Games Beaten 2015

Anything that is gaming related that doesn't fit well anywhere else
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

First 50:
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)

51. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES)
52. Tic-Tac-Toe / Shooting Gallery / Doodle / Quadra-Doodle (Channel F)
53. Robot War / Torpedo Alley (Channel F)
54. Pinball Challenge (Channel F)

1978...

Pinball Challenge
What do you think of when you hear the word "Pinball"? A plunger? A couple of flippers? Some bumpers, slingshots, ramps, and targets? Well to Fairchild in 1978 "Pinball" was apparently synonymous with "Breakout."

Seriously. I'm assuming that Fairchild couldn't get rights to Breakout itself so they made their own variation and then called it Pinball Challenge because.... pinball was popular at the time? Hilariously the game's cover art displays an actual game of pinball. I should also mention that at this point in time the instructions to Channel F games were printed on the cartridges themselves. This is amazing.

So how does this fair as a Breakout-styled game? Just okay. The controls are a bit slow and unresponsive. I would chalk that up to the age of the hardware but I didn't have issues in any of the other games I played. Hit detection is funny too - sometimes my ball would pass right through certain blocks. It seems as if the ball has to strike a block directly on the top or bottom (not the side) for the hit to register. I don't know if this is common among old Breakout games, but it feels glitchy here.

The game's packaging boasts that there are "132 game variations" which essentially means that there are lots of options to fiddle with like speed and paddle size. Since you asked, default paddle size is "14." There are actual "lives" here too - seven of them. And of course one is lost every time the ball is missed by the paddle. The game loops endlessly until all lives are lost or the settings are altered.

Pinball Challenge is a mildly amusing artifact, but I'd recommend Capcom's Block Block - or hell, even the original Breakout - over this one.

Well, this ends my run with the Channel F. There were some games released in 1979 and 1980 but I don't own them. Next up is a completely different system - and it won't be the Atari 2600!
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

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noiseredux wrote:nah I figure I'll work on Eggerland for a couple more months, then I'll post Elevator Action in disgust sometime around May, then start an F game that I lose interest in just in time to beat one game of the ten I've picked for my Summer Gaming list. It's gonna be awesome and anticlimactic.


^still on track for this. :|
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BoneSnapDeez
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by BoneSnapDeez »

noiseredux wrote:
noiseredux wrote:nah I figure I'll work on Eggerland for a couple more months, then I'll post Elevator Action in disgust sometime around May, then start an F game that I lose interest in just in time to beat one game of the ten I've picked for my Summer Gaming list. It's gonna be awesome and anticlimactic.


^still on track for this. :|


See in all honestly this is why I didn't think combining the years/numbers was the best idea. Seems too arbitrary and a good way to get stalled for awhile.

I know this was mentioned some time ago, but what about Excitebike (NES)?
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noiseredux
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

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BoneSnapDeez wrote:I know this was mentioned some time ago, but what about Excitebike (NES)?


meh.

Honestly, I should have just posted Elevator Action as beaten on Feb 24th instead of asking for feedback on my decision to do so.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

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Ack wrote:
MrPopo wrote:Well Ack, you pretty much summed up what makes Earthbound awesome and what places it could be improved. The only thing I'll point out is the Healing PSI does say what statuses it cures. And most of the statuses, to me, seemed to be fairly self explanatory, especially when their effects kicked in.


I suppose. I guess I'm just particularly irked by possession, and that some of them were so rare that I never really saw what they were. Like diamondized, which is apparently a death-like state, but I couldn't tell you what else it does if anything.

Diamondized is a swankier petrified. And I get where you're coming from on possession, since it's just a big "hahaha, you take damage and sometimes can't act" fuck you.
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REPO Man
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

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Nemo (Arcade via MAME4All Ouya) - again, this time on the third lowest difficult setting. I plan on beating it on every difficulty level.
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Key-Glyph
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by Key-Glyph »

I must know: what's this Elevator Action joke that keeps being alluded to? I'm so nosy and curious.
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MrPopo
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by MrPopo »

Key-Glyph wrote:I must know: what's this Elevator Action joke that keeps being alluded to? I'm so nosy and curious.

Noise was playing Elevator Action as his E game of whatever year it came out and he saw every level and wanted to call it beat, but Dsh came in and said that until he managed to cap the speed on loops (or something to that effect) that it didn't count as being beat. And Noise has been unable to find a game for E in that year that he has been able to beat, leaving his alphabetic year challenge stalled.
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Fragems
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by Fragems »

[quote="Fragems"]1. Injustice Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition(PS4)
2. Infamous First Light(PS4)
3. Drakengard 3(PS3) *Endings 1-4. Ending 5 I watched online due to BS boss.
4. Infamous Second Son(PS4)
5. Thomas Was Alone(PS4)
6. Uncharted Drake's Fortune(PS3) *
7. Uncharted 2 Among Thieves(PS3) *
8. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception(PS3) *
9. Deadpool(PS3)
10. Red Dead Redemption(360)
11. Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare(360)
12. The Walking Dead Survival Instinct(360)
13. Fuse(360)
14. The Bureau Xcom Declassified(360)
15. Asura's Wrath(360)
16. Beneath a Steel Sky(PC)
17. Soul Gambler(PC)
19. Harvester(PC)
20. Coma: Mortuary(PC)
21. Tesla Effect: A Tex Murphy Adventure(PC)
22. Freedom Planet(PC)
23. Tropico 3 Steam Special Edition(PC)
24. Far Cry 4(PS3)
25. Shellshock 2 Blood Trails(360)

Shellshock 2 Blood Trails

Not really worth even mentioning. It's a text book example of a mediocre game. Was hoping for some Vietnam action and instead I got a generic zombie shooter with piss poor AI, an uninteresting story, a mix of performance issues, and sloppy default control settings. It really feels like every effort was made to not put any effort into the game :lol: .

How to half ass a game check list
1. AI in a modern game who needs that lets just have the enemies charge them mindlessely like they are brain dead. Oh thats an idea lets make everything zombies :roll: .
2. Jumping!?! Who needs jumping.
3. Man this game looks like ass let's turn those lights nice and low. Oh the flashlight doesn't work properly... perfect :).
4. You know what all gamers love closed in linear paths let's get some caves up in here.
5. Plot what is that?
6. Man game design is hard I think 4 hours of mediocre gameplay is enough. Hell you know what let's not bother with collectibles, multiplayer, extra difficulty modes, or polishing this turd it's ready for the market :mrgreen: .
nullPointer
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Re: Games Beaten 2015

Post by nullPointer »

The list so far ...
12. Grand Theft Auto III [PC/Steam]

Grand Theft Auto III
Wow it's been a while since I beat a game! This review has been spoilered for her pleasure to avoid an obnoxious wall of text. :wink:
Every legend begins somewhere, and Grand Theft Auto III is the game that laid the foundation not only for the entire GTA series as we know it today, but in many ways for the entire open-world sandbox structure of games that continue to enjoy popularity. It's been said that this game pales in comparison to the games that would come later in the 'GTA III trilogy', namely Vice City and San Andreas. While it's true that those games further refined and expanded upon the GTA experience in important ways, the essential building blocks for those changes were created here in GTA III.

I've trumped up the historical importance of the game a bit but the question remains as to whether the gameplay in GTA III has held up, especially in relation to the later iterations in the series. Thankfully I can answer that with a resounding, "Yes!" So let's talk about some of the things that make this game tick. First and foremost, we have the story. In GTA III Rockstar was pinning down some of the aspects that would come to be regarded as the Rockstar style of storytelling. The story here is basically a love letter to latter day crimeland movies like Goodfellas, Heat, Donnie Brasco, Reservoir Dogs, and the like. In this capacity all the requisite pieces are in play, including the Italian mafia, Japanese yakuza, Chinese triads, as well a healthy assortment of street level thugs. You are a mute protagonist (who we would later know as Claude thanks to GTA: San Andreas), making a name for himself on the back of jobs from all these various criminal factions. Naturally there are betrayals, double-crosses, hits and feints between all of these organizations, and Rockstar handles its authorial pen deftly enough to keep the story moving at a good pace. The whole story has the tone and feel of a pulp crime movie you might see as part of a matinee crime movie marathon; nothing of great substance, but a whole lot of fun nevertheless.

In GTA III we also see the beginnings of Rockstar's tendency to include well-known actors performing voice work in their games. Here we have Michael Madsen, Joe Pantoliano, Michael Rappaport, Debi Mazar, Kyle MacLachlan, and gangster movie legend Frank Vincent all playing supporting roles in the game. The caliber of voice acting in this game really does some great things for the conveyance of the story. In the hands of lesser actors, certain aspects of this story might have come off as laughably cringe-worthy. As it is we are treated to voice work performed by old pros, particularly where crime drama is concerned.

Here we are also treated to the first GTA game to include an absolutely killer soundtrack complete with genre specific radio stations, distinct DJs for each radio station, and some great licensed music. It had been quite a few years since I played this game, and these tunes (as well as spoken dialog) really filled me with a sense of nostalgia. In truth it's the radio stations that give this game its comedic timing and fantastically dark sense of humor. As an added bonus, the PC port of this game allows you create a custom playlist of mp3s which can be imported into the game. I really had a great time importing my own tunes into the game. Once you do so, the 'MP3 Player' becomes selectable in any vehicle just like a normal radio station which plays your tracks on random repeat. Let me tell you that you haven't lived until you've gone on a drive-by rampage with Electric Wizard's Funeralopolis blaring from the sound system of your Patriot. ;-)

The gameplay mechanics are admittedly somewhat long in the tooth at this point, but even still they are pretty darned enjoyable. The drifty, somewhat floaty driving mechanics that are a hallmark of 3D GTA games make their debut here. At first the driving might seem a slightly off, being that I don't know of any other driving game that handles quite like the GTA games. The handling is a bit loose, but once you get that part dialed in it's a real blast. Of course the looseness of vehicle handling depends a lot on what vehicle you're in at any given time. It does need to be said that there are no motorcycles in GTA III, which for me is perhaps one aspect of the later games that I missed the most here. There are also no helicopters, and only one (notoriously difficult to control) aircraft. That said, the variety of vehicles available here is suited well to the game, and I feel that the slightly limited selection of vehicles can be forgiven being that we are talking about the first GTAs first foray into full 3D.

This was my first play though of the PC port of GTA III, and I will say that I found some relatively minor issues with the port. First and foremost, the aiming mechanics were … problematic for me in the PC port. In the 'Classic Control' scheme, the relatively responsive nature of the auto-targeting in the console version of the game just doesn't carry over very well in the PC version. It fails to reliably switch between targets, and in many cases it fails to find any targets at all (despite the fact that said targets are in the process of filling you with lead). Furthermore, when you're using the Classic Control scheme the right thumb stick puts you in first person look perspective rather than adjusting the 3rd person camera as one might expect. Others may have had a slightly different experience with Classic Mode controls, but for me the combination of the above factors made this option a non-starter. The 'Standard Control' scheme makes some marked improvements to the above, but in this case you're stuck strictly with free aiming. I tend to prefer keyboard & mouse controls for games that require free aiming, and indeed given that strafing features prominently into the Standard Control scheme in GTA III, one might assume that KB+M is what the developers had in mind here … except that KB+M makes driving nearly impossible (although not entirely impossible as I do know at least one person that beat this game entirely with KB+M). Using the Standard Control scheme, I ultimately ended up ruling in favor of using a controller with the game to better facilitate driving, although I did find a helpful mod that made this option a bit more feasible. The GInput mod allows you to fully utilize an Xinput device in GTA III which makes using a controller in the game a bit more palatable, and has the added benefit of additional customizable settings. It even swaps out correct button icons for onscreen prompts. So there's that.

On my (Nvidia-based) gaming rig there were also a couple of graphical glitches present in this port. Most noticeably I encountered the 'dark vehicles' glitch, in which all the vehicles appear to have a much darker tint than they should. For this issue I applied a second light weight user-made patch to the game which resolved the issue promptly. If you find yourself with the same problem, this fix is probably worth your time as well.

At the end of the day, the question is whether or not this game is still worth your time. Given the popularity (and occasional notoriety) enjoyed by the GTA series, you probably already know whether the source material is your cup of tea. Dark comedy, violence, and debauchery abound! If you're already a fan of the series, or if you're looking to get into the 3D era of GTA games at the ground floor, I would say that this game still holds a lot of enjoyment even today. It had been a number of years since I last played this game and I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would especially given the historical perspective of subsequent GTA games. This old jalopy has still got some life in 'er yet!
Last edited by nullPointer on Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:51 pm, edited 4 times in total.
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