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Xeogred wrote:Hopefully beating one of these old games will convince me to power through Shadow Tower Abyss. Seems phenomenal. But I just hate emulating.

Do you own a PS2?

1. Shadow Warrior - Playstation 4 - January 1
2. The Order: 1886 - Playstation 4 - January 2
3. Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop - Wii - January 3
4. NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits - WiiWare - January 4
5. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - Vita - January 5
6. Shadow the Hedgehog - Gamecube - January 9
7. Fairy Bloom Freeia - Steam - January 10
8. Petit Novel Series: Harvest December - 3DS - January 13
9. Gas Guzzlers Extreme - Steam - January 14
10. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - Wii - January 16
11. Project Zero 2: Wii Edition - Wii - January 19
12. Killzone: Liberation - PSP - January 20
13. Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii - January 20
14. Kirby's Epic Yarn - Wii - January 24
15. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - Wii - January 25
16. Corpse Party - PSP - January 25
17. Freedom Planet - Wii U - January 25
18. Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space - Vita - January 25
19. Silent Hill: Homecoming - Xbox 360 - January 26
20. Life is Strange - Playstation 4 - January 28
21. Corpse Party: Book of Shadows - PSP - February 2
22. Megadimension Neptunia VII - Playstation 4 - February 12
23. Dr. Discord's Conquest - NES - February 13
24. Corpse Party: Blood Drive - Vita - February 17
25. If My Heart Had Wings - Steam - February 18
26. Missing: An Interactive Thriller - Steam - February 18
27. Her Story - Steam - February 18
28. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright - 3DS - February 26
29. Saints Row 2 - Steam - March 1
30. Saturday Morning RPG - Playstation 4 - March 3
31. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest - 3DS - March 6
32. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - Wii U - March 8
33. Pokken Tournament - Wii U - March 20
34. Moe Chronicle - Vita - March 22
35. Tom Clancey's The Division - Playstation 4 - March 23
36. Yoshi's New Island - 3DS - March 28
37. Alien Rage - Steam - April 1
38. Alien Breed: Impact - Steam - April 2
39. Alien Breed 2: Assault - Steam - April 3
40. Alien Breed 3: Descent - Steam - April 3
41. Bravely Second: Ballad of the Three Cavaliers - 3DS - April 6
42. Quantum Break - Xbox One - April 7
43. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - Wii U - April 8
44. Akai Katana - Xbox 360 - April 9
45. Otomedius Excellent - Xbox 360 - April 9
46. Chasing Dead - Wii U - April 10
47. Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation - 3DS - April 14
48. Ratchet and Clank - Playstation 4 - April 20
49. Starfox Zero - Wii U - April 23
50. Aero Fighters 2 - NeoGeo - May 8
51. Bravely Second: End Layer - 3DS - May 11
52. Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - May 15
53. Doom - Playstation 4 - May 20
54. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - Playstation 4 - May 22
55. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan - Playstation 4 - May 25



Let's start by saying that, in my opinion, Platinum has never made a bad game (at least of the ones I've played). Some have been "okay," but from my experience, nothing they've ever made has been actually bad. This is true of this game, as well. This game also, however, falls largely into that "okay" category.



The art style of the game is great, combining cel shading with a comic design for the characters rather than the awkward almost clay-looking models that some recent iterations of the turtles have used. The characters are fairly well defined with the four distinct personalities portrayed well. Michelangelo is perhaps a bit *too* obnoxiously pizza-obsessed to the point where the joke feels like beating a dead horse, but that's fairly true to his character, so that's more of a personal gripe.



The game's biggest flaw is its length; it took me less than 5 hours to beat all 9 levels. Now the unlockable/upgradable abilities, four difficulty levels, and online play may add some replay value, but generally speaking, the game feels too short. Normally I'm not one to complain about a game's being too short; I'd rather a game be really good and short than drag on and overstay its welcome. The problem is that this game is okay. If you're a big TMNT fan like I am, it may bump up to "pretty good," but generally speaking, it's just "okay." It plays a bit like a slowed down, lower budget Bayonetta (and, given that Platinum developed it, that shouldn't be a big surprise).

I'm not saying you should avoid this game at all, but I don't think I'd recommend it until you see it in the bargain bin.

Elkin, did you play it solo? From everything I've read, it's really a game designed w/ co-op in mind. I *might* give it a go this weekend, though that would've been far more likely had it supported local co-op.

noiseredux wrote:Elkin, did you play it solo? From everything I've read, it's really a game designed w/ co-op in mind. I *might* give it a go this weekend, though that would've been far more likely had it supported local co-op.

Yeah, I played it solo. It probably would be a lot better co-op.

January:

February:

March:

April:

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)

I didn't even know this game existed. I'm still not entirely sure why it does. It's passable, but pitifully easy right up until the end, where the last boss has three forms, two of which are dirt-simple, and the last which... well, once you have the pattern, it's really simple, too.

01. MagMax (NES)
02. World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (GEN) [2-player]
03. Sonic Spinball (GEN)*
04. Sonic Spinball (GEN)* [complete]
05. Comix Zone (GEN)*
06. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
07. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project (NES)
08. WCW World Championship Wrestling (NES)
09. Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (NES)
11. Wario Land: Shake It! (Wii)
12. Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS)
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist (GEN) [2-player]*
14. Gunstar Heroes (GEN)
15. Columns III: Revenge of Columns (GEN)

16. Contra: Hard Corps (GEN)

Short version:

Longer version:


* = replay

Key-Glyph wrote:16. Contra: Hard Corps (GEN)

Short version:

Everything explodes so good!!

Key-Glyph reviews things right.

Exhuminator wrote:

Xeogred wrote:Hopefully beating one of these old games will convince me to power through Shadow Tower Abyss. Seems phenomenal. But I just hate emulating.

Do you own a PS2?

Thin model.

If I had a fat modded one that would be awesome. I also want to play the Xenosaga undubs and FFXII International someday.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)

This is a game I've had my sights on for a LONG time. Like, since I saw it in Nintendo Power 7 years ago. Honestly, I really didn't know what to expect after waiting for so long, but I was very very pleasantly surprised with this great game.

The action is good. Hatsworth moves just about as fast as he needs to to maneuver the platforming and enemies, and you need to constantly be keeping your combos in mind in the later levels so you don't get squashed in and murderized, because this game is harrrd. I would say in terms of general difficulty, it's probably one of the hardest original DS games I've ever played.

In terms of gameplay, it's your standard jumping and platforming affair. You slowly get new powers like a wall jump and a dash move, but that's it in terms of your mobility. You use a cane/sword to combo up enemies, and once you kill an enemy it goes down to the puzzle screen. The puzzle game on bottom is just Panel De Pon. You match blocks and tiles to get up a puzzle bar which can restore your health, activate powerups, and if you get it all the way, you can activate it for a big invincible super-robot suit.

The game has character in spades from the uber-English Tea Land it's set around. Hatsworth and his myriad of enemies are all very silly, and the music is also great to compliment it. The story is nothing incredible, but the characters are written very entertainingly, and I'll say that I genuinely didn't expect the twist at the end.

Verdict: It's not the best platformer ever, but I really loved it. In my opinion, you'd be hard pressed to find a better 3rd party action game of this quality on the DS. It'll always remain in my heart around where Loco Roco 2 is: A very charismatic platformer that I'll remember forever

Games Ex has beaten in 2016:

68. Shovel Knight|3DS|2014|platformer|6h 47m|8/10

A NES styled platformer that gets a lot more right than it does wrong.