Games Beaten 2016

[Exhuminator]

Ex's 2016 beat list:

1. Mega Man ZX Advent|DS|2007|platformer|8h|7/10
2. King's Field III: Pilot Style|PS1|1996|dungeon crawler|1h|8/10
3. Sleeping Dogs|360|2012|action-adventure|20h 45m|8/10
4. Sleepings Dogs: NiNP DLC|360|2012|action adventure|1h 22m|5/10
5. Chikyuu Kaihou Gun ZAS|GB|1992|shmup|33m|8/10
6. Vattle Giuce|GB|1991|shmup|45m|5/10
7. MechWarrior 2 (Clan Wolf)|PS1|1997|mech sim|2h 35m|7/10
8. Gradius: The Interstellar Assault|GB|1992|shmup|27m|8/10
9. SolarStriker|GB|1990|shmup|23m|7/10
10. Fatal Fury: Wild Ambition (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1999|fighter|45m|6/10
11. Dead or Alive (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1998|fighter|23m|5/10
12. Asuka 120% Burning Festival Final (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1999|fighter|26m|8/10
13. Soul Blade (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1997|fighter|18m|9/10
14. Trax|GB|1991|shmup|23m|7/10
15. Street Fighter: The Movie (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1995|fighter|36m|5/10
16. Warpath: Jurassic Park (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1999|fighter|17m|4/10
17. Psychic Force (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1997|fighter|22m|7/10
18. Touki Denshou: Angel Eyes (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1997|fighter|27m|7/10
19. Advanced V.G. 2 (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1998|fighter|15m|8/10
20. StarHawk|GB|1993|shmup|1h 15m|4/10
21. Nemesis|GB|1990|shmup|28m|7/10
22. Cardinal Syn (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1998|fighter|54m|7/10
23. Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1997|fighter|15m|7/10
24. Street Fighter EX 2 Plus (Arcade Mode)|PS1|1999|fighter|22m|8/10
25. Battle Unit Zeoth|GB|1991|shmup|24m|6/10
26. Soul Calibur IV (Arcade Mode)|360|2008|fighter|12m|9/10
27. Mercenary Force|GB|1990|shmup|54m|5/10
28. Battle Arena Toshinden (Story Mode)|GB|1996|fighter|12m|8/10
29. Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior's Dreams (Arcade Mode)|GBC|1999|fighter|10m|7/10
30. SD Hiryu No Ken EX (Story Mode)|GBC|1999|fighter|24m|7/10
31. Guilty Gear X: Advance Edition (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2002|fighter|8m|6/10
32. Super Street Fighter II Turbo: Revival (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2001|fighter|10m|7/10
33. Dual Blades (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2002|fighter|23m|4/10
34. Gradius Galaxies|GBA|2001|shmup|1hr 24m|8/10
35. Tekken Advance (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2002|fighter|15m|7/10
36. Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2002|fighter|22m|7/10
37. Black Belt Challenge (Arcade Mode)|GBA|2002|fighter|8m|4/10
38. Iridion II|GBA|2003|shmup|58m|9/10
39. King's Field III|PS1|1996|dungeon crawler|25h|9/10
40. Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel|360|2013|cover shooter|7h 54m|7/10
41. Panzer Dragoon|Saturn|1995|rail shooter|55m|7/10
42. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei|Saturn|1996|rail shooter|1h 25m|8/10
43. Kirby Air Ride|GameCube|2003|kart racer|45m|6/10
44. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!|GameCube|2003|kart racer|35m|8/10
45. Bloody Roar: Primal Fury (Arcade Mode)|GameCube|2002|fighter|35m|8/10
46. XG3: Extreme G Racing|GameCube|2001|racer|1h 35m|7/10
47. Mario Kart 7|3DS|2011|kart racer|1h 54m|9/10
48. Code of Princess|3DS|2012|beat 'em up|4h 25m|7/10
49. Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy|3DS|2011|flight sim|3h 42m|7/10
50. Crimson Shroud|3DS|2012|JRPG|6h 55m|7/10
51. Gunman Clive|3DS|2013|platformer|54m|7/10
52. Gunman Clive 2|3DS|2015|platformer|1h 30m|7/10
53. Attack of the Friday Monsters!|3DS|2013|adventure|3h 2m|8/10
54. Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception|PSP|2006|flight combat|2h 25m|8/10
55. Ace Combat: Joint Assault|PSP|2010|flight combat|6h 26m|4/10
56. Nayuta: Endless Trails|PSP|2012|action-RPG|16h 03m|8/10
57. Alpha Protocol|360|2010|action-RPG|12h 20m|5/10

58. Makai-Mura Gaiden: The Demon Darkness|Game Boy|1993|action-adventure|6h|7/10

Makai-Mura Gaiden: The Demon Darkness is a Game Boy port of Gargoyle's Quest 2 on the NES. Although this port was not released in English officially, a fan translation exists. Makai-Mura Gaiden added two new levels to the Game Boy release, but is otherwise nearly identical to the original GQ2, sans color of course. That means you're still a demon gargoyle killing other demons in the name of saving the Ghoul Realm. Although the true reasons why are not as altruistic as it all seems to be from the beginning.

As a port, Makai-Mura Gaiden is more difficult due to the field of view being cropped considerably due to resolution differences between the NES and Game Boy.* This means navigating the many spike lined corridors is made more treacherous by constant blind jumps. Makai-Mura Gaiden is a very challenging game for Game Boy, if you're looking to be tested this will do the trick. Compared to the original Gargoyle's Quest on Game Boy, Makai-Mura Gaiden doesn't measure up. It's not as graphically impressive, well designed, nor as inspired as its predecessor was on the same platform. My one big complaint is that Makai-Mura Gaiden dropped most of the RPG aspects of its predecessor, and is in effect an action-adventure more than an action-RPG. Gone are the random battles on the main field, and the metroidvania aspects were dialed down as well. Also Makai-Mura Gaiden just isn't as creepy as Gargoyle's Quest was, nor does its world feel as forlorn.

However, Makai-Mura Gaiden is easily in the top tier of Game Boy games and worth any serious gamer's time. Also the additional two levels are very difficult and add their own special sets of trials to overcome, with apt rewards. If you're looking for a tough Game Boy game** with a dark twist, and you've already beaten (the admittedly superior) Gargoyle's Quest, give Makai-Mura Gaiden: The Demon Darkness a try. Help Firebrand prove once again why he's the stuff of Arthur's nightmares.

*NES: Game Boy:
As you can see the field of view is cropped compared to NES.

**Here's this game's difficulty rating from GameFAQs:


PS

All Firebrand's games are awesome:
Gargoyle's Quest (Game Boy)
Gargoyle's Quest 2 (NES / Game Boy)
Demon's Crest (SNES)
Play them folks!

[Sarge]

Didn't the GB version have some sort of soul-projection thing to make up for the reduced viewing distances? I seem to remember something like that from the Nintendo Power coverage.

[Exhuminator]

Didn't the GB version have some sort of soul-projection thing to make up for the reduced viewing distances? I seem to remember something like that from the Nintendo Power coverage.

If it did, I didn't know about it, nor ever read about that in the game either. If that exists, it sure would have made things a lot easier.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Looks like a fascinating game. I really haven't explored much of the Ghosts 'n Goblins realm.

Xumy, you should try The Battle of Olympus on the Game Boy next.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Didn't the GB version have some sort of soul-projection thing to make up for the reduced viewing distances? I seem to remember something like that from the Nintendo Power coverage.

If it did, I didn't know about it, nor ever read about that in the game either. If that exists, it sure would have made things a lot easier.

Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters had this feature. (That is, if you pressed pause, you could scroll the screen in four directions without moving.) It really helped with the limited viewing distances.

[ElkinFencer10]

Daaaamn, Ex. I thought I was doing well at chipping away at games this year, but you've got me beat by more than a little.

[Exhuminator]

Daaaamn, Ex. I thought I was doing well at chipping away at games this year, but you've got me beat by more than a little.

Keep in mind a huge chunk of games I beat were just easy shmups and fighting games. Stuff you can beat in an hour or three.

[Sarge]

Here's the page in NP. Knew I remembered something about it! Wonder if that was a US-only feature (even though it was never released here).

[Sarge]

That's why my count is so high, too. Lots of short NES games, some of which I've already beaten many times before.

[Exhuminator]

I did get The Move Spirit. I had no idea what it did though, nor do I remember if it was called exactly that in the translation. I figured it was another story item just to give to an NPC at some point to progress the plot. A lot of items are named stuff like Gremlin Stick, or Poltergeist Candle, which sound like useful items, but don't actually do anything directly for the player. That power up would definitely have helped in Breager's castle.