)
4. Until Dawn (PS4)
5. The Crew Wild Run Edition (PS4)
6. Mad Max (PS4)
7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
8. Black Ops III (PS4)
Really didn't care for it. Out of the Current Gen CoD games it's probably my least favorite and in my opinion is the worst Black Ops title as well. That's not to say it's a bad game it just does rise above the level of mediocre. Like the last few Call of Duties it feels like a lot of talent and money were tossed at the single player campaign but as usual it wasn't given enough time to really to amount to anything because MP with boatloads of DLC is where the money is at
.
First of is the story it's pretty interesting but it's feels extremely rushed. None of the characters really developed that much and most ended up feeling like generic meat bags that were just waiting to eat a bullet . The setting itself is also pretty poorly setup up there just wasn't anything really interesting here that blew me away aside from the dream sequences. Maybe I wasn't impressed because I'm tired of the future setting and I feel like the last 3 games pulled it off better then this one. This game could have easily been saved by a better antagonist or some more bonding time between the protagonist and the rest of the cast, but as it stands it's just another so so story in the CoD series.
The game play is alright it's more of the same just with a much improved customization system for SP which lets you build your own load outs as you lvl your character. They also tossed in an interesting array of powers which you can use in mission although I found a few of them to be a little overkill. You get to choose one of three separate power sets each mission each of which has I believe 6-8 abilities that you can swap between in mission although I usually stuck to two since you have to manually pull up the wheel each time you want to swap to another. I usually ended up just sticking to one for areas with a lot of humans and one for areas with machines because it was to much of a pain to try and use any more then that with the swarms of enemies rushing your location. That brings me to the AI; It's really quantity over quality in this game the humans usually just run to a location and stay glued to it till they die while robots usually just walk straight towards whatever they are attacking. There really isn't much strategy you just have to pour lead down range as the game tosses wave upon wave of mindless baddies at you. Really it just feels like a very bland experience after a while that drags on way to long. There aren't really any spectacular set pieces to make up for it either there are a few of the average on rail vehicle sections as well as one section with jets but it's not anything that hasn't been done better elsewhere in the series.
The install also didn't help win it any stars right off the bat the game requires quite a large download and install which is kind of the norm this day and age so no biggie. However after leaving it up overnight I started the game up the next day only to discover that the game doesn't fully install unless you launch it and wait in the main menu for it to finish up. In my case the main menu install took another full hour making it the slowest install I've ever experienced thus far on the PS4
.
Overall I just wasn't feeling it this go around, and I would suggest that anyone looking at it specifically for the SP should wait till it drops to $10 or less after the next installment or two comes out.
2. The Order 1886 (PS4)
3. The Division (PS4)
4. Until Dawn (PS4)
5. The Crew Wild Run Edition (PS4)
6. Mad Max (PS4)
7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4)
8. Black Ops III (PS4)
Really didn't care for it. Out of the Current Gen CoD games it's probably my least favorite and in my opinion is the worst Black Ops title as well. That's not to say it's a bad game it just does rise above the level of mediocre. Like the last few Call of Duties it feels like a lot of talent and money were tossed at the single player campaign but as usual it wasn't given enough time to really to amount to anything because MP with boatloads of DLC is where the money is at
.First of is the story it's pretty interesting but it's feels extremely rushed. None of the characters really developed that much and most ended up feeling like generic meat bags that were just waiting to eat a bullet
. The setting itself is also pretty poorly setup up there just wasn't anything really interesting here that blew me away aside from the dream sequences. Maybe I wasn't impressed because I'm tired of the future setting and I feel like the last 3 games pulled it off better then this one. This game could have easily been saved by a better antagonist or some more bonding time between the protagonist and the rest of the cast, but as it stands it's just another so so story in the CoD series. The game play is alright it's more of the same just with a much improved customization system for SP which lets you build your own load outs as you lvl your character. They also tossed in an interesting array of powers which you can use in mission although I found a few of them to be a little overkill. You get to choose one of three separate power sets each mission each of which has I believe 6-8 abilities that you can swap between in mission although I usually stuck to two since you have to manually pull up the wheel each time you want to swap to another. I usually ended up just sticking to one for areas with a lot of humans and one for areas with machines because it was to much of a pain to try and use any more then that with the swarms of enemies rushing your location. That brings me to the AI; It's really quantity over quality in this game the humans usually just run to a location and stay glued to it till they die while robots usually just walk straight towards whatever they are attacking. There really isn't much strategy you just have to pour lead down range as the game tosses wave upon wave of mindless baddies at you. Really it just feels like a very bland experience after a while that drags on way to long. There aren't really any spectacular set pieces to make up for it either there are a few of the average on rail vehicle sections as well as one section with jets but it's not anything that hasn't been done better elsewhere in the series.
The install also didn't help win it any stars right off the bat the game requires quite a large download and install which is kind of the norm this day and age so no biggie. However after leaving it up overnight I started the game up the next day only to discover that the game doesn't fully install unless you launch it and wait in the main menu for it to finish up. In my case the main menu install took another full hour making it the slowest install I've ever experienced thus far on the PS4
.Overall I just wasn't feeling it this go around, and I would suggest that anyone looking at it specifically for the SP should wait till it drops to $10 or less after the next installment or two comes out.
Last edited by Fragems on Fri Jun 24, 2016 9:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8621
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2016
John, I don't think we can be friends anymore. Jk, but seriously, how do you hate Black Ops III? The acting was amazing, and they had a stellar voice cast with legit actors.
I agree. I love the variety of characters, but I HATE the bullshit elastic magic string crap.
Xeogred wrote:I think I'd rather play a new Sonic than Knuckles Chaotix. The string-clinging thing is like the worst design choice you could ever possibly imagine.
I agree. I love the variety of characters, but I HATE the bullshit elastic magic string crap.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.