Games Beaten 2017
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Are any of these games dual audio? The Steam reviews for Cold Steel mention that it's English only. Are they dual audio on the PS3?
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Cold Steel 1 is English audio only on PS3. The three Trails games on PC only have voices for in battle stuff; calling out your special attacks and grunts. Those are also English audio only, but there's JP audio replacement packs for them available on fan sites.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
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ElkinFencer10
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Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 77
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (15 Game Beaten)
77. Castlevania Adventure Rebirth - Wii - July 30
This review is dedicated to flake for sending me some money on PayPal to make sure I downloaded this. Ours is a bromance so strong not even Dracula could come between us. <3
Remember WiiWare, Nintendo's underappreciated download service for Wii games? Konami put out a short "rebirth" series on WiiWare with remakes of three of entries from their old flagship series - Castlevania, Contra, and Gradius. As the title suggests, this is a remake of the Game Boy title Castlevania Adventure.
With respect to plot, as a remake of Castlevania Adventure, the protagonist is Christopher Belmont, a descendent of Trevor Belmont from Castlevania III and an ancestor of Simon Belmont from the first Castlevania. While it is a remake of the Game Boy title, it's not a straight remaster but rather a full reimagining in the same way that Super Castlevania IV was a complete reimagining of the original Castlevania. Whereas the Game Boy title had four stages, there are six stages in Rebirth (really, though, there are five; stage six is just the Dracula fight), and all of the stages are very much their own thing rather than a copy of the original game's stages. The music is done in a similar way; there are remixes and adaptations of music from previous entries in the Castlevania series, but they all feel fresh, new, and unique. All in all, despite being a remake, this feels like a completely new and unrelated game in the series, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Being on Wii, this game obviously won't give you a high definition picture, but that's not to say that it looks bad as that is far from the case. Castlevania Rebirth is one of the Wii games that proves that there's more to a good looking game than resolution. While a 720p or 1080p image certainly would have improved things, the game looks fantastic, keeping true to its 2D sprite roots while adding the visual effects and smooth gameplay one would expect from a modern game. As was the case with the original Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania Adventure Rebirth doesn't try to do too much. Konami clearly knew the system they were developing for, knew what it could and couldn't do, and made the best product they could with the resources they had. The backgrounds and enemy sprites all look fantastic, the bosses are well designed both visually and mechanically, being challenging but fair and looking great but not taxing enough on the system hardware to cause slowdown.
The only big complaint that I have with the game is that stage 5 felt a bit rushed with regards to QA. In the four previous stages, checkpoints were placed in logical places in roughly equal distances from one another, giving the game a very well paced vibe that gives you the feeling that you're steadily progressing. Stage 5, on the other hand, feels much more hastily done with regards to checkpoints and powerups. The checkpoints are spread far apart and in seemingly haphazard locations, leading to a dramatic spike in difficulty from stage 4. Also during the first four stages, food to restore your health isn't particularly common, but it could still be found in a couple of places through the levels; I didn't find a single piece of food in stage 5. It's one thing if the game is always stingy in that respect or if the difficulty and item scarcity gradually increase, but it's such a sharp spike from stage 4 to stage 5 that it feels like a design flaw rather than a natural progression of difficulty.
The Castlevania Adventure Rebirth is a fantastic Castlevania experience on Nintendo's Wii console and one that probably got overlooked by a lot of fans of the series given the (unfair) negative reputation the Wii and its WiiWare service had, and that's their loss. The inclusion of three different difficulty settings and adjustable life stock (up to 9) as well as unlimited continues and the ability to select any previously cleared level if you need to start again later also make it the most approachable 2D Castlevania game for players of all skill levels. At only 1000 Wii points ($10), it's well worth the price of admission and a great way to kill a few hours vampire hunting. Tight controls, great music, and pleasing visuals make this a must-have for Wii gamers and Castlevania fans like.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (15 Game Beaten)
77. Castlevania Adventure Rebirth - Wii - July 30
This review is dedicated to flake for sending me some money on PayPal to make sure I downloaded this. Ours is a bromance so strong not even Dracula could come between us. <3
Remember WiiWare, Nintendo's underappreciated download service for Wii games? Konami put out a short "rebirth" series on WiiWare with remakes of three of entries from their old flagship series - Castlevania, Contra, and Gradius. As the title suggests, this is a remake of the Game Boy title Castlevania Adventure.
With respect to plot, as a remake of Castlevania Adventure, the protagonist is Christopher Belmont, a descendent of Trevor Belmont from Castlevania III and an ancestor of Simon Belmont from the first Castlevania. While it is a remake of the Game Boy title, it's not a straight remaster but rather a full reimagining in the same way that Super Castlevania IV was a complete reimagining of the original Castlevania. Whereas the Game Boy title had four stages, there are six stages in Rebirth (really, though, there are five; stage six is just the Dracula fight), and all of the stages are very much their own thing rather than a copy of the original game's stages. The music is done in a similar way; there are remixes and adaptations of music from previous entries in the Castlevania series, but they all feel fresh, new, and unique. All in all, despite being a remake, this feels like a completely new and unrelated game in the series, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Being on Wii, this game obviously won't give you a high definition picture, but that's not to say that it looks bad as that is far from the case. Castlevania Rebirth is one of the Wii games that proves that there's more to a good looking game than resolution. While a 720p or 1080p image certainly would have improved things, the game looks fantastic, keeping true to its 2D sprite roots while adding the visual effects and smooth gameplay one would expect from a modern game. As was the case with the original Castlevania Adventure, Castlevania Adventure Rebirth doesn't try to do too much. Konami clearly knew the system they were developing for, knew what it could and couldn't do, and made the best product they could with the resources they had. The backgrounds and enemy sprites all look fantastic, the bosses are well designed both visually and mechanically, being challenging but fair and looking great but not taxing enough on the system hardware to cause slowdown.
The only big complaint that I have with the game is that stage 5 felt a bit rushed with regards to QA. In the four previous stages, checkpoints were placed in logical places in roughly equal distances from one another, giving the game a very well paced vibe that gives you the feeling that you're steadily progressing. Stage 5, on the other hand, feels much more hastily done with regards to checkpoints and powerups. The checkpoints are spread far apart and in seemingly haphazard locations, leading to a dramatic spike in difficulty from stage 4. Also during the first four stages, food to restore your health isn't particularly common, but it could still be found in a couple of places through the levels; I didn't find a single piece of food in stage 5. It's one thing if the game is always stingy in that respect or if the difficulty and item scarcity gradually increase, but it's such a sharp spike from stage 4 to stage 5 that it feels like a design flaw rather than a natural progression of difficulty.
The Castlevania Adventure Rebirth is a fantastic Castlevania experience on Nintendo's Wii console and one that probably got overlooked by a lot of fans of the series given the (unfair) negative reputation the Wii and its WiiWare service had, and that's their loss. The inclusion of three different difficulty settings and adjustable life stock (up to 9) as well as unlimited continues and the ability to select any previously cleared level if you need to start again later also make it the most approachable 2D Castlevania game for players of all skill levels. At only 1000 Wii points ($10), it's well worth the price of admission and a great way to kill a few hours vampire hunting. Tight controls, great music, and pleasing visuals make this a must-have for Wii gamers and Castlevania fans like.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Ghost Bade HD-PS4
I got the Limited Edition from Play Asia yesterday and been waiting for this game for months. It was worth the wait even tho the game is over faster than a virgins first time. It's only 5 stages. Four of the five stages are challenging. The first stage is easy peasy. This is not a Shmup that allows credit feeding. You start with 3 lives and 3 continues. You can get extra lives once in a while on a stage. It's very rare tho from my experience. The first time I played the game I died on the final boss with no lives no continues and to make the defeat sting even more, the boss had a sliver of health left. My second attempt to play the game I played better. I beat the final boss with one life remaining and 2 continues. It's a thrilling game for how short it is. The music is awesome but I have yet to play a Shmup where the music wasn't great. The game offers 2 playable ships each with their own traits. It has a score attack mode. 2 player mode and lastly a training mode. The training mode acts like a stage select. I greatly enjoyed it.
The entire time I played, I looked like this.
I got the Limited Edition from Play Asia yesterday and been waiting for this game for months. It was worth the wait even tho the game is over faster than a virgins first time. It's only 5 stages. Four of the five stages are challenging. The first stage is easy peasy. This is not a Shmup that allows credit feeding. You start with 3 lives and 3 continues. You can get extra lives once in a while on a stage. It's very rare tho from my experience. The first time I played the game I died on the final boss with no lives no continues and to make the defeat sting even more, the boss had a sliver of health left. My second attempt to play the game I played better. I beat the final boss with one life remaining and 2 continues. It's a thrilling game for how short it is. The music is awesome but I have yet to play a Shmup where the music wasn't great. The game offers 2 playable ships each with their own traits. It has a score attack mode. 2 player mode and lastly a training mode. The training mode acts like a stage select. I greatly enjoyed it.
The entire time I played, I looked like this.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
ElkinFencer10 wrote:No shame in save states. Unless some of these elitist pricks want to start paying for my games, I'm going to play however I want to, and to hell with anyone who thinks otherwise.
Amen, just simply, Amen my man!
dsheinem wrote:In any case, sorry that my avatar makes you cringe these days, but I haven't really changed my posing habits at all.
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foxhound1022
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- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:20 pm
- Location: The mean streets of SouthTown
Re: Games Beaten 2017
ElkinFencer10 wrote:No shame in save states. Unless some of these elitist pricks want to start paying for my games, I'm going to play however I want to, and to hell with anyone who thinks otherwise.
Nice to know I'm an elitist prick because I don't like to use save states.
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ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8642
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
foxhound1022 wrote:ElkinFencer10 wrote:No shame in save states. Unless some of these elitist pricks want to start paying for my games, I'm going to play however I want to, and to hell with anyone who thinks otherwise.
Nice to know I'm an elitist prick because I don't like to use save states.
You're only an elitist prick if you criticize other people for doing so.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
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ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8642
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2017
Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 78
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (16 Game Beaten)
78. Contra Rebirth - Wii - July 31
Contra Rebirth is one of Konami's "rebirth" games along with Castlevania Adventure Rebirth and Gradius Rebirth, taking their respective series back to their 2D roots from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Contra Rebirth takes everything that made its 8-bit and 16-bit predecessors amazing and modernizes it. the result is an exemplary game that is well worth the $10 asking price.
Contra Rebirth a side scrolling shooter featuring some bizarre storyline about which absolutely no one cares involving future aliens going into the past to invade primitive past Earth, forcing the galactic president to send future Super 'Murica guys into the past to shoot everything with a pulse. The gameplay is definitely this game's strongest aspect; it's all the great run-n-gun action that you remember from the NES Contra, although it is muuuuch more forgiving than its ancestors. Like I mentioned in my review for Castlevania Adventure Rebirth, Contra Rebirth features three difficulty settings (although stage 6, the real final boss, and the true ending can't be unlocked on Easy) as well as the option to increase your number of lives up to a maximum of seven.
The visuals are great, bringing bright colors and well designed sprites while keeping true to the feel of the original games. The music is similarly spectacular, the soundtrack being comprised of remixes and new arrangements of old and classic Contra tunes. The game also, thankfully, carries the mid-stage checkpoints and unlimited continues over from Castlevania Adventure Rebirth. The hit detection can, at times, be a bit spotty as there were a couple times I think my shot should have hit an enemy but a lot of times that an enemy's shot definitely should have killed me. That said, though, those instances weren't extraordinarily common in my playthrough, and the addicting fun of the game more than makes up for a few mechanical flaws.
Contra Rebirth is a fantastic game for $10 and really showed the potential of the WiiWare platform when developers really used it well. It's a bite sized game that can serve as a low-cost entry into a series that you might either have missed out on back in the day or just didn't have the skill level to enjoy fully. It's a bit on the short side, but $10 is a very fair price for an addicting 2 player experience with four playable characters and six stages to fight through. Fans of Contra and fans of the Wii need to make sure to check this one out.
* denotes a replay
January (10 Games Beaten)
February (12 Games Beaten)
March (6 Games Beaten)
April (9 Games Beaten)
May (14 Games Beaten)
June (10 Games Beaten)
July (16 Game Beaten)
78. Contra Rebirth - Wii - July 31
Contra Rebirth is one of Konami's "rebirth" games along with Castlevania Adventure Rebirth and Gradius Rebirth, taking their respective series back to their 2D roots from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Contra Rebirth takes everything that made its 8-bit and 16-bit predecessors amazing and modernizes it. the result is an exemplary game that is well worth the $10 asking price.
Contra Rebirth a side scrolling shooter featuring some bizarre storyline about which absolutely no one cares involving future aliens going into the past to invade primitive past Earth, forcing the galactic president to send future Super 'Murica guys into the past to shoot everything with a pulse. The gameplay is definitely this game's strongest aspect; it's all the great run-n-gun action that you remember from the NES Contra, although it is muuuuch more forgiving than its ancestors. Like I mentioned in my review for Castlevania Adventure Rebirth, Contra Rebirth features three difficulty settings (although stage 6, the real final boss, and the true ending can't be unlocked on Easy) as well as the option to increase your number of lives up to a maximum of seven.
The visuals are great, bringing bright colors and well designed sprites while keeping true to the feel of the original games. The music is similarly spectacular, the soundtrack being comprised of remixes and new arrangements of old and classic Contra tunes. The game also, thankfully, carries the mid-stage checkpoints and unlimited continues over from Castlevania Adventure Rebirth. The hit detection can, at times, be a bit spotty as there were a couple times I think my shot should have hit an enemy but a lot of times that an enemy's shot definitely should have killed me. That said, though, those instances weren't extraordinarily common in my playthrough, and the addicting fun of the game more than makes up for a few mechanical flaws.
Contra Rebirth is a fantastic game for $10 and really showed the potential of the WiiWare platform when developers really used it well. It's a bite sized game that can serve as a low-cost entry into a series that you might either have missed out on back in the day or just didn't have the skill level to enjoy fully. It's a bit on the short side, but $10 is a very fair price for an addicting 2 player experience with four playable characters and six stages to fight through. Fans of Contra and fans of the Wii need to make sure to check this one out.
Exhuminator wrote:Ecchi lords must unite for great justice.
Re: Games Beaten 2017
January:
Super Mario Bros Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA/WiiU)
Super Mario Bros Advance 2: Yoshi's Island (GBA/WiiU)
Wario Land 4 (GBA/WiiU)
March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
April:
Front Mission 3 (PS1/PSTV)
Mega Man 2 (PS4)
May:
Megaman 3 (PS4)
Megaman 4 (PS4)
Megaman 5 (PS4)
Megaman (PS4)
Megaman 6 (PS4)
June:
Megaman Legends (PSX)
Final Fantasy X HD (PS4)
July:
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes (PS3)
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS4)
Adventures of Mana (PSTV)
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope (Switch)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Castlevania (NES/WiiU)
August:
Castlevania The Adventure: Rebirth (Wiiware)
To echo Elkin's sentiment regarding Stage 5 on this game, WTF and where are my wall chickens??
But other than one level out of 6 suffering from some sadistic game design, the rest of Castlevania Rebirth was fantastic. I am impressed by the effort that was put into the artwork of the game, the logical tweaks to the control scheme that pays homage to the old school Castlevania style while incorporating some important QoL elements. I loved the music - if I had any complaint about the music, it's that "Theme of Simon Belmont" did not play until the very end and only for a brief period of time.
Konami put real work into this game and it's kind of odd that it has never seen the light of day on any compilation or re-release.
Super Mario Bros Advance 4: Super Mario Bros 3 (GBA/WiiU)
Super Mario Bros Advance 2: Yoshi's Island (GBA/WiiU)
Wario Land 4 (GBA/WiiU)
March:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
April:
Front Mission 3 (PS1/PSTV)
Mega Man 2 (PS4)
May:
Megaman 3 (PS4)
Megaman 4 (PS4)
Megaman 5 (PS4)
Megaman (PS4)
Megaman 6 (PS4)
June:
Megaman Legends (PSX)
Final Fantasy X HD (PS4)
July:
Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of the Super Heroes (PS3)
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 (PS4)
Adventures of Mana (PSTV)
Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope (Switch)
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Castlevania (NES/WiiU)
August:
Castlevania The Adventure: Rebirth (Wiiware)
To echo Elkin's sentiment regarding Stage 5 on this game, WTF and where are my wall chickens??
But other than one level out of 6 suffering from some sadistic game design, the rest of Castlevania Rebirth was fantastic. I am impressed by the effort that was put into the artwork of the game, the logical tweaks to the control scheme that pays homage to the old school Castlevania style while incorporating some important QoL elements. I loved the music - if I had any complaint about the music, it's that "Theme of Simon Belmont" did not play until the very end and only for a brief period of time.
Konami put real work into this game and it's kind of odd that it has never seen the light of day on any compilation or re-release.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Re: Games Beaten 2017
I need to check out Contra Rebirth. Castlevania Rebirth was good, but like you guys have said the last level was a pain, along with the final boss. Pretty sure I did it on normal and it was brutal. I don't see myself replaying that one. Contra Rebirth looks a bit better to me.
So who's going to play Gradius Rebirth?
So who's going to play Gradius Rebirth?