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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
26. Dragon Ball FighterZ - PS4
27. Detroit: Become Human - PC4
28. Call of Duty: United Offensive - PC
29. The Last of Us - PS4
30. The Last of Us: Left Behind - PS4
31. Prey: Mooncrash - PC

Released during E3, Mooncrash is a 10 hour piece of DLC for Prey that expands on the world and gives a different way of doing things. Rather than the large world to explore and zig zag through, now you have a smaller base on the moon. But what makes this different is the roguelike elements. The basic premise is that you are delving into a record of the events that happened on the moon base (a companion to the space station from Prey), through the eyes of five who had a particular impact on the events. You start off with only one unlocked, and will unlock the rest as you achieve objectives. Your main goal is to escape with everyone, escape with everyone in a single run, and work through every character's storyline. See, once you escape with a character in a particular way you now can play through their story. This gives a series of objectives to accomplish before you get out, and gives more background into what went down. You also have access to emails and logs again.

Now, each character has a different skill tree available to them. This is a mixture of Typhon powers and regular abilities, and the Typhon powers again need the psychoscope to unlock the higher tiers. The skill trees are persistent across playthroughs, and makes each character play different (they all also have different health and PSI totals). Since this is exploring a simulation you will encounter some corruption in the data. This manifests itself in the roguelike elements of the run. You have some randomization of enemies, lots of randomization of items, and randomization of hazards. A portion of the facility might be powered down and need to have power rerouted in order to progress, or one of the areas might be full of radioactive barrels. It constantly keeps you on your toes. The other part of this mechanic is that over time a meter builds up indicating the general corruption; every time it tips over it triggers a respawn of all areas and the respawned enemies are a level stronger.

The game requires several playthroughs to get through; at minimum you need to escape once with each character and then do their stories. One of the characters can't be unlocked until you finish another character's stories, and there is also a persistent world; if one character loots items then that container will be empty for the next character, and if one character fixes a gate then it's available for all other characters. One of the escape methods, in fact, requires the abilities of two different characters to make available, and a third character needs to use that method to unlock its story. The whole thing is a great run, and I'm really hoping we get a Prey 2 at some point, because this is a fantastic universe.

That sounds really cool. I'm glad they're not giving up on Prey

Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 65
* denotes a replay

January (16 Games Beaten)


February (18 Games Beaten)


March (10 Games Beaten)


April (7 Games Beaten)


May (6 Games Beaten)


June (8 Games Beaten)


65. Art of Balance - Wii U - June 17



Art of Balance initially released as a WiiWare game and, after receiving a lot of praise from players and critics alike, was ported to 3DS, Wii U, and PS4. I got it on Wii U when it was offered as a reward for gold coins on My Nintendo a while back, but it wasn't until I was getting ready to move last month and had most of my games and consoles packed up that I decided to play it. I didn't need the TV to play it, so it seemed like the perfect game.



Art of Balance is the epitome of a casual "just chill, man" type of puzzle game. You have a set of blocks, and you have to stack them in such a way that they stay stacked without falling over for thee seconds. That's it. That's the entire game. It does throw you some curve balls along the way - there are blocks that shatter if three blocks are stacked on them, blocks that shatter a few seconds after a block is placed on them, and blocks that shatter if the same kind of block touched it, for example - but the base objective remains the same.



The early levels start off REALLY easy. The first half of the game, really, is nice and relaxing; it's the second half that gets to be pretty challenging, and the last quarter or so can be downright frustrating. It never stops being fun, though, and it's a fantastic game for flexing your spacial reasoning skills. Because it auto-saves after each level, it's perfect to pick up and play if you've only got ten minutes here and there, too. The backgrounds are super zen and tranquil, too, really emphasizing the relaxing nature of the game. All of the block-stacking is done on some kind of platform in a pool of water; if your blocks touch the water, you have to start over. The splash when they hit the water is almost satisfying in a way, though, so not until the later levels when it gets hard does that splash ever get annoying or taunting in any way.



Art of Balance is pretty much the best game if you're looking for a chill way to unwind and exercise your brain a little bit. It definitely gets tough towards the end, but it's never insurmountable if you have some patience, and it's a fantastic game for short bursts. It's $9 on the Wii U eShop (not sure about other platforms, but the Wii Shop Channel is gone, so that part's a moot point), and with eight worlds each consisting of probably 10 or 15 levels, there's definitely $9 worth of content in the game. I definitely recommend this one.

58. Battletoads (GB)
59. Bomberman '93 (PCE)
60. Gekisha Boy (PCE)

Gekisha Boy is a precursor to Pokemon Snap and created the genre afaia, although its theme is far less "clean" - you're basically a paparazzi in training, and there's a bunch of humour that would make it unreleasable today, probably. Pretty fun game overall.

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)

The first two Donkey Kong games are undeniable irrefutable classics. Meticulously designed, heavily ported, and hugely influential, they codified the standards of platform gaming. Donkey Kong 3, on the other hand, well, it's something else altogether. Though crafted by the same industry titans (Shigeru Miyamoto, Gunpei Yokoi), the game is a significant departure from its predecessors, and ultimately lacks cohesion and truly compelling gameplay.

Donkey Kong 3 first launched in the arcades in 1983. It was ported to the Famicom the next year, and ended up on the NES in '86 as a "black label" title. Since the game postdates the Famicom release, it didn't appear on the plethora of "second gen" consoles and computers, which is kind of a bummer. There was also a Donkey Kong 3 pseudo-sequel/remake available on Japanese computers. It's a fascinating story, as the game was presumed "lost" until a copy was tracked down in 2017 and subsequently dumped to the internet a year later. Truth be told, it looks much more compelling that the original vanilla game.

Mario lovers, prepare to be sad. Though debatably already a Nintendo icon at this juncture, he was swapped out here for a new protagonist: Stanley the Bugman. Poor Stanley. Nobody knows anything about this dude, and nobody cares. He doesn't appear as the hero in any other video games, though he is referenced in titles like Super Smash Bros. Melee and WarioWare: Twisted!. And he has no damsel in distress to rescue. Instead, he must thwart Donkey Kong, who, along with his insect compatriots, is hellbent on absconding Stanley's collection of perennials. And they say video games have no good stories.

The game's not a pure platformer. Rather, it's a single-screen shooter with light platforming elements. Donkey Kong descends from the ceiling of each stage; the goal is to force him back to the top with puffs of insecticide. Meanwhile, a swarm of bees and other varying arthropods swarm from all sides. One hit will take out Stanley, but what the insects are really after is the flowers. Any chance for a high score will be lost if these are stolen, so it's essential to keep the bees at bay. Much like the first two DK platformers, Stanley is positioned on some stacked "scaffolding." Pressing up and down will alternate his position, and he can jump from the top level to get up close and personal with Donkey Kong's hairy derriere.

There are only three stages total. Unfortunately there's little variation amongst the trio, aside from the scaffolding arrangement. Contrast this to the first Donkey Kong, where each stage showcased a subtle increase in difficulty as well as a new "gimmick" to contend with. Besting Donkey Kong 3 does require some slick strategy. There's a constant risk/rewards battle, judging when it's pertinent to rush at Donkey Kong vs. holding back and taking out bugs. Speaking of such matters, it can also be strategic to avoid certain foes, such as those that explode upon death. Occasionally, Kong drops super-spray for Stanley, a power-up overpowered to the point of comedy.

Visuals are exactly what one would expect: straightforward and pleasingly retro. The wire frame "greenhouse" background effect from the arcade is absent here, which is a small letdown. The soundtrack is barely worth commenting on. I do feel compelled to give a shout-out to the smooth control scheme. There's no auto-fire for weaponry but there is jump "auto-fire" which keeps things moving a decent clip. As this is an NES port there's an additional "B" gameplay mode, as well as a two-player option. Both are patently useless.

Truthfully, this is the hardest type of game to talk/write about. It isn't offensively bad, nor is it anything approaching good. It's tough to be "objective" about this one - as the game's ancestors are of exemplary quality and are two of my childhood favorites. Donkey Kong 3 is a neat historical oddity, easily overshadowed by countless platformer and shooter contemporaries.

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

1-20

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)
27. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
28. Magicka 2 (PS4)*
29. Tales of Phantasia (PSP)

30. BOXBOXBOY! (3DS)

I bought this game back when I beat BOXBOY! last year and really enjoyed it. I had some time while waiting for a doctor's appointment earlier today, and decided to bring along my 3DS with me and fired up BOXBOXBOY! to play. Like 8 or so hours of playing later, I was done with a game that is a significant improvement on its original. I did a "perfect" on every stage, so I basically 100%'d the game, but it isn't that hard. I needed like 11 or 12 hints, and used the wizard costume to get an extra block to get like two of the crowns because I absolutely couldn't figure out how to get them XP

Fast mentioned in the Slack chat that this game is basically like a Warehouse Cleaner (Soukoban games) and a platformer had a baby, and that isn't exactly inaccurate. It's a puzzle platformer by HAL, and it just drips with all of Kirby's charm but in a much more subdued and relaxed package. The presentation, from the graphics to the music to the simple design of Qbby and his friends are all simple and easy to distinguish while very aesthetically pleasing.

If BOXBOY! is the single-player version of Portal 2, then BOXBOXBOY! is the co-op mode of Portal 2, where the addition of a second set or portals makes the potential puzzles far more complex and interesting. As the title suggests, Qbby can now generate two sets of boxes instead of just one, and that makes the puzzles SO much more fiendish than the first game had. The first game felt almost like work for a lot of the puzzles because they were so simple. BOXBOXBOY!'s puzzles will really test how you think with boxes.

Verdict: Highly Recommended. BOXBOXBOY! is a fantastic sequel to an already well designed game. It only does a simple change to the overall formula, but the level design is done in such a way that it feels like a totally new experience and in only positive ways. For its $5 downloadable price tag on 3DS, it's a very easy recommendation for me to be a time-killer when you have some down time, or something to go through on a day off

Nice. I adored BoxBoxBoy! It is, IMO, the pinnacle of the series. (Bye-Bye BoxBoy! is also good, but it lacks its predecessor’s complexity.)

prfsnl_gmr wrote:Nice. I adored BoxBoxBoy! It is, IMO, the pinnacle of the series. (Bye-Bye BoxBoy! is also good, but it lacks its predecessor’s complexity.)

I knew if anyone would appreaciate me playing through a 3DS eShop game, it'd be you, Prfsnl :3
Sad to hear that about Bye-Bye BoxBoy though. I'll still probably pick it up eventually though. I love me some BoxBoy <3

Games Beaten in 2018 So Far - 66
* denotes a replay

January (16 Games Beaten)


February (18 Games Beaten)


March (10 Games Beaten)


April (7 Games Beaten)


May (6 Games Beaten)


June (9 Games Beaten)


66. Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon - Switch - June 18



Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is a Castlevania game in all but the name, and DAMN, does it capture the awesomeness of old school Castlevania well. A lot of the talent behind the early Castlevania games is present here, so it's not surprise that it emulates the feel of those early 8-bit games so well. I got a download code for this from Mr. Popo, so super kudos to him. I figured the game would be fun, but I didn't expect it to be THIS fun.



If you've played any of the NES Castlevania games, then you know how the basic mechanics here work. You go through side scrolling levels with some platforming bits and both ascending and descending stairs to get to an endboss. You've got a special weapon that has limited uses, and you can swap that out for new special weapons that you find in the field. Just like old Castlevania, right? The first major difference is that you have multiple characters between whom you can switch on the fly during gameplay, and each character handles a little different. One is better at platforming, one has a better distance attack, one can fly, one has better magic, etc.



The other big difference between Bloodstained and Castlevania is that this is a much more accessible game. You can play "Veteran" with limited lives and knockback, but there's also a casual mode that gives you infinite lives and doesn't knock your character back when you take damage. Being a punk ass bitch who sucks at video games, I naturally played on casual. I do plan to go back through on veteran now that I have an idea of how each character played and truly "complete" the game, but even the forgiving casual mode is a ton of fun.



Normally I'm pretty critical of pixel art style games these days. It just feels like such a cheap done-to-death way of making games. I never once found myself irritated with it here, though. This game is so GOOD that it never bothered me. Not only does the amazingly fun gameplay keep my mind off of the fact that its pixel art, but it actually works here in a way that most games can't claim; it's an intentional call back to the Castlevania games of the late 80s that this mimics. In addition to that, the art is extremely well done. It looks absolutely beautiful, and the character sprites are fantastic. The music, too, is every bit as amazing as the visuals and will put any retro gamer in nostalgic bliss.



Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon is an absolutely fantastic resurrection of the 8-bit era Castlevania style and a definitely must-play for fans of the three NES Castlevanias. At only $10, it's not a bad price at all given how high the quality of the game is. One of the big goals is obviously to get people interested in the main Bloodstained game, Ritual of the Night, and in that endeavor, it has DEFINITELY worked on me; that game rocketed up my list of upcoming releases to keep an eye on. With its difficulty setting, it's got the approachability that less skilled players like me (that's the nice of way saying "people who suck at games") like to see as well as the challenge that genre veterans will crave. The only real complaint I have with the game is that it's a bit short in my opinion, and some of the bosses are pretty easy to cheese your way through. Otherwise, though, this is one of the best eShop games I've played yet on Switch.

^ That was released almost a month ago and you're just getting to it? Casual.

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)


Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World get all the attention. Sure, they're literally the two greatest platformers of all time, but ya know what, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins is up there too. Easily one of the finest Game Boy releases, I'd argue that it may be the third best overall Mario title as well.

6 Golden Coins hit the scene in 1992, about a year and a half after Super Mario World. Much like its handheld predecessor, the original Super Mario Land, Nintendo finely tuned this game specifically for the Game Boy hardware, taking careful consideration of all the system's strengths and limitations. Contrast this to the other big names - Sega, Atari, Tiger - who attempted to fill their beastly bricks with compromised downgraded ports; results were mixed, to say the least.

Once again, the plot of this one is separate from, but tenuously related to, the mainline console titles. Apparently while Mario was away in Sarasa Land battling evil alien forces, his old nemesis Wario swooped into Mario Land (apparently Mario has his own kingdom), took over Mario's castle, and scattered the six key-coins across the landscape. Yeah, it's goofy and rudimentary stuff, but Wario is a great villain. Too comical and charming to truly play the role of "bad guy," Wario would soon star in his own games and transition from antagonist to antihero to outright lovable dude. Everybody likes Wario.

Gameplay is heavily reminiscent of the both Mario 3 and World. Six "worlds" - each consisting of several themed levels - must be completed before Mario can attempt to reclaim his throne. In a twist, the worlds here can be tackled in any order, and no advantages can be gained by exploring specific areas first. This also means that the game was constructed with a specific static difficulty in mind. The final level of each world concludes with a boss battle (bop it three times!) and the acquisition of a golden coin. This nonlinearity, though arguably unnecessary, works to enhance replay value. I know I approach the game a bit differently with each subsequent playthrough.

One place Super Mario World dropped the ball - the cohesiveness of its own worlds (what's the deal with "Chocolate Island" anyway...? It's just kinda brown). 6 Golden Coins remedies this problem, featuring individual stages that are taut and meticulously designed for on-the-go play, clustered into unified thematic worlds. Take the Turtle Zone, for instance. It begins in a seaside area where Mario has the option of staying above or below the waterline, transitions into a subterranean submarine labyrinth, and concludes within the pulsating and spiky belly of a whale. The other Zones are equally as impressive. For those who enjoy the haunted house stages of other Mario installments, but hate the tedious "puzzles," there's a Pumpkin Zone here, complete with spooky gothic architecture and an outdoor cemetery. Rounding out the set are a Space Zone (with mandatory floaty "moon jumping"), a Macro Zone where Mario becomes micro, an ascending Tree Zone that concludes with a battle inside a bird's nest, and a "Mario Zone" which literally takes place inside of a giant Mario statue replete shifting gears, pulleys, and ball bearings. I guess Mario Land needs a Mario statue, after all. Individual stages are fast-paced and bite-sized, with a background auto-save occurring after each one is completed.

There are secrets to be found. Like World, these are handled cleverly. Instead of warp zones and hackneyed "bonus rounds," 6 Golden Coins showcases several stages with hidden exits, these serve as gateways to optional secret levels. To experience the entire game one must find all of these. It isn't an incredibly daunting task. Unfortunately the file select screen doesn't indicate how much of the game world has been explored, as the (seemingly arbitrary) number of stages beaten is displayed rather than a percentage.

The game flows like a "typical" 2D Mario title. There are mushrooms, fire flowers (no more weird bouncy ball), and hearts stand in for 1-ups once again. The spin jump from World is present, though it feels shoehorned into the mix and is a bit awkward to execute (pressing down while jumping). Flying is back, but instead of a leaf or feather Mario can now grab a carrot that grants him bunny ear-wings. It's not proper "flying" per se; instead the power-up grants a sort of extended glide ability. It also arguably breaks the game, as vast stretches of land can be soared over. This brings me to my one possible point of contention. 6 Golden Coins is incredibly easy. Coins no longer grant 1-ups upon a 100-count, but can instead be hoarded and exchanged for massive quantities of extra lives. Stages can be revisited to grab coins and collect items. And an additional item bonus is offered up as every stage concludes, assuming you can ring the easy-to-reach bell that hangs upon the exit sign. I finished my latest and greatest playthrough with a cache of 69 (hehe) lives and I wasn't even tryin'.

Visually, this looks like a bridge between 3 and World. Sprites are nice and big, and plenty of negative space is utilized to make the game playable on an old lightless Game Boy. Enemies are a pleasing mix of old and new foes; humorously the supreme villain of the first Land has now been relegated to a conventional boss. Kazumi Totaka's soundtrack is sweet and chipper, with plenty of nods to the classic NES tunes.

I can't find anything particularly negative to say about this one. It certainly lacks difficulty, and of course can't quite measure up to its home console brethren. But is is, along with Link's Awakening, a "perfect" Game Boy game. Don't skip it. You'll make Wario cry.