Games Beaten 2018

[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)
24. Shining in the Darkness (Genesis)
25. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Gate of Doom (Switch eShop)
26. Front Line (Atari 2600)
27. Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
28. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy)
29. Exerion (Famicom)
30. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Bad Dudes (Switch eShop)
31. Arcade Archives: Double Dragon (Switch eShop)
32. ACA NeoGeo: Ninja Combat (Switch eShop)
33. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Wizard Fire (Switch eShop)
34. Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land (Game Boy)
35. Virtual Boy Wario Land (Virtual Boy)
36. Grand Master (Famicom)
37. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Sly Spy (Switch eShop)
38. ACA NeoGeo: Top Hunter Roddy & Cathy (Switch eShop)
39. ACA NeoGeo: Shock Troopers (Switch eShop)
40. Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
41. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES)
42. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES)
43. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
44. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
45. Giana Sisters DS (DS)

Pretty solid remake-sequel of the Commodore 64 platformer that was famous for, uh, being "inspired" by Super Mario Bros....

Cute characters, 80-ish bite-sized levels, and some great music (wish it was more SID chippy though). The jumping controls are a pain however. Somewhat reminiscent of the Castlevania classics, so many jumps feel like they require pixel-perfect precision to make. It gets especially frustrating in the later stages.

Cool game nonetheless, though probs not easy to find these days!

[prfsnl_gmr]

Did you find the bonus level that is The Great Giana Sisters In it’s enirety?

Agree, though. Solid game. The re-imagining, Twisted Dreams, is also OK, but really, really hard.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I did find it! In fact, I put much more of an effort finding the secrets during this playthrough.

I didn't have too much of an interest playing the original stages, however, as I have beaten the original game before (via emulation of course).

[bigpunisha]

Off the top of my head red dead redemption, crash bandicoot, call of duty, and tekken there are a few more, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.

[pook99]

Did you find the bonus level that is The Great Giana Sisters In it’s enirety?

Agree, though. Solid game. The re-imagining, Twisted Dreams, is also OK, but really, really hard.

I really enjoyed twisted dreams, I am a sucker for games with world changing mechanics and really thought they implemented it very well. The game is definitely challenging, the last boss in particular kicked me ass for a solid hour or so before I finally beat it.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Did you find the bonus level that is The Great Giana Sisters In it’s enirety?

Agree, though. Solid game. The re-imagining, Twisted Dreams, is also OK, but really, really hard.

I really enjoyed twisted dreams, I am a sucker for games with world changing mechanics and really thought they implemented it very well. The game is definitely challenging, the last boss in particular kicked me ass for a solid hour or so before I finally beat it.

Nice work!

I made it about 1/3 of the way through the game before I gave up. I really should go back to it sometime. I recall some scrolling issues (I.e., I couldnt see where I was going), but those may have been remedied in later versions.

[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)
24. Goat Simulator: GoatZ (PC)(Action)
25. Goat Simulator (PC)(Action)
26. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)(Beat 'Em Up)
27. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (PC)(Action Platformer)
28. Deadlight (PC)(Platformer)
28. Antichamber (PC)(Puzzle FPS)
29. S.C.A.R.S. (N64)(Racing)
30. Anvil of Dawn (PC)(RPG)
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1 (PC)(Action)
32. Inherit the Earth (PC)(Point-and-Click Adventure)
33. Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny (PC)(FPS)
34. Wolfenstein 3D: Return to Danger (PC)(FPS)

Return to Danger is the first of two 21-level mission packs from FormGen based on the Wolfenstein 3D expansion campaign Spear of Destiny. While FormGen had handled the distribution of Spear of Destiny, Return to Danger was the first time they branched out with Wolf3D to develop their own levels. They also performed a lot of sprite edits to change up how enemies, weapons, and wall textures appear, but unfortunately the result is lackluster and weird. In fact, the entire mission pack doesn't feel as well designed as either Wolf3D or Spear of Destiny.

Where does it fall apart? Well, the first issue is that the changes in textures have turned almost everything blue. Early on, walls are blue, many enemies are blue, the weapons are all blue...it feels samey. Some of the changes I don't mind, such as ensuring consistency of blue weapons with enemies as well as yourself, and changing uniform colors on Nazis, even if I dislike the choices in some cases (why are basic infantry in green uniforms?). But the dogs are now blue, which makes no sense to me. Also, mutants are now bats armed with miniguns...for some reason. I don't get it.

My second issue with Return to Danger is that level design quality suffers demonstrably. In Wolf3D and Spear of Destiny, levels were often chains: you'd start out, have to seek out one key, have to seek out the second, before being able to leave. This would generally carry you throughout the level. Unfortunately, RtD doesn't do this nearly as well. Often you don't need to gather any keys and can simply advance to the exit. I managed to beat one level in 30 seconds without firing a single shot, but the par on it was 6 minutes. There really was never a reason to explore once you found the exit beyond making sure you topped off your health and ammo. Also, while some levels can nearly be skipped outright, some require seeking out secrets to advance, which is more frustrating. If you can't find the one wall you need to click on, well, you're done. That's a pain.

One thing I noticed when looking up maps of Return to Danger levels is that they include things like giant swastikas or the German eagle insignia. One even has a set of initials, which might be the mapmaker's. The trouble with this is that, while it might look cool to a designer from up high, the maps are not well thought out and tend to either fall apart or become slogs that just throw enemies at you all at once.

A third issue I experienced was that my HUD vanished, though I played the game using ECWolf (which offers some phenomenal modern resolution choices), so that may not be a part of Return to Danger.

Funny enough, there were apparently some things that could not be changed by FormGen. Return to Danger still displays Spear of Destiny at its title screen. The ending of the games are exactly the same. The music is also set for levels from Spear of Destiny, though I never much paid attention to it. The game also has similar final levels: kill a boss, get the Spear, and then end up in a final level fighting a projectile-lobbing enemy while avoiding Nazi ghosts. To FormGen's credit, I found their final level and boss a lot harder than the one in Spear of Destiny. It attacked faster, took more hits, and also had more ghosts nearby, so I had to dodge incoming projectiles while also keeping an eye out for the steadily approaching haunts. I did appreciate that and will praise FormGen for upping the ante.

I'm now looking into playing FormGen's other mission pack, Ultimate Challenge. I hear the final boss is exactly the same, and I know the changed textures and sprites, missing HUD, and Spear of Destiny wrapper are all there. I'll just have to see if the levels are better designed or if this is more of the same. I hope not.

[ElkinFencer10]

Just fyi to the couple of yall who actually follow my reviews, I DO have some coming, but I'm pulling an AlienJesus and getting hella backed up. I have six reviews that should be coming at some point in the next couple weeks:

30 Great Games (Wii U)
Nurse Love Addiction (Vita)
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen (PS4)
Life is Strange: Before the Storm (PS4)
[TellTale] Game of Thrones (PS4)
[2013 movie tie-in] Star Trek (Steam)

Had to take some largely internet-free time to myself this month, but I'm getting back in the swing of things.

[nullPointer]

Had to take some largely internet-free time to myself this month, but I'm getting back in the swing of things.

Glad to see you around Elkin! Hope all is well on your end, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on these games. I'm slightly backlogged on reviews myself!

[noiseredux]

Spoiler: war of the Chosen rules.