Games Beaten 2015

[Sarge]

Kirby's Adventure is still my favorite NES platformer. I got it for my birthday many years ago. It was rare enough to get video games as presents, so that one was particularly sweet.

I just beat a game I'd dropped for years, and decided to revisit: TimeSplitters: Future Perfect. I'd gotten about halfway through the story mode, then hit a brick wall. Guess a little time helps in that regard. I'm no FPS savant by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm a fair sight better than I was then. It's a fun game, and you can feel the Goldeneye / Perfect Dark DNA in there. (Free Radical was comprised of team members from Rare that worked on those games.)

I'll probably count that as one of my summer challenge games, since it was so far back. I'm seriously considering cracking out The Sword of Hope II, another game that I've always wanted to play through, but never made much headway in.

[MrPopo]

1. Painkiller - PC
2. Front Mission 4 - PS2
3. Wasteland 2 - PC
4. Arcanum - PC
5. X-COM Terror from the Deep - PC
6. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16
7. Unreal - PC
8. Shadowrun - SNES
9. Warcraft III - PC
10. Dungeon Keeper - PC
11. Final Fantasy X-2 HD - PS3
12. Descent - PC
13. Quake Mission Pack 2 - Dissolution of Eternity - PC
14. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2 - Ground Zero - PC
15. Sokobond - PC
16. Hybrid Heaven - N64
17. Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis
18. Castlevania - NES
19. Super Castlevania IV - SNES
20. Castlevania III - NES
21. Castlevania II - NES
22. Castlevania Rondo of Blood - Turbo CD
23. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders - PC
24. Fractal - PC
25. Kirby's Adventure - NES
26. Pillars of Eternity - PC

The quick summary is this is a proper successor to the Baldur's Gate series. If you liked those then go get this.

The game isn't perfect, but it's quite fun to play and I really liked the system they're using. It's definitely inspired by D&D but they were not shy about breaking from the formula when it made for better gameplay. The biggest change is that all stats are valuable for every class, so rolling a character is deciding how you want to specialize. The second change that follows from that is that every class can use every piece of equipment. If you want armor on your mage that's fine, but armor increases your cooldown period after an action. The final big thing they do is they have separate stats for evasion and damage reduction. You first apply the relevant evasion stat to every incoming hostile effect (including melee attacks), then if it lands you apply the damage reduction. Armor contributes to your damage reduction, while shields and stats apply to your evasion stats.

One interesting feature is that you can go the BG route or the IWD route in building your party. There are eight companions you can find with stories and quests, but you also have the option of hiring adventurers from any inn which are custom built by you. There's no romances as that's not really a thing Obsidian does, but I think that's fine for the story being told.

There's a fair amount of quests around if you want, or you can just power through the main story. I found that when I was doing all the quests I could find that I hit the level cap midway through the last major act. The pacing was pretty good throughout and you slowly uncover what's going on in a similar manner to BG1. It was interesting learning more about the world as you went through things.

I'm really hoping Obsidian makes another one in this universe. We got to see a very small part of the world so there's a lot of places they can go.

Edit: I just discovered I've got an extra copy of Pillars of Eternity in my Obsidian account; for either GOG or Steam (the key hasn't been generated yet). Drop me a PM if you're interested and I'll give it out to whomever is my favorite person when I get around to reading them sometime tomorrow morning.

[Exhuminator]

The Sword of Hope II

I've only played the first game, and I thought it was really interesting. I stopped playing it though because the random encounter rate was utterly insane. You would have random encounters while already in battle with a previous random encounter! Hopefully the sequel tones that aspect down.

[wclem]

1. Resident Evil 4 (PS3) Digital
2. Resident Evil 6 (PS3) Disc Version
3. Dying Light (PS4) Disc Version
4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) Disc Version (Replay)
5. Batman Arkham City (PS3) Disc Version
6. The Order (PS4) Disc Version
7. Valiant Hearts (PS4) Digital Version
8. DMC Definitive (PS4) Disc Version
9. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4) Disc Version
10. God of War - Ghost of Sparta (PS3) PSP digital port
11. God of War - Chains of Olympus (PS3) PSP digital pprt

Just knocking off another God of War game. One more to go, but maybe another day. Have to decide between Child of Light or Lego the movie.....or maybe a Batman game?

[Markies]

I beat Super Smash Bros. Melee on the GameCube this afternoon!

What is there to say about this game? So, I'll keep this short and sweet cause everybody has heard, played or own this game. I have put hundreds of hours into this game at my friend's house, so I am really happy to actually have my own version and it'll be incredibly fun to unlock everything once again.

[MrPopo]

1. Painkiller - PC
2. Front Mission 4 - PS2
3. Wasteland 2 - PC
4. Arcanum - PC
5. X-COM Terror from the Deep - PC
6. Military Madness - TurboGrafx-16
7. Unreal - PC
8. Shadowrun - SNES
9. Warcraft III - PC
10. Dungeon Keeper - PC
11. Final Fantasy X-2 HD - PS3
12. Descent - PC
13. Quake Mission Pack 2 - Dissolution of Eternity - PC
14. Quake 2 Mission Pack 2 - Ground Zero - PC
15. Sokobond - PC
16. Hybrid Heaven - N64
17. Sonic the Hedgehog - Genesis
18. Castlevania - NES
19. Super Castlevania IV - SNES
20. Castlevania III - NES
21. Castlevania II - NES
22. Castlevania Rondo of Blood - Turbo CD
23. Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders - PC
24. Fractal - PC
25. Kirby's Adventure - NES
26. Pillars of Eternity - PC
27. Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den - PC

I picked up this DLC a while ago when I grabbed a Steam copy of Bioshock 2 during one of the super sales. I'd started to play it but was experiencing a lot of crashes to desktop. I later found out I needed to add -dx9 to the command line to fix it. So I thought I'd play through it as I had heard it's fairly short. It is indeed fairly short; I think it took me 5 or so hours to complete. The story was decent; it's another thing in Rapture that goes wrong and needs to be cleaned up, though this manages to avoid all the Objectivist stuff and instead focus on The Thinker; a supercomputer that helps run the city.

The DLC adds one new weapon and one new plasmid. The weapon is a laser beam that's powerful and fun to use; I ended up only using other weaponry against Big Daddies since the specialized ammo for the heavier guns was better for them. The new plasmid is for getting past a few gates and there is a combat application (it drops a suction area that then explodes), but I found that liberal application of the hand of bees was enough to get through the encounters. There's only six Little Sisters through the DLC so you need to pick a build and focus on that. The game also just gives you upgraded weapons instead of having the upgrade machines.

It's worth playing if you enjoyed the gameplay of previous Bioshocks and already have it on your account.

[Ack]

1. Renegade Ops (PC)(Multidirectional Shooter)
2. Borderlands 2 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
3. Gunpoint (PC)(Puzzle Platformer)
4. Robotrek (SNES)(RPG)
5. The Tick (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
6. Alien vs Predator (SNES)(Beat 'Em Up)
7. X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES)(Action Platformer)
8. Metal Slug (MVS)(Run and Gun)
9. Shadowrun (SNES)(RPG)
10. Quake II (PC)(FPS)
11. The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang (SNES)(RPG)
12. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (PC)(Action)
13. A Story About My Uncle (PC)(Platformer)
14. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (PC)(FPS)
15. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith (PC)(FPS)
16. Catacomb (PC)(Top-Down Shooter)
17. Catacomb Abyss (PC)(FPS)
18. Catacomb Armageddon (PC)(FPS)
19. Catacomb Apocalypse (PC)(FPS)

So ends the Catacomb Adventure trilogy, not with a bang, but with a magick missile in the faces of cyber-Nemesis clones as I rip my way through time, sporting bling on my finger and swigging potions like you would not believe.

Yes, you read that right, Catacomb Apoclypse ends both the Catacomb series and the Catacomb Adventure sub-series from Softdisk, with great wizard Petton Everhail battling against the robotic armies of Nemesis and the mighty Time Lords(no relation to the Doctor). This is by far the hardest of the Catacomb Adventure trilogy, with more enemies wielding projectiles than ever before, security robots that take a huge thwomping before they go down, water-borne enemies that can dive beneath the shallows to evade your attacks and completely disappear from radar, and even invisible pig men that roam the labyrinthine insides of computer systems, just waiting to descend upon an unwary wizard and thrash him with glee. While the base system remains unchanged, there's also less equipment available and more difficult levels from the very beginning. Even the skeleton armies that Nemesis loves so much come packing mini-guns, and while the enemy design is less interesting in that they're no longer oozing through the walls, they make up for it in pure muscle and malice. If any of you do pick up the Catacombs Pack(which I'm now really excited about and eager to recommend), I highly suggest you figure out how to angle your shots so enemies are unable to return fire, because otherwise you're toast.

There's also a hub and portal system that must be navigated to evade the clutches of the pharaoh Time Lords, where you must teleport to different elemental-themed temples to acquire keys to unlock the correct path to Nemesis' test chambers, where his clones stand ready and waiting. Hub systems do appear in previous Catacomb games, but not in either of the previous Catacomb Adventure titles. I wonder why Softdisk chose this particular title to bring it back, right at the twilight as you erase Nemesis from time itself.

Also, you don't actually have to kill Nemesis in this one. Heck, you don't even have to fight his clones. The final test chambers where they lie can simply be walked past with no negative consequences; there is no difference in the final ascent to the surface of the dungeon, and the ending even says you defeated Nemesis despite not fighting him, exactly as if you had. That's fine with me, because the final test chamber contains three tough as nails clones and more invisible pig men who swarm like angry hornets when they're riled up. And they're always riled up.

I'm glad I played through the Catacomb Adventure games. They were surprisingly fun, tough but fair, with some hard moments but also entertaining design that quite often surprised and amazed me. The colors are vibrant despite the dark and disturbing enemies(who are also vibrant and cartoonish), and the sound is lackluster but still passes along all necessary information through distinct sound effects for being hurt, grabbing individual items, attacking, and so forth. But there is an incredible creativity here that is a blast. It's a shame the series ended.

That said, I still have two other Catacomb games in the id Software set to go: The Catacomb and Catacomb 3-D. I hope to clear through both of these soon.

[MrPopo]

Out of curiosity, why did you do Abyss before 3D?

[Ack]

Out of curiosity, why did you do Abyss before 3D?

I skipped over it because I had previously played through a chunk of 3-D and was genuinely curious about how Softdisk changed the series for a post-Wolf3D world. I was not disappointed.

[BoneSnapDeez]

1. Grandia (PlayStation)
2. Jungle Hunt (Xbox - Taito Legends)
3. Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
4. Jungle Hunt (Plug & Play - ColecoVision Flashback)
5. Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
6. Donkey Kong (Intellivision)
7. Donkey Kong (ColecoVision)
8. Bubble Bobble (NES)
9. Side Arms: Hyper Dyne (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
10. 1941: Counter Attack (PSP - Capcom Classics Collection Remixed)
11. Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (PSP)
12. The Ninja Kids (Xbox - Taito Legends)
13. Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
14. Golden Axe Warrior (Xbox 360 - Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection)
15. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 (Dreamcast)
16. Growl (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
17. Arabian Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
18. Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
19. Gekirindan (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
20. Ys II (Saturn - Falcom Classics II)
21. Darius Gaiden (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
22. G Darius (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
23. Giana Sisters DS (DS)
24. RayStorm (PlayStation 2 - Taito Legends 2)
25. Mr. Do! (ColecoVision)
26. Beauty & the Beast (Intellivision)
27. Boxing (PlayStation 2 - Activision Anthology)
28. Crystalis (NES)
29. Dragon Warrior (NES)
30. Faxanadu (NES)
31. Tombs & Treasure (NES)
32. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
33. Kirby's Adventure (NES)
34. Kirby Super Star (SNES)
35. Hoshi no Kirby 64 (Nintendo 64)
36. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
37. Dig Dug (Wii - Namco Museum Megamix)
38. Phoenix (Xbox - Taito Legends)
39. Phoenix (Atari 2600)
40. Pleiads (Xbox - Tecmo Classic Arcade)
41. Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
42. Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy)
43. Gorf (Atari 2600)
44. Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever (Pico)
45. Mickey's Blast Into the Past (Pico)
46. Secret of Mana (SNES)
47. Psycho Soldier (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
48. Genshi-Tou 1930's (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
49. Datsugoku: Prisoners of War (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)
50. SAR: Search and Rescue (PSP - SNK Arcade Classics 0)

Genshi-Tou 1930's

American title: Prehistoric Isle in 1930.

This is a pretty nifty dinosaur-themed shmup.

The player controls a biplane equipped with a machine gun. A weapon pod power-up can be found in dinosaur eggs. This pod can be rotated around the plane and it behaves differently depending on location. For instance, when the pod is facing straight up it fires vertical blasts but when it's positioned diagonally below the plane it lobs bombs in an arching manner.

The levels are varied and interesting. In addition to battling on land there's an air stage with pterodactyls and an underwater area with archelon (giant sea turtle) and ammonoidea (giant cuttlefish) bosses. Difficulty feels a touch uneven as the stages are much more difficult than the bosses battles. The final boss (you can guess the dinosaur) follows such a simple and predictable pattern that even during my first run-through I was able to defeat him without a scratch!

Nothing mind-blowing here, but still a lot of fun. I recommend it to fans of Eco Fighters as it has the same sort of loopy gun mechanic. Plus - dinosaurs!!!

Datsugoku: Prisoners of War

American title: P.O.W.: Prisoners of War.

Not all SNK games are good. This is one of the weaker ones. It's a rather flaccid old beat 'em up. You walk to the right and punch dudes. Everyone is wearing dull brown/green fatigues. The whole thing is rather snooze-inducing. It may even be worse than Burning Fight, which is saying something.

SAR: Search and Rescue

At first glance this looks a lot like Alien Syndrome. It has the same top-down view, spaceship setting, lotsa gunfire, and gruesome extraterrestrial foes. The second action button causes your commando to roll quickly out of danger, a mechanic that would later be seen in Alien Storm. Hmmmm....

The original arcade game uses the same type of rotary joystick controls found in Ikari Warriors. Unfortunately this didn't translate well to the PSP. Well, at least not until I found that you could set the controls to a "standard" setting (ie: you just shoot in the direction you face). It's still not perfect, but is generally manageable.

What struck me about this game is how easy it is to avoid most enemies. The stages are large and open and, should you choose to eschew any hope of achieving a high score, one can simply roll past the alien bad guys. Bosses are another story of course, as they have you trapped in a small room.

SAR is an enjoyable experience. It's far better than many other action games released during the late 80s. I don't believe any console or computer ports exist so here's yet another reason to check out Arcade Classics 0.

That's enough SNK for now. I'll probably hit up an RPG that can be completed before May (the Summer Challenge).