Racketboy forums’ Summer Games Challenge 2019

[alienjesus]

Well, sure it's been a long time since i've posted here but it's indeed that WONDERFULL time of the year again!

First of all, congratulations AJ, may God bring happiness and love for both of you always.

Hey, nice to see you back! And thanks very much for the well wishes!

Metroid: Zero Mission it is then, so, my final list is as follows:

.Mortal Kombat 2 (Arcade, 1993)
.Air Combat (Playstation, 1995)
.Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (Playstation, 2000)
.Star Wars: Battle for Naboo (PC, 2001)
.Grand Theft Auto III (PC, 2002)
.Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance, 2004)
.Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox, 2005)
.New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS, 2006)

.Zone of the Enders (Playstation 3, 2013)

Some nice options on the list. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Air Combat. The Ace Combat series has interested me for a while but I've never played any of them.

@alienjesus, are you really playing MGS4 this year? Man, such an amazing experience, it was my first PS3 and last generation game i've ever played...it was trully unbelievable.

I sure am. I played MGS 1, 2, 3 and The Twin Snakes for various previous summer challenges, and it seems fitting that I take on 4 in the summer challenge too. Plus, it's over 10 years old now!


Anyway, an update:
1. ActRaiser (SNES)
2. Fire Emblem: Seisen No Keifu (SFC)
3. GoldenEye 007 (N64)
4. Mario Party (N64) - in progress
5. Mario Tennis (N64)
6. Castlevania (GBA)
7. Mother 3 (GBA)
8. The New Zealand Story (SMS)
9. Shenmue 2 (DC)
10. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3)

So, Mario Party is still in progress, but I wrapped up Mario Tennis tonight. It's theoretically a short game, but the final match was a bit of a sharp difficulty spike for me - it took me 4 hours to win against Birdo and get the credits! It's a pretty decent game, but the AI difficulty is a bit steep imo, and it highlights the games flaws a bit much. Still, I liked it overall. I'll probably come back later in the summer and try and beat the game in doubles mode too, when my buddy is over.

Next up I'll likely be starting Mother 3 for my Together Retro, and Fire Emblem aswell for the same reason. Mario Party is still ongoing, but it's fine to take my time with that one. My new cable for Dreamcast arrived, which I was happy about because I thought it would let me play Shenmue 2 - but it seems the issue is with my system, not the cable, so that one is on the backnburner for now. It's staying on the list for time being, and I'll try and replace or fix the system soon, but if I don't get time then it might be needing a substitute.

[Ack]

1. F.E.A.R. 2

Well, I'm chugging right along in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. I've discovered that Nosferatu armor is basically just gimp gear, but whatever. If I have to stalk the sewers as a freaky leather daddy, so be it.

Currently I'm in Hollywood, searching for the lost location of the Nosferatu Primarch and helping the local Baron track down a snuff film that may show freaky demon critters killing folks. My Nos is built around going invisible and hand-to-hand combat, so I've been able to put a beat down on just about everything I've encountered. You know your'e doing it right when you kick a gargoyle's ass with your bare hands, which I have definitely done.

One thing that I have enjoyed about the game is the variety of approaches and options in the game. Sometimes you can get through a mission in a dozen ways, but you might piss off someone you're working for, or someone you will work for. Miss Violet the vampire stripper definitely doesn't like me right now, but hey, I have a freaky Malkavian club owner who gets lonely sometimes, so it's not like I don't have a way to spend the evening.

While I am continuing to pursue the main storyline, there are numerous sidequests, some of them hidden in interesting areas or only available by checking my email back in Santa Monica. I am getting a little bored of loading times, partly because I see the load screen so often and also admittedly partly because I load fast enough to not actually be able to read any of the notes I'm getting completely.

I have noticed some bugs, which the game was notorious for, though it hasn't been anything game breaking. With something like 20 hours in V:TM-B already, I've had one crash, but mostly it's just been clipping issues and occasionally seeing through walls. Nothing I can't handle.

Also, did you know you can buy assault rifles at gas stations in Hollywood? I sure didn't.

[MrPopo]

Tourette was always my favorite character in that game.

[Ack]

Tourette was always my favorite character in that game.

She's great, but I prefer the Jeanette side personally.

[lordb0rb4]

01.Mortal Kombat 2 (Arcade, 1993)
02.Air Combat (Playstation, 1995)
03.Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (Playstation, 2000)
04.Star Wars: Battle for Naboo (PC, 2001)
05.Grand Theft Auto III (PC, 2002)
06.Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance, 2004)
07.Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox, 2005)
08.New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS, 2006)
09.Zone of the Enders (Playstation 3, 2013)
10.???

New Super Mario Bros. credits are rolling as i type and oh man, what a let down, barely had any fun but i'm glad i did finish it.

On the positive side, i actually started GTA 3 last night and the first impressions are GREAT, it's running super smooth @1080p 100+FPS and the small details really brings the game to life, it's safe to say that the Retro radio station is my favourite so far, amazing atmosphere.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Yes! The radio stations in GTAIII rule. (The reggae station ended up being my favorite.). Before Rockstar had the means to license more popular music, I think they had to work a bit harder to create a good soundtrack, and I appreciate all of the great indie music in GTAIII much more than all of the popular music in its successors.

[Key-Glyph]

Oh shnip guys, I've been looking forward to this as always, and now suddenly it's June and you've already generated 9 pages for me to read! Waah, I'm so behind!

Gonna catch up in the next few days and get my list put together, and check out all of yours.

[MrPopo]

You should totally make Zelda II one of your games Key, based on the fun you were having on stream.

[BoneSnapDeez]

New Super Mario Bros. credits are rolling as i type and oh man, what a let down, barely had any fun but i'm glad i did finish it.

Those games feel like love letters to the classic Mario titles of old.

They don't do anything particularly noteworthy or extraordinary, but they're competently programmed and generally good fun.

But yeah, all have a sort of "generic" feel and get jumbled together in my head.

[lordb0rb4]

.Mortal Kombat 2 (Arcade, 1993)
.Tenchu 2: Birth of the Stealth Assassins (Playstation, 2000)
.Star Wars: Battle for Naboo (PC, 2001)
.Grand Theft Auto III (PC, 2002)
.Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance, 2004)
.Star Wars: Republic Commando (Xbox, 2005)
.Zone of the Enders (Playstation 3, 2013)
.Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time (Playstation 3, 2011)

.New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo DS, 2006)
.Air Combat (Playstation, 1995)

YAY!!!
Air Combat ended up being a lot shorter than i've imagined and i did it in one sitting.The controls feels a bit stiff at first and the graphics aren't all that great but i had a good time overall.
The game manages to incorporate every Ace Combat blueprint, the fictional story, different planes to purchase and cheesy music and dialogues.Good fun