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1. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide (PC)(Action)
2. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES)(Fighting)
3. DRAGON: The Bruce Lee Story (SNES)(Fighting)
4. Eradicator (PC)(FPS)
5. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (PC)(FPS)
6. D-Force (SNES)(SHMUP)
7. Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (PC)(RPG)
8. Dying Light (PC)(FPS/RPG)
9. Dying Light: The Following (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Gauntlet: Slayer Edition (PC)(Hack and Slash)
11. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (PC)(Walking Simulator)
12. Dead Pixels (PC)(Run and Gun)
13. Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D. (PC)(FPS)
14. Hell Yeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (PC)(Action Platformer)
15. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (PC)(FPS)
16. Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory (PC)(Platformer)
17. Zombie Shooter (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)

I beat Alien Shooter and Alien Shooter 2 last year, so when I saw Zombie Shooter on sale for less than a dollar on GOG, I figured I'd go ahead and snag it. Hey, it's October, it fits the mood. I'm glad I paid less than a dollar, as Zombie Shooter has some serious hindrances in its design, and it's quite short. I knocked it out in only a few hours. But I still had fun with what I played.

Here's the gyst: you don't get a story. You're entering a facility, you get the choice only of the gender of your protagonist, and you have to shoot anything that moves inside. That means zombie rats, zombie dogs, zombie SWAT, zombies, zombie mutants, zombie mutants armed with rocket launchers, skinless psychic zombies, mutating tentacled zombie patients which hurl exploding zombie worms at you, etc. To do this, you find and upgrade guns. You probably won't get all the guns in the game, and you probably will only upgrade the ones you really like. For me, it was the base pistols, then the shotgun, then the minigun, and then the flamethrower and magma minigun for my final choices. The grenade launcher, rocket launcher, and plasma minigun didn't click, and I never even bothered with the disc launcher. But that's ok, my stuff was good enough to make it to the end. You also gain experience, which you can use for stat upgrades, though you definitely won't fight enough enemies to max everything out, so keep that in mind.

So yeah, if it moves, shoot it until it dies. Every now and again you'll have to interact with something, though this is mostly done automatically. The biggest exception is a giant cannon you get access to that you must aim and shoot of your own accord. Trust me, when you get here, you're gonna want to use it. The game likes to throw hordes of enemies your way, so most rooms in which you engage in fire fights end up blood splattered messes. This can occasionally make some enemies and power ups tough to see, so be careful when this happens. Also, if you get stuck in a horde, there's a good chance you'll lose track of yourself, and the game puts up a red filter as you near death, so try not to die. You can change the blood color to green if you prefer and then password lock it as a sort of child filter, but that's your call.

My biggest complaint is the lack of video options. I was stuck playing on a tiny resolution that made text difficult to read and sometimes caused enemies to be almost impossible to spot among the fields of exploded bodies I left in my wake. There doesn't seem any way to change that. Thankfully there were volume options present, though the game starts out at max volume, so do your ears a favor and turn it down. There's also not much of an ending; you pretty much get a "Thanks for playing" screen. There are a couple of alternate game modes beyond the campaign, but these center on how long you can survive and don't really add much life to the game. As for your sole gender choice, this does change starting stats...slightly. So replay value isn't exactly high.

Hey, I got stuck on a lot fewer things than I did in the original Alien Shooter, so Zombie Shooter was an improvement on the original formula. Yeah, some of its enemies feel like bullet sponges, but they did in the original game too, and despite how excessive the hordes are in this game, they're nowhere near as bad in ZS as they were in AS. If you've played Alien Shooter, Zombie Shooter doesn't really change up the formula, so you'll know what you're getting. It's not a bad game though. I'm totally happy with what I got for $0.89.

94. Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir | 3DS | 2012 | 8/10



One day you receive a mysterious package. When you open the package, you find a cryptic old diary. Opening the diary, you decide to take a picture of one of its pages. But the next thing you know, you're sucked into a mysterious old house. As you wander its halls, you meet a desperate spirit named Maya, who warns you to leave this place. Maya and you both jump back through the diary into your own world again. Except something has followed you both. It turns out the diary is a portal to a hellish old mansion, with a malevolent female spirit haunting it. She has seen your face, and now you're cursed. Your own world is no longer safe, angry spirits now fill your own home, and the dark phantom has vowed to steal your face. You must use Maya's guidance and your camera to put an end to the vile diary's curse, and all the angry spirits coming with it.



Such is the premise of Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir. This is an augmented reality survival horror, an offshoot of the Fatal Frame series. Tecmo works the 3DS here like no other 3DS game has since. The diary is a physical object which comes with the game itself. The diary is used like AR cards traditionally are. Every page has its own special purpose. Some pages are puzzles, some reveal movies, and some act as gateways for spirits to enter your home. Once a ghost is in your reality, you must chase it around your physical surroundings, taking magic pictures of it to exorcise it away. This is harder than it sounds, as timing is critical. You have a life bar, and can "die" if you screw up too much. Yes this means you will see evil ghosts flying around your own living room. When you're not fighting ghosts, you're helping Maya figure out what's going on. (She's an amnesiac, of course.) And when you're not doing that, you're solving crazy and creative puzzles from within the pages of the diary itself. Your camera gains various lenses that act as filters, adding further complexity to the game design.



Not everything is perfect, of course. For one thing, you must play Spirit Camera in a very well lit area. That's so the 3DS cameras can actually see the AR diary pages. It's kinda hard to be scared of ghosts in a brightly lit room. There are also technical problems at times, just little things that flake out now and then, no big deal. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for some was how short this game is. I beat it in about two hours, and I wasn't rushing. Spirit Camera does offer mini-games outside the main story mode, so maybe that can pad the length if you care about that stuff.

While I don't by any means think Spirit Camera is a perfect game, I came away mostly impressed. Tecmo put a lot of work into designing something that (in 2012) could only have worked on the 3DS. There's a lot of innovation in Spirit Camera's design, it was more than just a glorified tech demo. Spirit Camera's goal was to make its player feel like part of the experience. This game accomplishes that goal. Seeing ghosts climb out of the diary's pages, and then stalk my gaming room, was really cool. Spinning around fighting them was a physical experience that felt tangible. Unraveling Maya's tale of woe and misery was legitimately interesting. In many regards, Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir is one of the most unique games I've ever played. It is rather fun, it is super creative, and it is tremendously idiosyncratic. Too bad it's not scary.

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Well folks, I've only got two games left to beat on my Halloween-athon list. Here's hoping I can have them finished tomorrow!

Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 110
* 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 (20 Games Beaten)


August (9 Games Beaten)


September (14 Games Beaten)


October (6 Games Beaten)


110. Super Mario Odyssey - Switch - October 30



Holy crap, dude. HOLY CRAP, DUDE. Super Mario Odyssey is the full realization of Nintendo's ambitions with Super Mario 64. Super Mario 64 was an amazing game, but Super Mario Odyssey is in a whole different league. No one should be surprised when Nintendo knocks it out of the park with first party games, especially a flagship 3D Mario title, but even by Nintendo standards, this game is absolutely incredible. I wasn't sure how I felt about the living hat, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the realistic aesthetic of New Donk City, but JESUS CHRIST this game is amazing.



Nintendo has had at least one 3D Mario title every generation since the Nintendo 64 - two on the Wii - but they haven't gone for a real world-based open exploration game since Super Mario 64, at least not with this level of world diversity. Just like the 3DS was the realization of the Virtual Boy's promise of 3D gaming, Super Mario Odyssey is the full realization of Super Mario 64's promise of secret hunting and exploration in over a dozen extremely varied worlds. Even more exciting for me than the different worlds to explore, however, was the plethora of different power ups available. The power ups don't work like your standard Mario power ups; you don't find them in question boxes and touch them to gain the ability. Instead, you throw your living hat companion, Cappy, at any enemy to possess it and gain its abilities in a manner not unlike Kirby's enemy absorption.



The game's story is as unnecessary as usual for a Mario game, but it is fairly interesting for a Mario plot. Bowser has kidnapped Princess Peach again, but this time he plans to force her into a marriage, I assume to use the non-existent court systems to force her to stay with him. Or something. He's a giant turtle; I don't really expect much in the way of critical thinking from him. Anyway, he scorches Mario's hat in a fight and sends Mario flying off an airship to what would be certain death for anyone other than Mario. Fortunately for Mario, he lands in the Cap Kingdom, a land populated by talking hats. What luck; now he has a new hat. From there, Mario and Cappy go from world to world chasing Bowser and trying to collect enough Power Moons to upgrade their airship enough to get to the next world, eventually confronting Bowser in a fiery castle battle like always.



Other than the absolutely fabulous controls, the real star of the show here is the worlds. There are a total of fifteen worlds in the game, each one unique and distinct. My favorite world was most definitely New Donk City - surprising given that it was the world I expected to like the least - but the Cascade Kingdom has my absolute all-time favorite Mario power up; YOU GET TO BE A FREAKING T-REX. SERIOUSLY. It made me supremely happy. There really aren't any bad worlds although it is worth noting that a couple of the worlds are just boss battles. There are a TON of secrets to find in these worlds for those who like collectathons and having a lot of optional objectives to complete.



One of the most striking traits about the game is its visuals. The Switch isn't exactly a graphical powerhouse compared to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but that didn't stop Nintendo from producing a remarkable looking game. It's no Uncharted 4, but it looks BEAUTIFUL. Either we've all spent eight months severely underestimating the Switch's capabilities, or as they did with the Wii and Wii U, Nintendo has some kind of voodoo witchcraft that allows it to draw more power from its console than it should be able to produce. Either way, this is a breathtaking game. Had I seen screenshots of the game without Mario or any logos and been told that it was a PlayStation 4 platformer, I'd have believed it. It looks remarkable, but after what Nintendo managed with Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid Prime 3 on the Wii, no one should really be surprised that they have a knack for drawing out every scrap of power from their systems.



The overall visual presentation is almost matched by the game's sound design. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic and every bit worthy of the series' legacy. Between the mysterious music of the Moon Kingdom, the tense tunes of Bowser's Kingdom, or the jovial jingles of the Seaside Kingdom, the game's music is really something. Equally praiseworthy is the attention to detail with the little things. There are a lot of minor things that one might not notice at first but that really help to immerse the player in the experience. When Mario runs by a person or sign, his head and eyes will automatically turn to look at it. When Mario gets out of the water, his clothes drip for a few seconds; when Mario gets burnt, his clothes are charred for a few seconds. With the 2D segments, the 8-bit-esque visuals and mechanics of the original Super Mario Bros are kept almost perfectly intact. It's that kind of attention to detail that set a good game apart from a great game in a lot of cases, and this is no exception.



Super Mario Odyssey is an absolute masterpiece of 3D platforming. The tight controls, the rich diversity in the worlds, the plethora of hidden collectibles, the outstanding soundtrack, and the stunning visuals all put this game in a tier far above any 3D platformer we've seen until now. There are a TON of costumes to unlock both through amiibo scans as well as in-game currency that give a level of visual customization very uncommon for the Mario series. If you own a Switch, this is an ABSOLUTE must-own. If you don't own a Switch, this game alone makes the system an ABSOLUTE must-own.

1. Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide (PC)(Action)
2. Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (SNES)(Fighting)
3. DRAGON: The Bruce Lee Story (SNES)(Fighting)
4. Eradicator (PC)(FPS)
5. Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (PC)(FPS)
6. D-Force (SNES)(SHMUP)
7. Eye of the Beholder II: The Legend of Darkmoon (PC)(RPG)
8. Dying Light (PC)(FPS/RPG)
9. Dying Light: The Following (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Gauntlet: Slayer Edition (PC)(Hack and Slash)
11. Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (PC)(Walking Simulator)
12. Dead Pixels (PC)(Run and Gun)
13. Half-Life: C.A.G.E.D. (PC)(FPS)
14. Hell Yeah: Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (PC)(Action Platformer)
15. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 (PC)(FPS)
16. Sugar Cube: Bittersweet Factory (PC)(Platformer)
17. Zombie Shooter (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
18. Torchlight (PC)(Action RPG)

Torchlight is a Diablo-inspired action RPG for PC that came out around 2009 or so. It lacked proper multiplayer options, so a lot of folks passed it by for Torchlight 2. The first one has some interesting ideas, but also some annoying limitations and hindrances which detract from it. It also uses an extremely bright and colorful color palette, so if you're interested in a dark and gloomy experience, this isn't it. But the music, the manner in which the game unfolds, the quest system, so on and so forth feel like a combination of Diablo and World of Warcraft. Depending on your taste, this could be a good thing.

The game starts off with the player choosing from three character classes: one melee-oriented tank, one magic caster, and one ranged user. All three come with a pet which will fight alongside the player and can carry gear. the pet marks one of the biggest enhancements upon the Diablo template, as it provides an unkillable AI companion that can be turned into quite the devastating helper and can also run off to town to sell items that it is carrying. While this helps with keeping the player focused on the dungeon delving, there are some problems with the execution which I will go into in a bit. Still, it does allow for the fighting of monsters to continue, and that's pretty much the point of all this. There is a main storyline involving a 35-level dungeon complete with varied areas and bosses, but once that is over, the real adventure begins with an endless dungeon opening up for the player to attempt tackling. Unfortunately, I don't believe there are checkpoints for quick travel inside, so make sure you keep your health high and you drop the occasional portal to town in case you get killed.

When you get tired of your run, you can also retire a character, which allows you to pass on one item as an heirloom, making it more powerful, and also increases the fame with which your next character arrives. Fame serves as a secondary type of experience, and reaching a new level in it will grant an additional ability point, just like leveling up via traditional experience. Stat boosts are only granted on traditional leveling. The abilities also allow for characters to be built how you want, so you can make the spellcaster into a tank if you so desire, or make the tank into a ranged rifle-user. Play how you want. Then go gamble on loot or go fishing, you have a few options.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much all there is to do. Do a run, then bring in a new character and do a new run on a different difficulty. My denoting my beating the game actually represents two runs I made(though not the first time I've beaten it), one on Normal Hardcore mode and one on Easy; with the special ring I acquired along the way, I was able to speedrun the third time beating the game. I have other difficulties to beat and achievements to unlock, but I find I get bored and want to set this aside from time to time.

There are also other issues, namely inventory size. To make the pet into a bigger boon, player inventory is minimal, and while it is divided into several categories, two of those categories are for items that you won't find that often, so it's a bit of a moot point. There are no ways to increase your inventory beyond mods either, though the game encourages their use. In fact, there are achievements associated with using mods...which brings me to another issue with Torchlight: the achievement system is ridiculously specific and also encourages cheese. I had to mod the game, so most of what I put into place were either cosmetic or quality of life improvements, such as allowing potions to stack beyond the low 20 that they're normally stuck at. Trust me, you'll want this. Another one increased the base player run speed, while other mods I found brought the level cap from 100 to 999 but don't improve gear beyond 100, so after a while, you're pretty much screwed. Heck, shops in the game can't even generate gear that high apparently, so once you go beyond 100, stuff stops appearing in them. Meanwhile, some achievements are oddly specific, such as selling 10,000 items to a merchant. This doesn't include anything sold by your pet, so to earn it, you have to take your tiny inventory, go back to town, and manually sell everything. Why give me the pet option and then toss in an achievement that undercuts it? Strange decisions like this plague the game.

Look, Torchlight has problems. It's a fun little dungeon delve, but it's not one that really warrants lasting the way a title like Titan Quest does. Perhaps eventually I'll give Torchlight 2 a go as well and see how things have improved. For now I may return to Torchlight for a bit...but I may also take a break. I can take it or leave it at this point, which I'm guessing isn't a good sign for something that wishes it had staying power.

Torchlight 2 is amazing and a huge leap over the first. I like both quite a bit, but T2 was the best of the genre prior Diablo 3.

95. Sakura Halloween | PC | 2017 | 7/10



Miyu the wily vampiress is upset that she wasn't invited to a Halloween party. So she gatecrashes the party, only to realize one of her ex-girlfriends, Sabrina, is there. Miyu decides to get Sabrina (who's a witch by the way) back as her lover once again. Thankfully Miyu has a haunted hair tie named Sissy, to give her practical advice to accomplish this goal. It isn't long before Miyu works her way back into Sabrina's arms again, and a passionate night of spooky lovemaking ensues.



Yes Sakura Halloween is a visual novel, a story of nubile lesbian lovers presented in full hentai glory. This VN overflows with humorous writing, exceptionally well crafted artwork, pleasant music, and a lot of explicit naughty things. That said, Sakura Halloween is quite short. I finished it in about 45 minutes. But Sakura Halloween is also free, so its brevity is understandable. If you like a little trick with your treat, give Sakura Halloween a read on All Hallows' Eve.

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96. Halloween | Atari 2600 | 1983 | 6/10



Halloween the Atari 2600 game is based off the famous Halloween film. You play as a babysitter trying to rescue kids from being brutally stabbed to death by Michael Myers. You do this by running around a large two story house, grabbing kids, and escorting them to a safe room. At any time, Myers may appear and start chasing you. You only have three lives (represented by pumpkin icons), lose all your lives and it's game over. You can find knives laying around, and if you grab a knife, you can instead murder Michael Myers. There's three levels of difficulty. To beat a level, you must rescue at least five kids, or kill Myers twice. If he catches you, he'll cut off your head, and your headless body will run around on its own volition while blood sprays from your neck stump. Myers will also seek out the kids, if he finds them, he will stab them in the face and leave them bleeding to death on the floor.



Halloween is a simple game, but it captures its subject matter well. The thematic sense of the film's concept bleeds through the basic gameplay. When you're close to beating a level, and then the lights start flickering, and you hear the Halloween themesong start playing, your pulse will quicken. You'll be desperately trying to reach an exit, only to find yourself face to face with the knife wielding psychopath. Do you run? Do you drop the kid as bait? Do you fight back with a knife? Yes, this game's pretty edgy for a 2600 title. Murdered teen girls, dead gored children, and big fat buckets of pixelated blood. If there's one game that Ack and Bone could both enjoy, it's Halloween on the 2600.

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And that's it for Ex's Halloween-athon!


In total I beat 26 games for the season:

Avenging Spirit (GB)
Devil Hunter Yohko: 7th Alarm Bell (Mega Drive)
Dracula: The Undead (Atari Lynx)
Ghost Sweeper Mikami: The Master Exorcist with the Nice Body (SFC)
Hammerin' Harry: Ghost Building Company (GB)
Halloween (2600)
Haunted House (2600)
Kendo Rage (SNES)
Jack Bros. (VB)
Maerchen Adventure Cotton 100% (SFC)
Magical Night Dreams: Cotton 2 (Arcade)
Magical Night Dreams: Cotton Boomerang (Arcade)
Monster Party (NES)
Musya: The Classic Tale of Japanese Horror (SNES)
Night Slashers (Arcade)
Sakura Halloween (PC)
Samurai-Ghost (TG16)
Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue (PC)
Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoire (3DS)
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (NES)
Sweet Home (FC)
Terrordrome (PC)
The Mummy Demastered (PC)
Uninvited (NES)
Vampire: Master of Darkness (SMS)
Yomawari: Night Alone (Vita)

That was a lot of spookyas and booglies, and boy, are my thumbs tired! It was a fun ride though. I hope at least a few of you were entertained by my descent into this madness. Have a happy Halloween everybody.

Damn dude, you got some work done. All my Halloween gaming plans flopped because that's how it goes. I get all these grand elaborate horror gaming plans revved up in the early parts of the year... then when October rolls around I'm in a totally different mood and don't want to force it.

I did replay Dead Space 1-2 at least, and am playing Evil Within 2 now.

Spirit Camera looks good for the low price. I still need to play Fatal Frame 5 sometime.

[quote="Markies"]1. Phantasy Star II (GEN)
2. Guitar Hero (PS2)
3. Adventures of Lolo (NES)
4. Animal Crossing (GCN)
5. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES)
6. Beyond The Beyond (PS1)
7. R.B.I. Baseball (NES)
8. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (PS1)
9. GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (GCN)
10. Project Gotham Racing (XBOX)
11. Ristar (GEN)
12. Conker's Bad Fur Day (N64)
13. Crash Bandicoot (PS1)
14. Pikmin (GCN)
15. Syberia (XBOX)
16. Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2)
17. Tetris Plus (PS1)
18. Metropolis Street Racer (DC)
19. Darkwing Duck (NES)
20. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (PS2)
21. Ico (PS2)
22. Final Fantasy V (SNES)
23. Mega Man X (SNES)
24. Beyond Good & Evil (XBOX)
25. Beetle Adventure Racing! (N64)
26. Sonic Adventure (DC)
27. Giga Wing (DC)
28. Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (XBOX)
29. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)
30. Landstalker: Treasure of King Nole (GEN)
31. Soul Calibur II (GCN)

I beat Soul Calibur II on the Nintendo GameCube this evening!

My journey through the Soul Calibur series has been a long and confusing one. I first played the prequel, Soul Blade on the Playstation 1. As a large reason to buy the console in the first place, I bought a Dreamcast and then I played through the original Soul Calibur. Then, I had to buy a Nintendo GameCube and finally bought myself a copy of Soul Calibur II. After buying two new consoles and playing through two previous titles, I finally got around to playing the game I wanted to play in the first place, Soul Calibur II.

It is hard to choose which is my favorite 3D fighter between Dead or Alive and Soul Calibur. Both are fantastic and offer unique styles. What I really like about Soul Calibur is the depth in the game itself. There are so many modes and different ways to play and I hardly touched them all. I mostly played in the meat of the game, the Weapon Master mode which takes you on a journey through different stages fighting in different matches that change up the regular mechanics just a little bit to mess with you. I love this mode as it makes each fight unique and not just a gauntlet until you get to an incredibly hard boss. Also, it gives a chance to unlock all types of unique weapons, characters, modes and everything else the game has to offer. It made the game stay with me longer than I thought it would considering it is just a fighting game. Overall, the fighting is tight and very fun throughout the entire game. All of the characters are incredibly unique and will offer a perfect character for each style of play. I have always loved the characters in the series and I love to see them expanded in this entry. I chose the GameCube because of Link as he is the best of the console specific characters. He's a little strange in that he doesn't talk, but besides that, he fits perfectly into the game.

Even though I enjoyed the fighting, it's not perfect. Some matches, you are destined to loose and it feels like you can do nothing about it. Also, getting up off the ground takes a while and the computer loves to beat on you while you lay helpless. It is very frustrating and incredibly annoying. Besides that, I really enjoyed my time with Soul Calibur II. The game is fun to play and with the many unlockables, it's a game that could stay in your console for a long time. It's the perfect mix of fun for beginners, but challenging for veterans.

Games Beaten in 2017 So Far - 111
* 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 (20 Games Beaten)


August (9 Games Beaten)


September (14 Games Beaten)


October (7 Games Beaten)


111. Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti - Famicom - October 31



Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti (Exhuminator's playthrough this month inspired me to spend a few hours with this last night since it was Halloween) is definitely the odd man out in the Splatterhouse series, and it's partly for that reason that I chose it as my game to play on Halloween. It's the second game that was made in the series, and unlike the others, was only released in Japan. Rather than the more serious, dark tone of the other games in the series, Wanpaku Graffiti uses rather cutesy super deformed characters and parodies tropes in the horror movie genre.



In terms of gameplay mechanics, the game plays as a fairly standard side scrolling beat 'em up like the rest of the early Splatterhouse games, and overall, it controls very well. My only real complaint with the controls is that the landings from jumps can feel a little slippery. The bigger problem with the jumps wasn't the controls, however, but the rather hit-or-miss fall points on the platforms; you can be right on the edge of the platforms and sometimes fall through. It's not a HUGE deal, but it can get a little annoying in the game's few platforming sections.



The visuals are quite nice for the Famicom with bright and colorful sprites. The music is well done, as well, though they take a backseat to the sprite artwork in my opinion. The game's strongest aspect is definitely its parody jokes, though; the first boss, for example, is a Michael Jackson inspired vampire, and one of the bosses in the middle of the game is an Alien reference. For fans of horror movies, there's a LOT to love here, and unlike some parody games, the references in Wanpaku Graffiti are clever and well implemented rather than sloppy and hastily thrown together. It makes for an entertaining game with solid presentation that's a blast to play. There's also some fantastic Engrish in the game.



Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is the kind of game that modern gaming is sorely lacking - clever, well planned parody. Personally, I found the game to be a bit tougher than the TurboGrafx-16 port of the first Splatterhouse game, but the (mostly) tight controls, bright visuals, and hilarious parodies make it absolutely worth playing. It's a criminally overlooked Famicom game that really deserves a worldwide Virtual Console release. It's gone up in value over the past couple years, but it's totally worth adding to a Famicom collection.

Previous games:

October:
100) Guerilla War (NES) (6.0) (10/1) (~1 hour)
101) Gun-Nac (NES) (7.5) (10/2) (~1.5 hours)
102) Mega Man 9 (PS4, via MMLC2) (9.5) (10/7) (~2.5 hours)
103) Star Wars (NES) (5.5) (10/7) (~1.5 hours)
104) Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana (PS4) (9.0) (10/25) (49h20m)
105) Super Mario Odyssey (NS) (10.0) (10/31) (10 hours?)

I really don't understand why no one here is talking about Super Mario Odyssey! It's an amazing hidden gem that deserves more discussion!

So I finished Super Mario Odyssey last night. I'm not sure I can top Elkin's ebullient review. The game is full of wonder, and is (almost) perfect. I have some small gripes that had me debating whether to give a 9.5 instead, but whatever. Most games would kill for either score.

Did you like Mario 64? Do you wish for a more perfect expression of that game, some 21 years later? This is the game for you. It manages to sand off the rough edges in pretty much every aspect; turns out that the passage of time can actually help games like this! It also manages to contain the better aspects of games like 3D World, or Galaxy, and even some homages to the original SMB. And despite all the ridiculousness the game throws at you, it never feels like a jumble, a mess of parts; it all feels tightly integrated into the whole.

The central conceit mirrors Mario 64. Find Power Moons (this game's version of Stars), and enough of them lets you move on to the next world. Simple, but effective. Each world serves as a sort of playground. Your intended path through the level is pretty obvious, but there's a lot more room to branch off to the corners to explore for more Power Moons than most levels in Galaxy or 3D World, for example. The game lets you proceed at your own pace for the most part, and while you can just do the minimum, poking around for shiny baubles is where the true experience lies.

The other part is Cappy. You can "capture" (i.e. possess) enemies and other objects. I thought this was a neat way to inject some variety to the proceedings, as you can do some things with the levels that Mario's default moveset won't let you accomplish. To be honest, in some ways it's a little Kirby-esque, and y'all know how much I love me some Kirby.

The game is a graphical powerhouse, despite being on an underpowered system. We're getting to the point where each successive jump in console generations brings less and less to the table; that's even more true for games like this, where the cartoonish look doesn't require immense power to make it work. I was also surprised by a lot of the soundtrack. I've never really enjoyed a lot of Mario's music; some tickle that nostalgia, but they're not tunes I'd listen to anywhere else. But I was actually humming along to a few of them, and I think my favorite was the Steam Gardens theme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFecEIv5TEw

(Didn't care much for the last vocal theme, though. I feel like I got dropped into a modern Sonic tune. Which might have been intentional? Apparently Pauline's voice actor also does VA for Tails. The more you know!)

Some small quibbles, of course. The controls aren't absolutely perfect; I feel like Mario is a touch too "sticky" when he starts moving. This is something that can be adjusted for. More disappointing is that these controls are also kept for the SMB homages. It just feels wrong to play SMB-style segments that don't have SMB physics. I mean, I get it, they're keeping the controls consistent, but the retro fiend in me wants it spot-on with the source.

The game also lacks challenge. Well, that's not entirely true. There were absolutely segments where I died a good amount. But no lives and lenient checkpointing alleviates any issues. Except for that retro segment in the last kingdom after the credits. Seriously, screw that bit. (I probably should have gone to bed. Yeah, I'll blame that.)

For stats, I have no idea how long it took me to see the credits roll, but I'm estimating ten hours or so. I ended up with 234 Power Moons, and I'm absolutely sure that I didn't poke around nearly as much as I could have in each stage; I knew I'd be revisiting everything post-game anyway. I'm not done with the game by a long shot.

Short version: If you have a Switch, you need this game. If you don't have a Switch, well, between this and Zelda, things should be getting close to a threshold to make it worth buying. Unless, of course, you don't care for 3D platformers or disliked Mario 64. This isn't going to change that, even with the extra spit shine.