Games Beaten 2018

[pook99]

I challenge the entire racketboy community to find a worse 16 bit beat em up.

Challenge accepted!

Bebe’s Kids

.....

I am really happy to see so many new members posting reviews in here! Welcome to the forums, and thank you for joining the conversation. You are posting a lot of great stuff, and I hope you’ll stick around a bit.

I laughed out loud when I clicked the spoiler, I never actually played bebes kids but it looks absolutely horrific, I think I will give Bebe's kids a shot to see if it is as bad as people say and if it can match the turdfest that was iron commando

1) Legendary Axe II (TG16) (6.0) (1/1) (2.5 hours)
2) The Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES) (7.5) (1/3) (1.5 hours)
3) Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose! (SNES) (6.5) (1/3) (2.5 hours)
4) The Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES) (7.0) (1/4) (2.5 hours)
5) The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minney (7.5) (1/6) (1.5 hours)
6) Phantom 2040 (SNES) (7.0) (1/9) (9 hours?)
7) Batman: Return of the Joker (NES) (8.0) (1/10) (0.5 hours)

I did another run through Batman: Return of the Joker.

This game can be tough, but it's also alleviated significantly through very short stage segments and unlimited continues. You can even grab a password for each stage.

That being said, there were some problem spots that I ran into; I tend to forget some things between runs. The blimp stage is easiest if you just crowd the right edge, so that's actually not the worst of it. The sewer stage has some troll enemies that will knock you into the drink. The ice stage has those tornado enemies that will usually catch you unawares, not to mention those missiles that drop with virtually no warning. That cave level has a moving platform with an enemy that will toss a knife and send you plunging to your doom if you don't know it's coming. And the elevator stage in the last area leading up to Joker can take a few tries. I probably continued five times through my run. Much of that was rushing and pure carelessness on my part; familiarity breeds contempt and all that.

Graphically and aurally, the game is an absolute tour de force. It sports massive, almost 16-bit style sprites, some great spritework overall, and some kickin' Sunsoft tunes. Gotta love that bass! While I don't feel the game is quite as good as the first NES Batman, it's less of an investment to burn through it, given the leniency with continues and checkpoints and whatnot. I still very much recommend it, even if it's just to see what peak Sunsoft could still do. Seeing them lose their way in the 16-bit era was one of the more depressing things to behold.

I just played batman return of the joker for the first time last year, I was always under the impression that the game was terrible(not sure where I got that impression TBH) but the game really blew me away. Incredible graphics and really fun gameplay, I thought the challenge was just right, and really enjoyed the way boss battles were handled. I feel like this game is a hidden gem that never seems to find its way onto the thousands of hidden gem videos on youtube.

[Xeogred]

1. Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Genesis)
2. Darkwing Duck (NES)
3. Batman* (NES)
4. Journey to Silius (NES)
5. Aladdin* (SNES)
6. Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse* (SNES)
7. Run Saber (SNES)
8. Batman: Return of the Joker (NES)
9. Ninja Warriors (SNES)

* = replay



Heard a lot about Ninja Warriors last year because of the soundtrack on various VGM podcasts. Amazing Taito at work here. dunpeal2064 reminded me in another thread I wanted to hit this one up and I'm glad I did, mostly (we will get to that in a second). I'm always kind of skeptical of beat em' ups that don't have Z-axis movement, I guess it's Z-axis? You only move left or right in this despite a lot of games in the genre allowing you to move up and down too. So that's different, but once I got used to it I didn't mind. I liked the Kunoichi the most for her speed and agility. It was easy to figure out a few tricks, like using the special attack to get some i-frames and dodge a hit, or get the robots in a corner to continually throw them as they can do nothing, and she could duck and tear a lot of enemies up. It got trickier as the game went though with the mix of tougher enemies. The jumping claw guys (straight out of Streets of Rage) were the most annoying, or the fire breathers that always had a little spacing on you. Lots of dangerous combinations later on.

But that final boss... FUCK THAT. What a pile of shit. Most frustrating gaming rage of 2018 so far for me. I was having a blast with this game, but this final boss was so damn stupidly annoying and gimmicky I don't know if I want to touch this game again! Sheesh! You have to somehow throw enemies at him in the background sitting behind some glass shield, when there's an assortment of three enemies on the screen constantly ganging up on you along with these laser beams that keep shooting down along the arena. Resorted to save states to get this over with so I could sleep tonight. Always heard the game was hard, but I thought it was totally fair and doable until this part. I still highly recommend checking this out if you like the genre or the looks of it, but be warned for that final boss.

[Sarge]

I wish I had found and bought a copy of Ninja Warriors, it's such a cool game overall. Younger me was all about those RPGs; I ignored a lot of the "lower tier" stuff that was easy to blow through. Now, I appreciate it a lot more. Funny how tastes change like that sometimes.

(Not that I don't enjoy long, epic RPGs, but I pace myself now!)

[Segata]

Beat the game earlier myself. Won't say much as it's said above. What a great game. Also, don't pick anyone but the female Ninja. I didn't have to save states to rely on as I played it on my SNES. Claw guys are much easier to kill when you crouch.

[nullPointer]

9. Ninja Warriors (SNES)

Great review Xeogred! This is a game that's been in my backlog forever. Your thoughts here are a great reminder that I need to fix that.

The List So Far:
1. To the Moon [PC/Steam]
2. Super Mario All-Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 [SNES]
3. The Goonies [Famicom] [Together Retro - 01/2018]

4. Disney's Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist [GBA] [Together Retro - 01/2018]


Kim Possible was fun little TV series; a 'girl-power' action-comedy cartoon romp that I suspect was Disney's answer to The Powerpuff Girls. While Kim Possible was niether as groundbreaking nor as 'edgy' as the Powerpuff Girls, it was a jovial Disney spin on James Bond style super-spy hijinks(okay, James Bond Jr.), and the tween/teen comedy of something like Clueless (okay, Saved By The Bell). Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist is the first Kim Possible action platformer appearing on Gameboy Advance, a series that would continue on in two subsequent GBA tiles (as well as a couple of DS titles and a PS2 entry). All told it's a bit middling and vanilla, but it's fine for what it is. The shows bright palette and distinctive look makes a good conversion to handheld graphics, and while there's not a lot here to blow you away, it looks nice enough. Each level is introduced through its own title card which is a clever concession to the episodic nature of the show. After each boss fight you'll see a short fully animated segment which I assume to have been converted directly from the show itself. The A/V down sampling to GBA format makes these segments look/sound about as good as one might expect (i.e. not so hot). The music is bouncy and energetic as one might expect, though not memorable. I basically just finished playing and I can't call any specific tune to mind.



The game play is a mixed bag. It's a combination of simple platforming segments and 2D side scrolling beat 'em up. The combat reminds me a bit of The Adventures of Batman and Robin on the SNES. You have a canned 'combo' executed by simply mashing the attack button, and you have a requisite jump kick attack. Further solidifying this comparison is that you'll utilize a variety of gadgets attained through pickups which will assist your progress through levels (and which are occasionally required to do so). The other comparison I feel compelled to make is to the Genesis version of Strider, though perhaps not favorably. Just like Strider, KP: Revenge of Monkey Fist follows a pattern of using excessive frames of animation in your movement to 'make you look cool'. And it does look cool, but the trouble is that this doesn't necessarily lend itself to great feeling gameplay. This can occasionally make inputs seem slightly unresponsive, and in the case of KP: Revenge of Monkey Fist it leads to one specific issue. Certain areas of the game require you to do an extended hand spring jump to add extra height/distance to your jump. The trouble is that the animation involoved here requires that you start running, then do a cart wheel into a double hand spring the end of which causes you to spring into a much higher jump than normal. The problem here isn't that it's difficult to execute, it's not. The problem is that the on-screen distance required to allow for all those frames of animation means that you pretty much need a full screen between the begin and end of the maneuver, and often this means that you can't even see your intended landing zone. It's a questionable design choice, and although it's not a frequent issue it's compounded by the fact that this move is the only way you can hit the final boss.



Hopefully I haven't sounded too harsh regarding KP: Revenge of Monkey Fist. There are certainly moments of fun to be had here. It's nothing you haven't seen before in other platformers of this kind, and arguably it's all been done better and more cleanly, but ultimately Revenge of Monkey Fist is not a bad game. It's a solidly mediocre game trending towards good.

If you have fond memories of Kim Possible or if you have an insatiable appetite for platformers (and have already played the landmark titles), the chances are good that you can find something to enjoy in Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist. For most of us I think that means it's a game that can safely be skipped. And that's the sitch.

[REPO Man]

Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue for PC. It's a free Metroidvania released (briefly) in Japan (there's a fan translation that translates the story) to promote the 3DS remake of SMT: Strange Journey.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1. Bastion (iOS)
2. LaserCat (360)
3. Zombie Incident (3DS)

I was reorganizing my 3DS eShop games and decided to play around with Zombie Incident a bit. It is a hop ‘n bop exploratory platformer inspired by MSX games (i.e., bright, decidedly 8-bit graphics, chip tunes, and no scrolling). I paid $2 for it, and since I beat it in one sitting (and on my second attempt) that’s about what it’s worth. It was pretty fun while it lasted, but it is incredibly simple. Your character can only move left, move right, and jump. (There is a wall jump, but it feels a little glitchy...just like old MSX games!) Also, there are only five enemy types, excluding palette-swaps, and the only difference between them is that some of them move up-and-down, as opposed to left-and-right. Finally, the only difference between stronger enemies and weaker ones is how many times you have to stomp on them to defeat them. As a result, the games gets more annoying as you proceed. Thankfully, it is so short that it never wears out its welcome, and exploring the map is compelling until the end. Accordingly, if you already own it and are looking for a distraction, it is worth a play through. I probably wouldn’t recommend picking it up, however.

[BoneSnapDeez]

My man. I dig that game too, but have yet to sink my teeth into it. Had no idea it was so short, that's great news!

[Markies]

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

1. The Granstream Saga (PS1)
2. Perfect Dark (N64)



I beat Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64 this afternoon!

Like most people my own age, Goldeneye 007 on the N64 was an important part of my life. I would go to friend's houses and play that game and even played it against people in my college dorm. After the success of Goldeneye, I kind of fell off when it came to video games. Eventually, I came back home and I began looking into Goldeneye. I eventually picked up its successor, The World Is Not Enough, but it was not developed by Rare. So, I saw that Rare made Perfect Dark after Goldeneye and I had to track the game down for myself. Eventually, I secured a copy several years ago and have been playing it every now and then ever since.

The great aspect about Perfect Dark is that it plays exactly like Goldeneye. The controls are a bit tighter and your gun has a better chance of hitting the enemy which makes the game run so much more smoothly. The experience of going through each level is not as memorable as the previous game, but it's more polished and much easier to do. I really like the character of Joanna Dark as she has some spunk to her, sounds great and changes costumes compared to the situation. She is feisty yet incredibly suave. The weapons are great and incredibly varied. Some of the weapons even have different modes of fire, so each one feels very unique and very fun to handle. The gadgets are there, but sometimes they just get in the way and slow the game down some.

However, the game REALLY slows down during certain action sequences. You get more than 5 enemies shooting machine guns at you and you are suddenly in bullet time. Besides that, it still has the Rare trademark glitches and problems. I'd do a mission perfectly and it wouldn't finish. Do it exactly the same again and it would end. However, the worst part is probably the story in the game. The first half is very spy oriented and very interesting. The second half involves an alien named Elvis and other aliens that are similar to the ones from the Halo franchise. It lost me there and I wondered what it had to do with the original part of the game.

Overall, the nitpicks don't stop Perfect Dark from being an excellent game. If you are Goldeneye fan, then Perfect Dark is a must play and sits high above its contemporaries as a great N64 game. Nostalgia has Goldeneye being the favorite game, but I can see where Perfect Dark might be the better game in terms of actual gameplay.

[nullPointer]

I beat Perfect Dark on the Nintendo 64 this afternoon!

Great review Markies! This is another one that always seems to be just out of reach in my backlog. Does anyone know how the remastered version on the Xbox 360 fairs? Does it compare favorably to and/or exceed the quality of the original?

The List So Far:
1. To the Moon [PC/Steam]
2. Super Mario All-Stars: Super Mario Bros. 3 [SNES]
3. The Goonies [Famicom] [Together Retro - 01/2018]
4. Disney's Kim Possible: Revenge of Monkey Fist [GBA] [Together Retro - 01/2018]

5. The Addams Family [SNES] [Together Retro - 01/2018]


The Addams Family was one of the earliest 'modern reboot' films that I can recall in my memory, so much so that the movie even predates the term 'modern reboot'. I'm sure there were other earlier 'rebooted' franchises (I mean how many times have the classic Universal monsters been rebooted?), but the amount of hoopla surrounding this film was considerable, and that's probably what makes it stand out in my mind. Anyone remember MC Hammer's timeless classic The Addams Family Groove? No? Well then thank your lucky stars, because it sucks. The output of the marketing blitz surrounding The Addams Family movie wasn't all bad though, and The Addams Family game released for SNES is indeed … not half bad. In fact I'm willing to go on record to say it's "fully decent". How's that for a box quote?



At its core The Addams Family is a fairly good Mario clone, possibly even one of the better second-string Mario clones I've played on the SNES. From the onset, it's fairly clear that the developers actually put some effort into this game rather than regurgitating some half-baked licensed turd for a quick buck. The Addams Family is a game that wears its Mario inspiration proudly and it actually does so fairly well. From the cutesy character models, to the bouncy well executed music, to the clever level designs, it's a game that instantly feels familiar. As Gomez, your goal is to rescue the various members of the Addams Family who have somehow been taken captive and are being held at various locations throughout the labyrinthine Addams Family manor. Each 'level' branches out from a central starting hub room, though there are several branches of the house that are interconnected either directly or through hidden shortcuts. The level design is a real highlight of the game. The music is also very well done, and the digitized version of the Addams Family theme is every bit as kooky and catchy as one might expect.



There are some aspects of The Addams Family game which are altogether ooky though. Despite the fact that it tries really hard to feel like a Mario game, it never quite gets there especially in terms of control (and really if you're trying to feel like a Mario game this seems like that should be priority #1). One of the first things I noticed is that forward momentum is tricky to manage. It's a very 'drifty' feeling game. Couple this with the fact that edge detection can be hit-or-miss and you have an artificial sense of difficulty which could have been managed if only for more finely tuned controls. And The Addams Family isn't just artificially difficult; it's a full-on ball buster in certain areas. It's a game that takes great delight in trolling players through off-screen enemy and trap placements. This often requires some highly precise platforming, which the game struggles to facilitate due to the aforementioned control issues. I also hate to say it, but the graphics are just sort of … meh. They're entirely passable, just not super impressive. Graphically I'd say it feels on the level of NES 1.5 if that makes any sense.

When all is said and done, The Addams Family is a fairly good game. It's certainly challenging and often in ways that feel not-quite-fair, but much like the Mario games it seeks to emulate, The Addams Family has that hook that keeps you coming back for more. Recommended for diehard fans of side-scrolling platformers, and Addams Family junkies (assuming that they exist). Now just try to get that theme song out of your head. <snap, snap>