Games Beaten 2018

[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

So the second part of the DLC story is about the fallout of you opening up the legendary forge of Durgan's Battery. It's much more straightforward than the last one, as each quest immediately sends you to the area in question where you need to get to some central area and move the plot forward. You can do this by murdering everything in your way, or you can be more sneaky about it, which is kind of neat. Unfortunately, overall it just isn't as enjoyable as the original. The focus on bad guy to bad guy is less interesting then the ruin diving of the first one, and there are some enemies that are hard for bad reasons (they can just randomly delete one of your characters if they feel like using a particular ability). It's worth doing if you've already done the first part, but it's too bad that they end on a lesser note.

[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)

Moon Patrol was the first big hit for game developer Irem. A technologically revolutionary title, Moon Patrol soon received a deluge of ports on all the requisite second-gen systems. Amusingly, the game later appeared on a couple of late-90s Midway compilations as well, as that company held the North American arcade distribution rights. After decades of radio silence, Moon Patrol has returned once again, on the Nintendo Switch eShop, as part of Hamster's Arcade Archives series.

While most platformers of the era where single-screeners, Moon Patrol is a horizontal (auto-)side-scroller. Moreover, the game features one of the first examples of parallax scrolling. Simply put, this means that the stage backgrounds scroll by slower than the foreground images, creating a sort of "3D" depth illusion. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking for '82 standards, boasting some intricately crafted moonscape environments. The player takes control of a moon buggy, a large fluid sprite whose three (visible) wheels continuously bump along to the rhythmic bars of the game's singular bassy funk beat.

This moon only contains two stages, though both are lengthy and the second one will loop indefinitely (for score-chasing). The buggy is equipped with two cannons, and can fire up and to the right simultaneously. It can also jump! This moon is rife with hazards. First are those of the environmental variety: rocks of varying size, landmines, and craters. Crashing into a crater is rather hilarious. These are true trenches, not bottomless pits à la Mario, and when you graze the edge of one there's a sort of "gravitational pull" as the buggy careens down in and subsequently explodes on impact. Glorious. Then come the sentient enemies (the "toughest thugs in the galaxy" according to game lore). First are the malevolent spaceships that appear from the screen's left side. While most fire standard projectiles a few wily ones will drop bombs that form additional craters. There are also evil moon cars that try to ram the buggy from behind; these are especially tricky to contend with as they can't be shot.

Success in this game is predicated on proper timing and, well, a modicum of stage memorization. While the buggy can't be stopped it can be slowed or accelerated with the d-pad. There's a slight delay while firing, so at times jumping over the grounded foes is preferable. It's also about locking into that groove -- ascertaining the proper speed for a given area, and knowing when it's timely to hop and/or fire. Expect to fail, frequently. Fortunately, and surprisingly, the game is incredibly generous with providing additional lives. Continues are unlimited, rare for a game of this genre and age, and checkpoints (named after letters of the alphabet) appear frequently. Theoretically, even folks who are terrible at the video games (oh hi there) can see this one through via credit-feeding, though frequent continuing will decimate any hopes of a decent high score. This Switch version features online leaderboards, as well as a bunch of additional options, if you're into that sort of thing.

Overall, boss game. Simple to learn, hard to master, great controls, fair difficulty, and enormous mechanical and aesthetic innovation. An essential Golden Age experience.

[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 *new*
Soul Calibur 2 - GCN *new*
God of War (2018) - PS4 *new*

Total: 30

Previously: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010


I had never beat SC2 as Link, now I have.

I remember a few moments while playing Uncharted: Lost Legacy where I thought to myself, "Wow! This is even better looking than Horizon: Zero Dawn -- I don't think there will be a PS4 game to surpass this." Then I played God of War, and my jaw dropped. The game is absolutely stunning, immersive as fuck, and completely deserving of all the accolades it is receiving. I have played every game in the series (including portable titles), and it would be hard to argue that this isn't the best game in the series. I think it is fair to say that this game does for "God of War" as a marquee franchise what "Breath of the Wild" did for Zelda as a marquee franchise.

The only thing I can quibble with is that the difficulty never hits quite the same level of challenge during the required campaign content as the previous entries in the series have. It gets close, but this one is definitely a bit friendlier to the RPG/non-twitch combat crowd. That isn't to say the combat lacks, and there are post-game challenges that are punishing as you might want, and anyone who plays this, whether they be an old fan or a newcomer, is going to find a lot here to like. This is arguably the best game on a system that already has a remarkable number of standouts...

[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)
10. Thunder Spirits* (SNES)
11. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
11. Thunder Force III* (Genesis)
12. Donkey Kong Country* (SNES)
13. Skyblazer (SNES)
14. Super Turrican* (SNES)
15. Donkey Kong Country 2* (SNES)
16. Super Turrican 2* (SNES)
17. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4)
18. Monster Hunter World (PS4)
19. Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PSX)
20. Resident Evil 2: DualShock* [Claire A/Leon B] (PSX)
21. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4)
22. Resident Evil HD* (PS4) [PLATINUM]
23. Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares* (PS4)
24. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition* (PS4) [Vergil]
25. Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
26. Nioh (PS4)
27. Super Mario Bros 3Mix (NES Romhack)
28. Yakuza 6 (PS4)
29. Metroid: Rogue Dawn (NES Romhack)
30. Front Mission: Gun Hazard (SNES)

* = replay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PMpSL6GS2w





Immaculate. Retro GOTY. Good luck topping this one.

Anyone who likes the SNES in general absolutely must play this. It is yet another Square Soft produced masterpiece. I clocked in close to 17 hours on it and the customization is pretty high for how you want to customize your mecha and playstyle. The gameplay, graphics, OST, story/characters, controls, everything is high caliber and extremely polished. I don't think it surpasses my nostalgic Square Soft favorites, but it may as well be the new gatekeeper to that upper echelon of gems for me. I think from here on anytime I start talking them up or how magical some of those SNES OST's are, Gun Hazard will be in the conversations going forward. One thing I have to say is that the graphics and color palette in particular really blew me away, I'd say the color palette is most similar to Chrono Trigger (which some Square devs at the time described their goal on CT to look like something in between the bright colorful Secret of Mana and the grittier darker look of FF6). The level variety was really unexpected and mesmerizing. Looks like I took 116 screenshots while playing this. But it's a double whammy of looking gorgeous topped off with an S rank OST, the vibe was just incredible. I was losing my breath a bit in the final stretch and while the credits rolled, in a... wow that was a journey kind of way.

[BoneSnapDeez]

^ That game totally slays and bones brah.

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)

1984 was an "off year" for console gaming. The great video game crash had just occurred a year prior, and the NES didn't arrive until the fall of '85. What did manage to trickle out during this downtime consisted of a smattering of johnny-come-lately ports and some oddball exclusives. One such exclusive was Gremlins for the Atari 2600, developed by Atari themselves, and based on the hit film of the same name. Note that this game only appeared on the 2600, and is now quite rare (it's the most valuable game in my Atari collection by an absolutely huge margin). The Gremlins that appeared on the 5200 and home computers is a completely different game -- a completely different game that happens to share the same title, developer, and cover art as this one. How convenient.

Gremlins 2600 consists of two alternating gameplay styles which should immediately feel familiar to anyone who's acquainted with second-gen gaming. First, there are stages modeled directly after Kaboom!. Here batches of mogwai leap from a house's roof, attempting to eat burgers that for some reason appear to be located outside on the driveway. It's up to Billy(?) to catch the mogwai before all the grub is eaten. The controls here are actually pretty competent, even though Gremlins uses the standard joystick rather than paddle controllers. Even-numbered stages see a shift to the "fixed shooter" genre. Gremlins hatch at the screen's top and come toddling towards Billy; he is capable of moving horizontally and shooting directly upwards at the creatures. Gameplay suffers a bit here, as aiming the projectiles is far harder than it needs to be. The game's difficulty actually caps pretty quickly; around stage eight or so Gremlins just keeps looping the same areas. After that it's just a test of endurance and a chase for a high score. Graphics are sufficient, the fact that there's a title screen is something of a highlight. No music, but the constant rhythmic sound effects are actually kind of infectious.

This is a game that exists. That's about it. It's playable and there's nothing offensively bad about it, but nothing stands out in any capacity. Those who are seeking a game like Kaboom! should, well, play Kaboom!. And there are many quality fixed shooters on the 2600, including the likes of Space Invaders, Phoenix, Gorf, and Galaxian. Ultimately, Gremlins is more of historical oddity than anything else. Significantly worse than the games it clearly apes, I'd only recommend it to collectors.

[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)
10. Thunder Spirits* (SNES)
11. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)
11. Thunder Force III* (Genesis)
12. Donkey Kong Country* (SNES)
13. Skyblazer (SNES)
14. Super Turrican* (SNES)
15. Donkey Kong Country 2* (SNES)
16. Super Turrican 2* (SNES)
17. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PS4)
18. Monster Hunter World (PS4)
19. Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PSX)
20. Resident Evil 2: DualShock* [Claire A/Leon B] (PSX)
21. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (PS4)
22. Resident Evil HD* (PS4) [PLATINUM]
23. Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares* (PS4)
24. Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition* (PS4) [Vergil]
25. Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
26. Nioh (PS4)
27. Super Mario Bros 3Mix (NES Romhack)
28. Yakuza 6 (PS4)
29. Metroid: Rogue Dawn (NES Romhack)
30. Front Mission: Gun Hazard (SNES)
31. Metroid II: Return of Samus (GB)

* = replay



It was more like 3:30 outside the in-game clock. I did reference a map here and there (not a huge fan of Area 3!) I love how dreary and strange the final stretch is. AM2R got that right and Samus Returns did not. Overall this was an amazing experience and I'm glad to have finally conquered this version. Took me a few attempts at the Mother Queen to figure it out in this one and had to grind twice or so at a few points for some health and missiles, but otherwise it was smooth sailing. A bit weird how free form the beams are in this one in that you can swap them around at a few points kind of like the ice beam in the original Metroid. As always you do need an ice beam at the end to handle the normal classic Metroid's, to which there is a Chozo statue with it near the end. Plasma beam seemed weird, Wave is always awesome, but I really dug the Spazer in this. The Zeta Metroid's were the hardest for me, you only fight a few of those though. One of them was in some quick sand like spot that was pretty tough. I don't totally miss the Spider Ball in Super Metroid but both AM2R and Samus Returns did some cool things with it.

The DX color hack is totally worth it but there is a red flag:
https://www.romhacking.net/reviews/3367/#review
"When you have 16 metroids left, and your going to kill the 16th metroid, the game will crash as you move up the room right before the room with the 16th metroid. I’ve tested this glitch with two different ROMs. So the only way to get around this is to play the hacked ROM up to the point of the crash, save, then use the original vanilla ROM, to kill the 16th metroid, save and then return to using the hacked ROM."

This happened in my run too. So I quick saved before this area, then loaded up an unhacked rom of the game and quick loaded my save to finish that part. Quick save then load up the colored rom hack again. However when I quick loaded the graphics and colors were messed up. I had to backtrack to an in-game save point and then reset the game via emulator. This re-loaded all the colors and everything correctly. It was worth the small hassle!

[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)

Dragon Wars was meant to be Bard's Tale 4, but due to changes in licensing, it became its own game. It follows a party of adventures who travel to an archipelago of rumored beauty only to discover an evil wizard who climbed up from beyond the underworld has now taken over and is steadily subjugating the islands so he can then go on and rule the world. Since you're new and might be able to cast magic, Namtar decides you're a threat from the get go and throws you in the prison city of Purgatory. From there, you have one goal: revenge. How you go about it is up to you.

Yes, Dragon Wars is a game of choices. You have options when you level up in how to raise your stats. You have options in how you want to wrap up certain puzzles or events. You have options in participating in side quests and how you resolve those quests. For instance, you meet a hunter in the king's forest. Do you show him proof of your connection to the king or do you just go ahead and fight in hopes of getting his magic bow? Choices drive the game and give you a story to talk about later with friends.

Of course, Dragon Wars came out around 1990, so it is old school in its design. Enemies come in groups, and they can be stacked in different sets, so you may encounter groupings like A) 10 guards at 10' and B) 5 pikemen at 50'. You get no choice in which of the 10 guards you will attack, you just choose to attack the group and hope that you can peel down their numbers before the pikemen arrive. Alternatively, you can block, which keeps you safe for an attack but also relies a bit on lucky: I found it often advantageous against 2 enemies to block with my front line fighters and have my back row use spells or archery to drop enemies without taking damage, but against 5 enemies at once, such a plan didn't work as well because I wasn't sure who might get attacked: all 5 could suddenly choose to go for one character, in which case attacking with everyone in melee might have ripped through the enemy's ranks much faster and prevented the loss of life.

Dragon Wars also shows its age in its colors (you have a few options at the start, but you're pretty much going to be using 16 colors or less) and music (or lack thereof). There really isn't any music in Dragon Wars, but there are sound effects, and these can actually cause the game to lag a bit, so I find it is best to turn them off for the sake of speed. As for the story, much of the game will ask the player to read paragraphs found in the manual. Different paragraphs tell different parts of the story, and they are not presented in order, with some false paragraphs thrown in for good measure, so it's not worth it to read them all ahead of time. Instead, take the number you find and read it when directed; this allows the game to do a lot more literary world building that really helps give it life far better than the limited color palette and lack of music can convey.

Dragon Wars is also gear dependent, particularly because your weapon affects how much damage you can actually do: 1d4 or 1d100 in a few cases. Weapons have classes which affect your ability to hit too, based on your skills. A word of advise: spread out the types of weapons your characters can use so folks can have different weapons (or swords and get Dragon Tooth swords for the whole party so you can hit 60' out), and don't use axes. Axes suck. I couldn't come up with a way to boost damage or AC outside of gear, no matter my stats.

Finally, while Dragon Wars can be tough, it does have some elements of forgiveness. Party members are much more likely to be stunned, which knocks them out of combat but revives them as soon as the fight is over. This is great, because there is only one way to resurrect a dead party member in Dragon Wars, and it is a pain in the butt to pull off. Don't let your characters die! Boost that Bandage skill and heal after every fight where someone took damage. It's a long process to do it, but eventually you'll get the key commands down like clockwork.

I like Dragon Wars. I like its range of options, its reliance on outside literary materials, and its attempt to create an interesting world. It's archaic and old in a lot of ways, but it also highlights the core ideal of WRPGs from early on: to create a world where you could do almost whatever you wanted. DW does this with a lot of success for a game from 1990, long before we thought we were getting such a thing in titles like Deus Ex. I recommend it highly.

[prfsnl_gmr]

1. Bastion (iOS)
2. LaserCat (360)
3. Zombie Incident (3DS)
4. Bye-Bye BoxBoy! (3DS)
5. Monument Valley 2 (iOS)
6. Zenge (iOS)
7. Master of Darkness (Game Gear/3DS)
8. Wonder Boy (SMS)
9. Full Throttle Remastered (iOS)
10. Adventure Island (NES)
11. Adventure Island II (NES)
12. Adventure Island (GB)
13. Super Adventure Island (SNES)
14. New Adventure Island (TG16)
15. Adventure Island III (NES)
16. The Legend of the Ghost Lion (NES)
17. Part Time UFO (iOS)
18. Adventure Island II: Aliens in Paradise (GB)
19. Adventure Island IV (NES)
20. Super Adventure Island II (SNES)
21. Adventure Island: The Beginning (WII)
22. Quell Memento (3DS)
23. Wonder Boy in Monster Land (ARCADE)
24. Saiyuuki World (FAMICOM)
25. Whomp ‘Em (NES)
26. Bikkuriman World (TG16)
27. Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (TG16)
28. Go Series: Picdun (DS)

I got so excited his month’s TR that I went back and finished a FPDC I started last year, threw down in disgust, and swore I would never play again. My compulsive desire to finish every game I start got the best of me, however, and I pushed through the back half of the soul-destroying Picdun!

Don’t be fooled by its appearance. Picdun is a legit, grid-based FPDC with great sprite work, slick (and fun!) real-time combat, and an interesting conceit: all of its auto-mapped levels make a rudimentary picture (...think Picross). Accordingly, in addition to fighting monsters, leveling up, solving puzzles, and finding more gear, you must also step on every square on the map (ultimately) to proceed. This conceit can be both enlightening - such as when the “picture” hints at the location of an exit or piece of gear - or maddening - such as when you spend hour searching for the last few spaces you need to complete the map. The game’s extensive puzzles also vary between appropriately challenging and so-cryptic-and-poorly-translated-that-you-can-only-solve-them-by-random-chance. The result is a game that is wildly uneven, and you will find yourself breezing through some maps in a few minutes and stuck on others for hours. (It is also clear that some levels were intentionally designed to be as frustrating and irritating as possible.) It ends up being a unique, if often frustrating, experience with some good ideas, and it ends strong. So, I while it is tough to recommend, I don’t hate it entirely. I am, however, looking forward to moving on to another, more traditional FPDC.

[ElkinFencer10]

Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 52
* 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 (1 Game Beaten)

52. Detention - PlayStation 4 - May

52. Detention - PlayStation 4 - May



I saw Detention on sale for like $1 or so on a recent PSN flash sale, so I decided I'd give it a shot. For that little, I figured it was worth the risk especially given my love for horror games. Rather than being developed by a Japanese or American development studio like most games I play, Detention was developed by a team from Taiwan (or, as it's officially called, the Republic of China. There's your history-teacher trivia for the day).



Detention is set in the 1960s, a little over a decade after Mao Zedong's communist forces overthrew China's ruling Kumintang Party and established the People's Republic of China and exiled the deposed nationalist government to the island of Taiwan. Having recently lost a civil war and facing constant threats of a communist invasion, the island of Taiwan is under martial law and executing what is tantamount to a witch hunt against communist sympathizers. You play as a high school student trapped in a mysteriously deserted school during a typhoon. While this in itself is unsettling enough for a high school student, things get creepier when unexplained and seemingly impossible things begin happening as you try to contact the outside world.



The story, while a bit confusing at times since I'm not as well versed in Taoist mythology as I perhaps should be, is really fantastic, and when coupled with the legitimately creepy atmosphere makes for a fantastic horror experience. With that said, I won't say much about the story so as not to spoil anything, but it's a fantastic little mystery with some puzzles to solve that are quite clever but not particularly challenging for the most part.



Detention is a truly fantastic example of indie game design. The mood is eerie, and the journey through the game is filled with mystery as the truth of your situation slowly unravels. The visuals have a very simplistic style, but it gets the job done and fits the mood of the game. Even at full price, it's not terribly expensive and absolutely worth the asking price, but if you see it on sale on Steam, PS4, or Switch, go ahead and let it be an impulse buy. It's a truly fantastic experience.

[Segata]

Magician Lord. That's one tough game. I tooka hiatus for a couple weeks because one part frustrated me but I came back and wasn't bad. Beat the game. No doubt one of my favorite OSTs to a Neo Geo sidescroller.