Games Beaten 2018

[Markies]

Markies' Games Beat List Of 2018!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*

1. The Granstream Saga (PS1)
2. Perfect Dark (N64)
*3. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (PS1)*
4. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (XBOX)
5. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
*6. Pikmin (GCN)*
*7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (N64)*
8. Shining Force II (GEN)
*9. X-Men Vs. Street Fighter (PS1)*
*10. Mafia (XBOX)*
11. James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire (GCN)
12. ChuChu Rocket! (SDC)
*13. Super Metroid (SNES)*
14. Final Fantasy II (NES)
15. Devil May Cry (PS2)
16. Mega Man: The Wily Wars (GEN)



I completed Mega Man: The Wily Wars on the Sega Genesis this afternoon!

After my long and difficult journey of finding and beating all of the NES Mega Man games, it was finally time to take the next step. I had immensely enjoyed my experience and was ready to try another entry into the classic Mega Man series. But, first, I had to do a side detour into an unreleased Mega Man game that reached cartridge form in the PAL territories and Japan while only on the Sega Channel in NA. Thankfully, Mega Man: The Wily Wars was released in cartridge form via a game reproduction cart which made it easy to play on my Sega Genesis. After leaving and then gaining a new job, I treated myself by buying the game reproduction and I was finally able to play it.

This was the third time that I played through the first three Mega Man games. I had already done it on the NES games and then through the PS2 Anniversary collection. The difference here is that the Wily Wars revamps the games to give them new graphics, better sound and fixing any issues. With that in mind, the games look fantastic. They are all bright and cheerful with absolutely huge sprites all throughout the games. Mega Man 1 is the game with the most to gain and it shows. The colors pop and nothing looks as blocky as it did in the 8 bit form. The only new part of the game is the Wily Tower, which you unlock after beating the first three games. Wily Tower is a short and small Mega Man game that is very enjoyable. Besides being able to use any combination of weapons and items throughout the three games, you also fight new bosses and stages with enemies throughout the games as well. It is well worth the price of admission of play Wily Tower.

Unfortunately, new problems arise that were never there in the NES games. The game has so much slow down that it makes some bosses like the Yellow Devil a complete joke. Also, the invincibility frames for the bosses are 4 or 5 times longer than the NES games, which makes some of those fights so much harder. In fact, my favorite game in the series, Mega Man 2 was an absolute pain and a chore to play.

Overall, I would say the Anniversary Collection is probably the better collection. Those are straight ports of the roms and they run so much smoother. However, if you are a hardcore classic Mega Man fan, Wily Tower is worth playing through for a brief and enjoyable ride. Problems hold it back, but it's still Mega Man and it is still great!

[Exhuminator]

You need to be playing on Nightmare. The ship takes you to a different ending section because of the story of Nightmare.

Thanks! That's exactly what I needed to know.

[MrPopo]

1. Ultima V - PC
2. Ultima VI - PC
3. Might and Magic VI - PC
4. Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny - PC
5. Pool of Radiance - PC
6. Curse of the Azure Bonds - PC
7. Secret of the Silver Blades - PC
8. Pools of Darkness - PC
9. Gateway to the Savage Frontier - PC
10. Treasures of the Savage Frontier - PC
11. Champions of Krynn - PC
12. Death Knights of Krynn - PC
13. Dark Queen of Krynn - PC
14. Into the Breach - PC
15. Lords of the Realm - PC
16. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands - PC
17. Lords of the Realm II - PC
18. The Alliance Alive - 3DS
19. Shattered Steel - PC
20. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition - PC
21. Battletech - PC
22. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part I - PC
23. Pillars of Eternity: The White March Part II - PC
24. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch
25. Pillars of Eternity II - PC

Pillars II is the follow up to the first game, in the same Infinity Engine style. It continues the story of the Watcher, as that giant statue beneath your castle suddenly comes to life, steals your soul, and stomps off to the Deadfire Archipelago. You get sent back to figure out what the statue is doing. This gives a story reason for why you're knocked back down to level 1 (though not for your returning companions). It also means they get to shake up the exploration in a way that I think ends up being for the better.

Mechanically, Pillars II is a refinement of the first game. All classes now have a unique resource, not just the casters. This resource is now per encounter, so your Vancian casters get three level 1 casts per fight, rather than per day, making them more useful. The melee classes now use their resource to power their previous per-encounter abilities, at various rates. This ends up giving you both more versatility as well as allowing you to still have exciting fights, which was always the downfall of the old Infinity Engine games. Pillars 1 was an attempt at jazzing it up, and it goes all the way with this installment. There is also a mechanism where you can restore half your resource or massively power up a single attack. The catch is this resource is limited to per rest and can only be used once per character per fight. A little extra oomph for when you need it. Similarly, the health system has also been made better. They've maintained the intent of you wanting to keep your characters up by maintaining the injury system, where characters get a major stat debilitation when they fall, but now instead of a slowly lowering pool of total health (which makes healing feel bad) if you rack up too many injuries you die. Also, traps now guarantee an injury, so there is still consequence to fights and exploration without being too arcane.

The other major change is that instead of the BG style of moving from blob to blob on the map to view some stretch of wilderness with one or more encounters, now you have a world map you sail around, and then engage in focused fights. So if you land on an island with a bounty fight there will be a small combat map there, but otherwise it's mostly overworld travel. You can encounter other ships and engage in a ship duel minigame (though it's not very balanced and it's much easier to just rush to boarding range). There are a variety of encounters available such a shipwrecks, island natives, and storms. The whole thing has a very Age of Sail feel, with a native population that is dealing with encroachments of two government backed merchant companies as well as a pirate band. And you can throw in with one of them by the end.

In terms of pacing the game takes place over a shorter period of time than Pillars 1, so the divisions between the three acts are much fuzzier. There is only a bare handful of quests locked behind the act barriers, and they are all related to the main story itself. So you can get yourself to level 17 (of 20) while still in act 1 before doing the story mission by doing all the other available sidequests. If you do this (like I did) then the story ends up coming in a rush. But I think that's not such a bad thing in this case, as once it starts rolling there is more of an implied time pressure (though there isn't an actual one), so it feels better to have gotten all the faffing about over with ahead of time.

The story also has me looking forward to seeing what Pillars 3 will have. But there's some upcoming DLC through the rest of the year happening first, and that will be set before the end game (just like Pillars 1), so it won't be building on the end game stuff.

[dsheinem]

Games Beaten 2018

Darkwing Duck - NES (PS4)
DuckTales - NES (PS4)
DuckTales 2 - NES (PS4)
Talespin - NES (PS4)
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers - NES (PS4)
Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - NES (PS4)
Scarecrow - PS1 (Vita)
The Heart of Dark - PS1 (Vita)
Justice - PS1 (Vita)
Caligo - PC
Tomb Raider (2013) - X1
Nephise Begins - PC
Diablo III: The Darkening of Tristam - PC
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - X1
Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest - SNES
Forza Horizon 3 - X1/ PC
Elbub - PC
Tekken 4 -PS2
Injustice 2 -PS4
Apollo 11 VR - PSVR
Star Wars Battlefront II -PS4
Unearthing Mars - PSVR
Jenny of the Prairie - C64
Part Time UFO - - iOS
Marvel vs Capcom Infinite - PS4
War of the Monsters -PS2
Far Cry 5 - PS4
Uncharted: Lost Legacy - PS4
Soul Calibur 2 - GCN
God of War (2018) - PS4 *new*
Orcs and Elves - NDS
Tekken 7 - PS4
House of the Dead 4 Special - PS3 *new*
S.A.R. (Search and Rescue) - PS3 *new*
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR - PSVR *new*

Total: 35

Previously: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

HOTD4 Special is a port of a specific arcade version of HOTD4 that is a little different than the main game. In the arcade it featured a kind of surround-screen theater experience that sounds fascinating...the home version just feels like a shorter/easier version of the main game. *shrug*

S.A.R. is one of those SNK games I never got around to, despite loving the Ikari series. This one shares a lot of that DNA, and is a blast to move through in the PS3 port. It would have been cool if they could have implemented twin stick functionality into this (the arcade cab worked with a dual joystick setup), but it is still one of the developer's more interesting pre-NeoGeo titles and a great port.

There's so much I can say about Skyrim VR...

I never would have guessed I would pour so many hours into a new run through of Skyrim on any platform (I first beat it about five years ago but did a lot more stuff in my run to the final boss this time), let alone one that is as immersive (and sometimes difficult to play for long stretches) as the PSVR. This is probably both the most visually impressive and also the least visually impressive version of the game. The textures, draw distances, and general clarity struck me as very similar to the worst-in-class PS3 version of the game (though the VR port is still better in some ways and worse in others compared that port), but the full range of movement provided by the headset, the consistent framerate, and the artistic beauty of the game itself as a carefully designed world...those things all really stands out in this version. You "feel" like you are in Skyrim in a way I have never experienced in any previous RPG, and when everything is clicking and the immersion takes over, there's really no other game quite like it.

I still plan to play the DLC content (which is bundled on the disc with this release) as I never did get around to any of that back when it was released (despite downloading it on the PC ).

[Sarge]

Beat Jajamaru Gekimaden. Pretty short, simple, but ultimately fun Zelda clone.

[ConsoleHandheldGamer]

1. Picross e8
2. Mario Kart 7

3. Etrian Odyssey Untold

This is only the second Etrian Odyssey game I've played through and beat (the other is Etrian Odyssey IV). I played through story mode and plan on doing as much of the 6th stratum and postgame as I possibly can, and maybe one day do classic on new game plus. I really enjoyed it.

[Ack]

1. Jungle Book (SNES)(Platformer)
2. Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (SNES)(Light Gun Shooter)
3. Might and Magic VI (PC)(RPG)
4. Revenant (PC)(RPG)
5. Neo Turf Masters (NGPC)(Sports)
6. Fatal Fury: First Contact (NGPC)(Fighter)
7. Pac-Man (NGPC)(Action)
8. Golden Axe (Genesis)(Hack and Slash)
9. Blood and Bacon (PC)(FPS)
10. Gain Ground (Genesis)(Strategy)
11. Flicky (Genesis)(Platformer)
12. Zombie Shooter 2 (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
13. Phantasmagoria (PC)(Point and Click)
14. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighter's Clash - Capcom Version (NGPC)(Card Game)
15. Toonstruck (PC)(Point and Click)
16. Riven (PC)(Point and Click)
17. Dragon Wars (PC)(RPG)
18. Dungeon Hack (PC)(RPG)
19. SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium (NGPC)(Fighter)
20. Portal 2 (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
21. Goat Simulator: Waste of Space (PC)(Action)
22. Goat Simulator: Payday (PC)(Action)
23. Goat Simulator: MMO Simulator (PC)(Action)

Apologies for suddenly posting a bunch of stuff, but I've been playing what I think of as "comfort food" games, which means stuff that's relatively easy to hop into or stuff with friends. I'll tackle this in pieces:

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium

When discussing fighters for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, I find this is generally held up as the superior title on a handheld that had a lot of good 2D fighting games. It offers fluid control, attractive sprites that are easy to see, a bevy of content and unlockable characters, a variety of gameplay options for how you want to approach the game, and a great fusion of SNK and Capcom's gameplay styles. I tend to favor jumping in for quick combos that end in Hadoukens or Shoryukens personally, but that's just from having played way more Street Fighter as a kid.

I'm putting this one down once, but the truth is, I've actually beaten it many times this year, and I keep going back; I'm nowhere near done. Beating the arcade mode will slowly unlock characters, but I think I'm not even halfway done with getting everyone. I'd have plenty to do just trying to get them all, but that's not all, either. Every character has a hidden super that must be unlocked by playing in an Olympics mode, which is basically a collection of mini games done for points. By now, I've gotten gold in several categories, but I doubt I have even a third of all the supers unlocked, which means I have a lot of playing left to do.

It amazes me just how much time was put into these NGPC titles, and just how much they expect the player to put in, while still being respectful of time. Content is doled out in small chunks, which is great for a portable. I have a lot left to do before I consider this one done.

Portal 2

I finally played through Portal 2 after a discussion with Fastbilly about how I had never gotten around to it. He ran me through co-op and then told me to make it through single player. Now all I have left to do is wrap up some remaining co-op achievements, and this will be yet another Valve game I've completely knocked out.

Portal 2 picks up on the ideas and the plot of the first Portal and then runs with it...not always successfully in my opinion, but in ways that are certainly every bit as humorous as the first. Things start out well enough, but eventually you're wandering around the abandoned sections of Aperture Labs, and the amount of stuff you're suddenly having to contend with just feels so overly complex that it often took me out of the game in the final areas. Having to figure out which speed and bouncy gels to use in tandem with gravitational fields, light bridges, and my portals, while also trying to do a few side things (my own fault, and I shouldn't blame the game, but I did want to knock out all of the single player achievements) just felt like there was a ton going on.

I'm glad I played through the co-op first, as it put me in the proper mindset. There's also a heavy emphasis on co-op too, and that's what kept me away from Portal 2 for a long time. I'm glad I've gone and done it, but I don't think I quite like it as much as the first...except for the mantis men.

Goat Simulator

Look, there are a bunch of DLCs for this, as well as the base game. I'm not actually done with the base game yet, and I've got one DLC to wrap up. I'm putting down the ones I have done though because each one serves as its own game, with its own modes, rules, additions to the basic gameplay, etc.

Goat Simulator is something I can easily go in and waste time in. It's a sandbox, and quite often I can go do something stupid and fun that takes my mind off whatever troubles me. As I said, I wanted comfort food, and these fit the bill. The sense of humor and parody that prevails in them also hit me right where I needed it. Here's a quick breakdown:

MMO Simulator is a perfect recreation of the MMO experience, from inane chatter in the global chat to laggy characters to really dumb quests. I particularly like that the game will randomly have someone message you directly about joining a guild. Meanwhile, I can lick something and shove it in my inventory just for the hell of it. Payday is a parody of the Payday series, complete with sound effects, masks, a crew which includes a dolphin in a wheelchair, and the ability to perform jobs, which the game calls "pranks." Also, you can shove cats in a blender to make cat sausage. Waste of Space is a sci-fi setting with references to everything from Alien to Star Wars and made me really want to go play Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel again. Each offered a variety of stuff to do, a big world to explore, and then a few quirks: MMO Simulator has quests, Payday has a Rocket League arena and a heist to pull off, and Waste of Space has a flight simulator where you can blow up asteroids, pirates, civilian barges, and the cops. There's also a pseudo-dating game in one place. It gets weird.

As I said, I'm not yet done with the Goat Simulator stuff. I haven't knocked out the base game, for one thing (damn you, Flappy Goat), and I'm working to wrap up the remaining DLC, GoatZ, which is a parody of DayZ that adds in survival mechanics such as needing to eat food as well as fire-spewing undead elephants with bumper cars strapped to their backs. Yes, that is a thing. I'm having a good time. It's stupid, but I'm having fun.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Partridge Senpai's 2018 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017
* indicates a repeat

1-20

1. Tyranny (PC)
2. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)
3. SUPERHOT (PC)
4. Hotline Miami (PC)*
5. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (PC)
6. Mario X Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Switch)
7. Nine Parchments (Switch)
8. X-com: UFO Defense (PC)
9. Chocobo Racing (PS1)
10. Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak (GBA)
11. Dragon Quest Builders (PS4)
12. Dragon Quest (3DS)
13. Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS4)
14. Dragon Quest II (3DS)
15. Kirby Star Allies (Switch)
16. Hearthstone Dungeon Run (PC)
17. My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3DS)
18. Tales of Legendia (PS2)
19. Retro City Rampage (3DS)
20. Hearthstone Monster Hunt (PC)

21. Deadbolt (Steam)
22. Legend of Grimrock 2 (Steam)
23. The Witness (PS4)
24. Uurnog (PC)
25. Fire Emblem Warriors (Switch)

26. Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

I'd been waiting years for my brother and I to finish Hyrule Warriors, assuming we'd finish it together, but given that he'll be buying the DX version of the game on Switch soon, I asked if it was okay if I finished it myself and he of course said yes . So I spent the last four or so days doing the last six missions in the main story, the Cia's Tales DLC levels, and unlocking the extra weapons and characters locked behind the main Adventure Mode. I was worried after giving my review of Fire Emblem Warriors that perhaps I was looking back on Hyrule Warriors with rose-tinted glasses, but I am so glad that I was wrong with that worry. Hyrule Warriors is still one of the best Musou games Omega Force has ever put out, and I've had so much fun over the past 20 or so hours of playing it re-confirming it that to myself.

There are only some 15 characters in the main game, not counting the 15 or so more through the DLC, but with the extra weapons characters can get, those weapons are effectively extra characters themselves, in a way (at least given how many characters only have one weapon while characters like Link have like seven). But with so many characters they feel SO different! Only two buttons, a heavy attack and a light attack, and usually similar chains of both, but the ways that each character and weapon have a different cadence to how their attacks flow, how some have attacks carry them forward with momentum, charge up a power bar, or even overheat their abilities, make every character and weapon feel special. I'd look at a character and be like, "Oh I don't really remember this character" or "I don't remember liking this character" and I'd discover eventually "WOAH this character plays SO crazy! I love it!"

So many of the final levels on hard mode were giving me SUCH Dynasty Warriors 3 vibes, and in the best way. Big open levels connected through different corridors, but with different objectives and items of importance on each of them that each level is a giant exercise in strategy on how best to complete it. Particularly in the Adventure Mode, trying to get those A-ranks, trying for the most efficient path through a level to get those time-stamps or get to those heart containers or skulltulas in time is just SO much fun. Levels in Hyrule Warriors aren't obvious paths that feel like work to just reach the end of, they feel like an exercise in defeating an enemy force, crafty in its own ways and keeping precious loot from you!

Verdict: Highly recommended. This is far and away my favorite Musou game. The co-op between the two screens is ingenious, the level design is great, and the each character is special, awesome fun to play in their own way. The fan-service is excellently done, and the voiced asides between levels detailing the military strategy taken by characters from Legend of Zelda never cease to be funny X3 . The DX version on Switch has all the extra Adventure Mode maps and more than doubles the character roster, so even though it doesn't have the nice co-op mode the Wii U version has, I'd still recommend all that in one easy place over the Wii U version despite the Wii U version's cheap base price combined with the DLC being very similarly priced.

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
5. Devil World (Famicom)
6. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
7. Popeye (NES)
8. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
9. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
10 Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (Famicom)
11. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
12. Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD)
13. Otenba Becky no Daibouken (MSX)
14. Metroid (Famicom Disk System)
15. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (Game Boy)
16. Wabbit (Atari 2600)
17. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
18. Warpman (Famicom)
19. Final Fantasy (NES)
20. Transformers: Convoy no Nazo (Famicom)
21. Arcade Archives: Moon Patrol (Switch eShop)
22. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
23. Arcade Archives: Ninja-Kid (Switch eShop)

You know one thing I love about retro gaming? How convoluted and confusing every series manages to be.

Sure, you have your obvious examples like Wonder Boy, but even a seemingly "straightforward" series like Mario manages to take the occasional trip into the bizarro world, what with its two Super Mario Bros. 2 installments and glorious out-of-order remakes that sport titles like Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. Another fine example: the Ninja-kun games, by unheralded developer UPL. Things began innocently enough, with the initial 1984 Ninja-kun (or, Ninja-Kid) arcade game, starring an adorable hero clad in a red shinobi shozoku, which was followed by a sequel a few years later. Jaleco, who ported the first game to the Famicom, thought it would be a fine idea to make their own ninja games - essentially with the same protagonist - released under the Ninja Jajamaru-kun banner. Thus began the overlapping UPL/Jaleco Ninja-kun/Ninja Jajamaru-kun crossover series, spanning many years and consoles. A couple of these games actually made their way to North America via the Game Boy back in the day, not that you would know it as their titles were changed to Ninja Taro and Maru's Mission (the latter had its box art modified, transforming the iconic ninja into some "hip" 90s doofus). Oh, and the North American NES Ninja Kid (no hyphen) has nothing to do with any of this. That's actually a localized version of a Gegege no Kitaro Famicom game. Likewise, Taito's The Ninja Kids and even Micro Cabin's Ninja-kun are unrelated -- the nomenclature is just eerily similar.

Anyhow, the original Ninja-Kid arcade game has recently resurfaced, officially emulated on the Nintendo Switch as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series. The game's a scrolling platformer -- a vertically scrolling platformer, to be specific, with about three stacked "screens" per stage. The goal here is simple: advance to the next stage by destroying every enemy with the ninja's shuriken weapon. There's a wide variety of enemies, with difficulty gradually increasing as the game progresses. The ninja's shurikens can actually cancel out enemy projectiles, somewhat surprisingly, though this is ineffective against some of the rapid-fire foes found in later stages. There are also some wily monsters who are impervious to damage until stomped on.

There are only three distinct stages total: a couple of mountain scenes followed by a temple. That said, the game must be looped several times to see all enemy combinations. The stage counter technically will roll over after 99, though I wouldn't recommend any sane person play for that long. Ninja-Kid is not an "easy" game per se. Monsters become absolutely ruthless around the fourth loop or so, and the game was certainly designed with quarter-munching in mind. That said, this is a shockingly forgiving game. Continues are available (with the option to credit-freed) and dead fiends stay dead -- even following a Game Over and continue! In addition to being a looper, Ninja-Kid is also a chaser. A high score chaser: enemies drop scrolls that add to the point tally, and the acquisition of "strange balls" will eventually unlock bonus stages, most of which are terrible/impossible. Graphics and music are both serviceable, though not especially striking. There are some cutesy animations, especially when the ninja takes damage. Poor lil guy.

On paper, this one looks like a pleasant little arcade romp. There is one thing that's gonna break the game for most, however: the jumping controls. Here's how these "work." The ninja kid of Ninja-Kid can leap up "through" platforms and subsequently land on them, and he can also drop down through platforms as well (think of Contra and similar titles). Actually doing these things is rather nonintuitive. A single press of the jump button causes the ninja to drop straight down. He can't make a straight-up vertical jump at all. To leap horizontally, the jump button must be pressed in tandem with the d-pad. There's a pressure sensitivity component as well, as holding down the buttons for an extra deliberate moment will cause the ninja to reach an ascending platform, in contrast to a quick press/release of the buttons which executes a baby jump useful for stomping enemies. Literally speaking, there isn't really a "jump button" at all -- there's a fall button that possesses a secondary use for jumping. It's a bizarre control scheme, one that screws with muscle memory and will likely lead to a hundred ninja deaths per playthrough.

All said, this is a nice enough little historical oddity. Despite the jank controls, it's fun enough to play in small spurts. UPL had something here, and the core gameplay formula was vastly improved upon in the game's numerous sequels. In any event, seeing this officially emulated on the Switch is a good sign, and hopefully a flood of equally obscure (but even better) arcade games will follow.

[ElkinFencer10]

Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 56
* denotes a replay

January (16 Games Beaten)

1. Phantasy Star Portable - PlayStation Portable - January 1
2. Middle-Earth: Shadow of War - Xbox One - January 9
3. Duck Tales - NES - January 10
4. Yakuza Kiwami - PlayStation 4 - January 14
5. Xuan-Yuan Sword: The Gate of Firmament - PlayStation 4 - January 20
6. Doki Doki Literature Club - Steam - January 20
7. Deep Space Waifu - Steam - January 21
8. Turok: Dinosaur Hunter - Steam - January 21
9. Duck Tales 2 - NES - January 22
10. TaleSpin - NES - January 22
11. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - NES - January 23
12. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers 2 - NES - January 24
13. Global Defence Force - PlayStation 2 - January 24
14. Darkwing Duck - NES - January 25
15. Tiny Toon Adventures - NES - January 26
16. Poi - Steam - January 28

February (18 Games Beaten)

17. Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD - Steam - February 3
18. Final Fantasy Legend - Game Boy - February 5
19. Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni - Vita - February 5
20. Super Little Acorns 3D Turbo - 3DS - February 8
21. Adventures in Equica: Unicorn Training - Android - February 8
22. Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest - SNES - February 10
23. X-COM: UFO Defense - Steam - February 14
24. Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys -TurboGrafx-CD - February 18
25. Army Men - Game Boy Color - February 19
26. Army Men 2 - Game Boy Color - February 19
27. Army Men: Air Combat - Game Boy Color - February 20
28. Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd - PlayStation Portable - February 22
29. Army Men: Sarge's Heroes 2 - Game Boy Color - February 22
30. Army Men Advance - Game Boy Advance - February 24
31. Dynasty Warriors Gundam Reborn - PlayStation 3 - February 25
32. Army Men: Operation Green - Game Boy Advance - February 26
33. A Night Out - PC - February 27
34. Army Men: Turf Wars - Game Boy Advance - February 27

March (10 Games Beaten)

35. Phantasy Star - Master System - March 10*
36. Grand Kingdom - PlayStation 4 - March 17
37. Bit.Trip Beat - Wii - March 18
38. Bit.Trip Core - Wii - March 18
39. Bit.Trip Void - Wii - March 18
40. Bit.Trip Runner - Wii - March 22
41. Bit.Trip Fate - Wii - March 22
42. Bit.Trip Flux - Wii - March 24
43. Bit.Trip Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - Wii U - March 25
44. My Nintendo Picross: Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess - 3DS - March 28

April (7 Games Beaten)

45. Gundam Breaker 3 - PlayStation 4 - April 4
46. Night Trap - PlayStation 4 - April 5
47. Corpse Killer - Sega CD 32X - April 9
48. Corpse Killer - Saturn - April 11*
49. Area 51 - Saturn - April 16*
50. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - Sega CD - April 17
51. SD Gundam G Generation Genesis - PlayStation 4 - April 28*

May (5 Games Beaten)

52. Detention - PlayStation 4 - May
53. Guacamelee - Wii U - May 6
54. EDGE - Wii U - May 7
55. RUSH - Wii U - May 9
56. Pokemon Snap - Nintendo 64 - May 27

56. Pokemon Snap - Nintendo 64 - May 27



Pokemon Snap was my entire childhood. It's far from your typical Pokemon game - rather than battling and catching Pokemon like usual, you take pictures of the Pokemon - but it just WORKS. Way more so than one would probably expect. At the time, I remember eating up anything involving 3D Pokemon. It definitely shows its age, but even after 20 years, it definitely holds up.



Being a Nintendo 64 game, the visuals aren't very impressive these days. It does, after all, run in a resolution of 240p. Despite that, though, it looks fantastic when played on a TV designed for low definition signals. Something that doesn't get nearly enough credit is the music in the game. The soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. The fantastic music and the addicting gameplay more than makes up for the fact that Professor Oak is a jerk whose picture ratings are half legitimate and half arbitrary BS.



Pokemon Snap has you go through seven levels and take pictures of 63 featured Pokemon. Granted, that's only around a third of the original 151, but there are still some awesome Pokemon to take pictures of. The various locations in the game have a great variety from an idyllic beachfront to the edge of a smoldering volcano to a cavern deep underground.



The game isn't particularly long - maybe 10 or 12 hours if you're going for completion and high marks on every picture - but it's so worth it. With how readily available it is on Wii U, everyone should be playing Pokemon Snap. Unless you don't have a Wii U. In which case you don't deserve the glory of Pokemon Snap. But seriously though, the game isn't perfect, and I wish there were more Pokemon in it, but it's a TON of fun and absolutely worth playing.