Games Beaten 2016

[BoneSnapDeez]

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)
25. Phantasy Star II Eusis's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
26. Phantasy Star II Nei's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
27. Phantasy Star II Rudger's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
28. Phantasy Star II Anne's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
29. Phantasy Star II Huey's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
30. Phantasy Star II Kinds's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
31. Phantasy Star II Amia's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
32. Phantasy Star II Shilka's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
33. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (Famicom Disk System)
34. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
35. Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance)

I think most everyone knows that Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic is the game that the North American Super Mario Bros. 2 was based upon.

Doki Doki Panic is the first import game I was ever aware of, and reading about it in Nintendo Power back in the day blew my mind. Kind of surreal to finally own and play it 25-ish years later.

I played Doki Doki Panic and Super Mario Bros. 2 back-to-back for compare and contrast purposes. They're very similar games, of course, but those that have run through SMB2 as many times as I have will immediately notice differences. Obviously Doki Doki Panic features four original (non-Mario) playable characters; they're clad in Arabian style outfits. The music is a bit different as a couple of songs from SMB1 are absent, in their place are original pieces (again, in an Arabian style). They're no way to alternate walking and B-button running, instead the characters just trot along. There are several sprite differences and overall Doki Doki Panic has slightly plainer graphics (especially in regards to the pause and slot machine screens). Mario 2 utilized a ridiculous "dream world" story to explain away the fact that the game was nothing like its predecessor, but the plot of Doki Doki Panic is just as contrived. It's about four heroes attempting to save a couple of little kids who were imprisoned within the world of a storybook.

The biggest difference between the two games is in regards to completion. In Mario 2 you can switch between characters after each level as you work your way through the twenty stages. When Wart is defeated, the credits roll and the game is over. To see the ending of Doki Doki Panic one must complete the game with all four characters (there is a save feature). It's incredibly excessive. My recommendation is this: choose the best character (the "princess" in my opinion) and play through all twenty stages. With the next three - use the warp zones in 1-3 and 4-2. Or just don't do any of that - for the purposes of this thread (and life in general) I'd consider the game "beaten" as soon as one character defeats Wart. Everything else is just New Game+ gravy.

Oh, and Super Mario Advance is the GBA remake of Super Mario Bros. 2. It seems to be based on the All-Stars version of the game (which I decided to forgo this time around, didn't wanna overdose on one game). It's a lot of fun, though the screen is a bit cramped. It's also incredibly easy, as health refills have been littered all over the place.

[MrPopo]

1. Oni - PC
2. Donkey Kong 64 - N64
3. Yoshi's Story - N64
4. Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide - PC
5. Forsaken 64 - N64
6. Bloodrayne: Betrayal - PSN
7. Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu - SNES
8. Fire Emblem Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū - Nintendo DS
9. Valkyria Chronicles 3 - PSP
10. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing - DC
11. Rise of the Tomb Raider - PC
12. XCOM 2 - PC
13. Shadowrun Hong Kong Bonus Campaign - PC
14. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS
15. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS
16. Lagrange Point - NES
17. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelations - 3DS
18. Cybernator - SNES
19. Outwars - PC
20. Resident Evil - GC
21. Resident Evil 2 - GC
22. Resident Evil 3 - GC
23. Resident Evil Code Veronica X - GC
24. Dino Crisis - PSX
25. Resident Evil 5 - PC
26. Dark Souls 3 - PS4
27. The Banner Saga 2 - PC
28. Bravely Second - 3DS
29. Star Fox Zero - Wii U
30. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - PC
31. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Winter Assault - PC
32. Doom (2016) - PC
33. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade - PC
34. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm - PC
35. Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine - PC
36. Doom 64 - N64
37. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - PC
38. Super Empire Strikes Back - SNES
39. Might & Magic 3 - Isles of Terra - PC

I finished this bimonth's Together RPG! I must say, I had a total blast playing this from start to finish. The game is a real refinement of what had come before in the first person dungeon crawling genre and makes it even more accessible; when I compare it to my playthrough of Might & Magic 1 I can definitely see it as being much more playable. This is the game I'd tell people to play who want to try out a game like Wizardry.

The first thing you'll notice as compared to the first two games is the game is bright and colorful and mouse driven. While you can use the keyboard for everything I found I would switch between the two as the situation warranted. The game continues the practice of having small dungeons dotted between a large overworld that is all explored in first person. The overworld is not the maze that Might & Magic 1's was, though; the second game added the skills of mountaineering and pathfinding to be able to treat mountains and forests and clear squares and this game carries on that tradition.l It makes the overworld feel less contrieved, and the various terrain features still do things like blocking your line of sight or your ability to attack enemies at range.

The major innovation over previous entries is the fact that enemies are no longer random. Every enemy exists on the map and can be seen. Like a roguelike they get a move after you get a move. They can be engaged at range with either missile weapons or spells; this generally is best for either weakening tough enemies or clearning weak enemies. Once an enemy closes to the same square as you things shift to a standard turn-based battle. One interesting wrinkle is that enemies not on the same square as you still can do ranged attacks on you; they get one opportunity after every combat round (which is defined as every combatant getting a chance to act). There can only be up to three enemies engaging you at once (a couple of the large enemies are restricted to one at a time), so combat is always manageable.

One of the nice things about this game is the constant progression. I finished the game at around level 80 of a cap of 200. I was gaining levels regularly after a jaunt to a dungeon or exploring the overworld thanks to abundant quest rewards as well as event squares that gave out experience. I was also seeing stat increases from said event squares. The gear progression was also fairly steady once I got past the initial areas, and I quickly found myself getting into a pattern of clearing one area, gaining levels and gear, that would enable me to clear another area. It became a nice steady roll of progression through the game.

The game has a decent number of sidequests (remember, this is 1991) that encourage you to explore the world and figure out what you need to do to complete the primary quest. There are several riddles dotted throughout which when solved give you clues for quests; I got two clues for solving the final puzzle from answering riddles rather than solving a sidequest. These riddles managed to avoid falling in the trap of requiring deep knowledge of (Western) things like many earlier RPGs did; for the most part they were the sort of wordplay riddles like in The Hobbit.

All in all, a great game. I'm going to go back and play the second game before I head on to the 4+5 combo.

[CFFJR]

Nicely done Popo! Any idea how long it took you?

[MrPopo]

I'd say somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 hours, but that's a real rough ballpark.

[bmoc]

1. Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition (Xbox One)
2. Halo Reach
3. Tomb Raider Definitive Edition
4. Final Fantasy VII (PS1)
5. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
6. Xenoblade Chronicles X
7. The Last of Us (PS3)
8. King's Quest: A Knight to Remember (Xbox One)

As with many episodic games, the first King's Quest episode became freely available. I downloaded it on my Xbox One and started questing.

I like the direction that they took with the first episode by not completely discounting the previous games. A very old King Graham, voiced by Christopher Lloyd, is recounting the story of how he became a knight to his granddaughter. That way they can get away with it not matching up with the story of the first few King's Quest games. There were also a few tapestries in his castle that featured the box art from previous games - a nice touch.

The gameplay is much more forgiving that the older King's Quest titles which should come a no surprise. The older games could be pretty brutal. In some cases you could enter a dungeon without a necessary item. If you saved your game in that dungeon, you were screwed and had to start over. The new King's Quest solves that issue by having multiple ways to solve problems. Not every puzzle has multiple solutions but many do.

The one thing that detracted from the experience was jumpy video. At times it wasn't very smooth at all. I don't know if it is just the Xbox One version or if all versions suffer from it but it was definitely noticeable. Maybe the other episodes are better? I'll have to do my homework when I purchase the complete collection to see what is best. I am hoping PC offers a better video experience.

All in all, it was a good start to what I hope will be a great reboot of an old franchise.

[Sarge]

January:

1) Bonk's Adventure (NES)
2) Little Samson
3) Holy Diver
4) Holy Diver (legit!)
5) Mitsume Ga Tooru
6) TMNT II: The Arcade Game (NES)
7) Mighty Final Fight
8] Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
9) Monster In My Pocket
10) Battle of Olympus
11) Gunstar Heroes (repeat)
12) Dragon Age: Inquisition
13) Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser
14) Captain America and the Avengers (NES)
15) StarTropics
16) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (save states)
17) Double Dragon II: The Revenge (NES) (legit)
18) Crisis Force
19) Esper Dream 2
20) Felix the Cat
21) Moon Crystal
22) Panic Restaurant
23) Frankenstein (NES)
24) Crystalis
25) Nekketsu Kakutou Densetsu

February:

26) Killer Instinct (GB)
27) Mashin Hero Wataru Gaiden
28) Sly Spy (Arcade)
29) The Red Star (unreleased XBOX, also on PS2)
30) Adventure Island 4
31) Cocoron
32) Batman: Arkham Knight
33) Xeodrifter (Vita)
34) Doom 2
35) Brandish: The Dark Revenant
36) Magical Pop'n
37) The Ninja Warriors (SNES)
38) Phantasy Star (SMS)
39) Phantasy Star III
40) Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
41) Brandish: The Dark Revenant (Dela Mode)

March:

42) Freedom Planet (Milla, 82 lives lost)
43) Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
44) Lara Croft Go
45) Oniken
46) Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam
47) Batman: The Video Game (GB)
48) Batman: The Video Game (NES)
49) Super Spy Hunter

April:

50) Mega Man 2
51) Mega Man 4
52) Mission: Impossible (NES)
53) Mega Man 6
54) Super Mario Bros. 3
55) Sword Master
56) DuckTales 2
57) Rush'n Attack (NES)
58) Mega Man 3
59) Mega Man 5
60) Mega Man
61) S.C.A.T. - Special Cybernetic Attack Team
62) TaleSpin (NES)
63) Double Dragon III (NES)
64) Donkey Kong (NES)
65) Astyanax (NES)

May:

66) Master Chu and the Drunkard Hu
67) The New Ghostbusters II (NES, proto)
68) Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSP, via Dracula X Chronicles)
69) Revenge of Shinobi
70) Shinobi III
71) Shadow Dancer
72) El Viento
73) Earnest Evans
74) One Must Fall 2097
75) A Nightmare on Elm Street (NES)
76) Hebereke
77) Contra
78) Wario Land: Shake It!
79) Gimmick!
80) Ninja Gaiden (GG)
81) Wai Wai World 2 (NES)
82) Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II
83) Uncharted: Golden Abyss
84) Double Dragon (SMS)

June:

85) Astra Superstars
86) Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
87) Star Wars: Dark Forces 2 - Jedi Knight
88) Star Wars: Dark Forces

So, Dark Forces is done. And I have to say, overall, I enjoyed it more than Jedi Knight. It knows what it wants to be, and pulls it off very well. I also think the game has aged graphically a bit better than JK, which looks... well, not good. It's low-res, but it's a pretty good-looking low-res, with some obvious pre-rendered art/sprites.

There's some sense of scale in the game, but it's very much cut more from the DOOM cloth than the JK cloth, so levels are quite a bit tighter. This helps in a lot of ways, as it always keeps you in a nice groove, and it's not too tough to get lost.

The devs aren't afraid to throw some platforming at you, as well. Back in the day, I was okay at this, but jumping in 3D can sometimes be dicey. I think I've gotten a little better from my Metroid Prime training, dunno. But there are some really annoying jumps.

There's also the annoyance of not being able to save anywhere. Instead, you have a limited stock of lives, and once you expend them, it's back to the beginning of the stage for you. It's much more in line with what you'd expect on a console... and it also makes the game pretty challenging, because you can't save-scum your way through. That last stage, in particular, has a ton of those stupid Dark Stormtroopers. I think there are like six or seven in the final stage, and they almost always suck.

I was pretty jittery when I hit the end. I had one life left in stock, but having to take out three of the Darks plus General Mohc was absolutely mortifying; I've gotten there before and if they catch you wrong, they can take you down remarkably quickly. I thankfully didn't get them crowding me, and I exchanged plasma fire to take them down.

All in all, this is a well-deserved classic. I'm still not entirely sure I beat this back in the day, although I find it hard to fathom that I would have claimed to have done so and not done so all these years, so I won't count this as part of the Summer Challenge. But there was a ton of stuff I didn't remember. But I might just be able to chalk that up to it being nearly 20 years ago.

[Xeogred]

Only beat Dark Forces once myself. Are there any good source ports for it out there thesedays?

[MrPopo]

The worst of the platforming was in the sewage area with the rising platforms to infiltrate an Imperial base. If you didn't time things just right you'd miss the jump and have to start all over (since it was 3 or 4 back and forth).

[Exhuminator]

Awesome job Sarge.

I haven't beaten Dark Forces since 1995, but I still remember so much about it. That game blew my mind back then. I definitely owe it another play. Considering it's on GOG now, I have no excuse. Well... actually I still have the CD from 1995, but GOG's still better.

https://www.gog.com/game/star_wars_dark_forces

[BoneSnapDeez]

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)
25. Phantasy Star II Eusis's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
26. Phantasy Star II Nei's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
27. Phantasy Star II Rudger's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
28. Phantasy Star II Anne's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
29. Phantasy Star II Huey's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
30. Phantasy Star II Kinds's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
31. Phantasy Star II Amia's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
32. Phantasy Star II Shilka's Text Adventure (Steam - Sega Mega Drive & Genesis Classics)
33. Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (Famicom Disk System)
34. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
35. Super Mario Advance (Game Boy Advance)
36. Gunman Clive (Nintendo eShop)

Like a leisurely version of Mega Man with floaty controls and a unique brown "sketch" graphical design. Insane/unexpected hard mode unlocked after completion. Easily worth the two bucks I spent.