1. Record of Lodoss War - Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (PC)(Action Adventure)
2. The Citadel (PC)(FPS)
3. Gothic 3 (PC)(RPG)
4. Witchaven (PC)(FPS)
5. Unpacking (PC)(Puzzle)
6. Firewatch (PC)(Adventure)
7. Perilous Warp (PC)(FPS)
8. The Ascent (PC)(RPG)
9. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (PC)(FPS/RPG)
10. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (PC)(FPS/RPG)
11. Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced - Claptrap's New Robot Revolution (PC)(FPS/RPG)
12. Kingdom of the Dead (PC)(FPS)
13. Monument (PC)(FPS)
14. Bloodwash (PC)(Horror Adventure)
15. Dead Estate (PC)(Isometric Shooter)
16. Lost in Vivo (PC)(Survival Horror)
17. Star Explorers (PC)(FPS)
18. Dark Souls Remastered (Switch)(RPG)
19. NAM (PC)(FPS)
20. WWII GI (PC)(FPS)
21. Necromunda: Hired Gun (PC)(FPS)
22. Quake: Dimension of the Past (PC)(FPS)
23. Quake: Dimension of the Machine (PC)(FPS)
24. Quake: Scourge of Armagon (PC)(FPS)
25. Quake: Dissolution of Eternity (PC)(FPS)
26. Huntdown (PC)(Run and Gun)
27. A.W.O.L. (PC)(FPS)
28. Hands of Necromancy (PC)(FPS)
29. Cyberpunk 2077 (PC)(FPS/RPG)
30. Prodeus (PC)(FPS)
31. Tails of Iron (Switch)(Action)
32. Tails of Iron: Bloody Whiskers (Switch)(Action)
Tails of Iron: Bloody Whiskers is a free expansion that developer Odd Bug released for Tails of Iron. It contains a post game for the main campaign with a new series of difficult boss battles in an arena, followed by a disturbing reveal at the end of a short quest regarding the kingship of your rat kingdom. But this is more about exploring the depth of the combat system.
Why do I say this? It's because these bosses will test you. They offer relentlessness, where you must learn the short, sudden windows where you can get in a quick hit and then get the hell out of the way. And while they offer patterns that can be learned relatively quickly, you have to contend with attacks that don't get telegraphed in the same way. You have to find momentary instances where you can get the safe attack off and escape.
You also have some nasty shifts in behavior too. These new battles offer up a lot of backwards attacks to keep you on your toes, where bosses will shift their attack angle so you must always be ready to defend. It's new and exciting to see the ante upped, and while some bosses proved to be more challenging than others, I was left with a continued appreciation of the mechanics that went into Tails of Iron's combat.
Since it is a free expansion, and it comes built in natively with the base game on certain versions, it's worth exploring. Give Tails of Iron: Bloody Whiskers a shot of you do play through the base game.
Games Beaten 2022
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
AWOL is a free Build Engine modern military shooter. Sounds like a bit of a contradiction, and you do find that the Build Engine is not super happy with what's been done to it. It's a fairly uneven experience overall, but it does have enough moments of fun to be worth your time, especially at the price tag of free.
The story is told through comic book style cutscenes between missions, as well as in mission dialog. However, even though voices are available for enemy and squadmate chatter, the in mission dialog is not voiced. So you'll probably miss most of it, due to it tending to trigger during firefights and you having something better to do with your attention. It's nothing to write home about; your superior officer goes AWOL, you go after him, you discover military backed drug smuggling, you kill everyone involved.
You start with a knife and have three other slots. The first one can be a pistol or an MP5, while the other two are freely changeable between M16, AK47, SPAS12, and RPG. You also can have up to three grenades, three packs of bandages (for healing health), and three throwing knives. Enemies can drop ammo, very rarely their weapon, and very rarely body armor. Maps are fairly large compared to heyday Build Engine games, and usually have a series of objectives, generally of the form of get to a point, collect a key or key item, get to the next point. Near the end of the game you start to see some "destroy the object" objectives as well.
The game has a very rudimentary stealth system and a rudimentary squad system. You have three friendly NPCs who follow you around (as well as getting teleported to fix pathfinding issues) and can be set to engage enemies on their own accord or not. You'll set them to aggressive at all times and then curse out how inconsistent their ability to notice enemies is. The stealth system only shows up in a couple of maps; it's based on foliage doodads and adds a layer on top of the preexisting enemy awareness in the base engine. It's also buggy; there were times I noticed that it would show me as stealthed when walking through a bush, then when I crouched it took me out of stealth. It's essentially inconsequential, and seems to be held back by fundamental limits in the Build Engine.
Speaking of limits, the game is peppered with the chest high walls expected of a modern shooter where enemies can quickly kill you. Armor depletes fast and health depletes even faster from fire, so you need to quickly take out enemies due to them tending to rock and roll when they see you. But those walls expose some major Build Engine limitations. Enemies frequently have trouble navigating around them, with their AI telling them to get closer but the wall preventing them. They are pretty poor at protecting you even when crouched; there is some sort of fudge factor going on and they aren't super solid barriers as a result. And many times enemies can be sniped across them without others noticing, or if they do notice they don't fire at you. It ends up balancing out the game's difficulty, as you need the AI bugs to keep enemies manageable. In open close quarters they quickly deplete your health, and the game uses standard pickups to top you off, rather than a modern game's hide and regen.
Overall, it's a noble effort that runs into major technical problems due to the engine they're using. It feels like to really get it where they want they would have to rewrite so much that it stops being a Build Engine game and becomes some new iteration. But hey, can't argue with that price tag.
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
AWOL is a free Build Engine modern military shooter. Sounds like a bit of a contradiction, and you do find that the Build Engine is not super happy with what's been done to it. It's a fairly uneven experience overall, but it does have enough moments of fun to be worth your time, especially at the price tag of free.
The story is told through comic book style cutscenes between missions, as well as in mission dialog. However, even though voices are available for enemy and squadmate chatter, the in mission dialog is not voiced. So you'll probably miss most of it, due to it tending to trigger during firefights and you having something better to do with your attention. It's nothing to write home about; your superior officer goes AWOL, you go after him, you discover military backed drug smuggling, you kill everyone involved.
You start with a knife and have three other slots. The first one can be a pistol or an MP5, while the other two are freely changeable between M16, AK47, SPAS12, and RPG. You also can have up to three grenades, three packs of bandages (for healing health), and three throwing knives. Enemies can drop ammo, very rarely their weapon, and very rarely body armor. Maps are fairly large compared to heyday Build Engine games, and usually have a series of objectives, generally of the form of get to a point, collect a key or key item, get to the next point. Near the end of the game you start to see some "destroy the object" objectives as well.
The game has a very rudimentary stealth system and a rudimentary squad system. You have three friendly NPCs who follow you around (as well as getting teleported to fix pathfinding issues) and can be set to engage enemies on their own accord or not. You'll set them to aggressive at all times and then curse out how inconsistent their ability to notice enemies is. The stealth system only shows up in a couple of maps; it's based on foliage doodads and adds a layer on top of the preexisting enemy awareness in the base engine. It's also buggy; there were times I noticed that it would show me as stealthed when walking through a bush, then when I crouched it took me out of stealth. It's essentially inconsequential, and seems to be held back by fundamental limits in the Build Engine.
Speaking of limits, the game is peppered with the chest high walls expected of a modern shooter where enemies can quickly kill you. Armor depletes fast and health depletes even faster from fire, so you need to quickly take out enemies due to them tending to rock and roll when they see you. But those walls expose some major Build Engine limitations. Enemies frequently have trouble navigating around them, with their AI telling them to get closer but the wall preventing them. They are pretty poor at protecting you even when crouched; there is some sort of fudge factor going on and they aren't super solid barriers as a result. And many times enemies can be sniped across them without others noticing, or if they do notice they don't fire at you. It ends up balancing out the game's difficulty, as you need the AI bugs to keep enemies manageable. In open close quarters they quickly deplete your health, and the game uses standard pickups to top you off, rather than a modern game's hide and regen.
Overall, it's a noble effort that runs into major technical problems due to the engine they're using. It feels like to really get it where they want they would have to rewrite so much that it stops being a Build Engine game and becomes some new iteration. But hey, can't argue with that price tag.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
In the interests of more pew pew I played through the campaign of the new Modern Warfare II. The second game in the rebooted Modern Warfare timeline, it features the entire cast of friendlies from the first game as they deal with new threats to global security. It appears that they are taking the broad strokes of the original timeline to set the overarching story, while updating all the "in this specific game" pieces for more modern geopolitics.
As someone who only grabs these games for the campaign (and because I get them for free as a perk), there isn't really anything new that has been added to the core loop. It's the same two weapons, a quick melee that can be instant kill in the right circumstances, and lethal and nonlethal gadgets (grenades and other tools). You aim down sights and have to deal with dudes sometimes dying fast and sometimes having tons of body armor. One thing the campaign does provide is gameplay variety. Aside from the standard "team moves through an area taking out hostiles" stuff, you have missions where you do lots of long range sniping, full stealth missions, a vehicle chase, and a mission where you get to be the gunner on an AC-130 gunship. The last one is a giant shooting gallery that is quite cathartic.
One thing I did notice is the devs seem to have finally realized that the old model of "infinite enemies until you push a trigger" was a bad model. Now every area has only a finite number of enemies, though there can be spawn points that will bring in finite reinforcements. You get to clear every room, and that makes a big difference in eliminating frustration. But don't worry; the end game sequence has this really awful cat and mouse section involving you being helpless for periods of time while avoiding enemies actively searching for you.
If you're into the modern military shooter style this one ticks all the boxes, so you might as well give it a whirl. But it doesn't really do anything to draw in new folks.
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
In the interests of more pew pew I played through the campaign of the new Modern Warfare II. The second game in the rebooted Modern Warfare timeline, it features the entire cast of friendlies from the first game as they deal with new threats to global security. It appears that they are taking the broad strokes of the original timeline to set the overarching story, while updating all the "in this specific game" pieces for more modern geopolitics.
As someone who only grabs these games for the campaign (and because I get them for free as a perk), there isn't really anything new that has been added to the core loop. It's the same two weapons, a quick melee that can be instant kill in the right circumstances, and lethal and nonlethal gadgets (grenades and other tools). You aim down sights and have to deal with dudes sometimes dying fast and sometimes having tons of body armor. One thing the campaign does provide is gameplay variety. Aside from the standard "team moves through an area taking out hostiles" stuff, you have missions where you do lots of long range sniping, full stealth missions, a vehicle chase, and a mission where you get to be the gunner on an AC-130 gunship. The last one is a giant shooting gallery that is quite cathartic.
One thing I did notice is the devs seem to have finally realized that the old model of "infinite enemies until you push a trigger" was a bad model. Now every area has only a finite number of enemies, though there can be spawn points that will bring in finite reinforcements. You get to clear every room, and that makes a big difference in eliminating frustration. But don't worry; the end game sequence has this really awful cat and mouse section involving you being helpless for periods of time while avoiding enemies actively searching for you.
If you're into the modern military shooter style this one ticks all the boxes, so you might as well give it a whirl. But it doesn't really do anything to draw in new folks.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Previous Years: 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
57. Warhammer 40000: Shootas, Blood, and Teef - Switch
Shootas, Blood, and Teef is a run 'n gun set in the 40k universe starring the Orks. Now, those who are familiar with the 40k universe know the Orks are the faction that has the most fun. They're basically soccer hooligans with guns, and this is the perfect setup for a run 'n gun that. The plot is appropriately simple; the warboss takes your hair squig and now you need to fight your way through the planet to get it back. Opponents include other Orks, the Imperium, and a Genestealer cult.
The game maps free aiming to the right stick, allowing you more precision but also demanding it. The game does have a decent sticky aim to it, so for the most part it handles well. You will gain a total of five weapon types, each of which has four options. The first is free, while the other three cost teef in the store. You get a pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and a heavy weapon. The first four use magazines (but infinite reloads), while the last beats up a overheat that eventually starts to deal damage to you rapidly. Unfortunately, this is indicated through an icon that gets red, rather than a bar that grows, so it can be very hard to tell when you're about to start overheating. You also choose one of four classes for your character; this will determine a special ability (the gun guy sometimes doesn't use up a shot when firing, while the melee guy's melee turns into a ranged spear throw) as well as the type of bomb you throw from the stickbomb limited pickups.
The game is divided into five overall acts, each of which is capped off by a major boss. There are also several minibosses and a total of seven stage types (a couple acts consist of multiple stage types). The game makes good usage of the various units available in the 40k universe; while they tend to fall into one of four categories (melee guy, ranged guy, heavy melee, heavy ranged) there are enough differences to keep things fresh. You'll find that different weapons are good against different factions, so you won't fall into only using a single weapon through the campaign. And the whole thing isn't overly stretched out. If you're a run 'n gun fan or a fan of 40k I recommend this one.
First 50:
51. Prodeus - PC
52. The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero - Switch
53. Arkos - PC
54. Valkyrie Elysium - PS5
55. AWOL - PC
56. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) - PC
57. Warhammer 40000: Shootas, Blood, and Teef - Switch
Shootas, Blood, and Teef is a run 'n gun set in the 40k universe starring the Orks. Now, those who are familiar with the 40k universe know the Orks are the faction that has the most fun. They're basically soccer hooligans with guns, and this is the perfect setup for a run 'n gun that. The plot is appropriately simple; the warboss takes your hair squig and now you need to fight your way through the planet to get it back. Opponents include other Orks, the Imperium, and a Genestealer cult.
The game maps free aiming to the right stick, allowing you more precision but also demanding it. The game does have a decent sticky aim to it, so for the most part it handles well. You will gain a total of five weapon types, each of which has four options. The first is free, while the other three cost teef in the store. You get a pistol, assault rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and a heavy weapon. The first four use magazines (but infinite reloads), while the last beats up a overheat that eventually starts to deal damage to you rapidly. Unfortunately, this is indicated through an icon that gets red, rather than a bar that grows, so it can be very hard to tell when you're about to start overheating. You also choose one of four classes for your character; this will determine a special ability (the gun guy sometimes doesn't use up a shot when firing, while the melee guy's melee turns into a ranged spear throw) as well as the type of bomb you throw from the stickbomb limited pickups.
The game is divided into five overall acts, each of which is capped off by a major boss. There are also several minibosses and a total of seven stage types (a couple acts consist of multiple stage types). The game makes good usage of the various units available in the 40k universe; while they tend to fall into one of four categories (melee guy, ranged guy, heavy melee, heavy ranged) there are enough differences to keep things fresh. You'll find that different weapons are good against different factions, so you won't fall into only using a single weapon through the campaign. And the whole thing isn't overly stretched out. If you're a run 'n gun fan or a fan of 40k I recommend this one.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
-
Markies
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 1428
- Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:29 pm
- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Markies' Games Beat List Of 2022!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS3)
2. Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne (XBOX)
3. Streets of Rage 4 (NS)
4. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Master Quest (GCN)
5. Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)
6. Darkstalkers (PS1)
7. Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (SDC)
8. Ogre Battle 64: Person Of Lordly Calibur (N64)
9. Draogn Quest VI (SNES)
10. Batman: The Video Game (GEN)
11. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)
12. Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
13. Pokemon Red (GB)
14. Wii Sports (Wii)
15. Splatoon (WiiU)
16. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)
***17. Final Fantasy IX (PS1)***
***18. Out Run (GEN)***
19. Assassin's Creed (PS3)
20. RBI Baseball 2 (NES)
21. Puzzle Kingdoms (Wii)
22. Operation C (GBC)
***23. Illusion Of Gaia (SNES)***
***24. Super Mario Brothers 2 (NES)***
25. Forza Motorsport (XBOX)
26. Super Mario Strikers (GCN)
***27. Grandia II (SDC)***
I completed Grandia II on the Sega DreamCast this afternoon!
The original Grandia was a game I absolutely loved on the original Playstation. After I finished the first one, I almost immediately went and picked up Grandia II on the Playstation II. Once again, I love the game, though it was a port and some technical issues. So, when I picked up the Sega DreamCast, I gifted the PS2 version to a friend of mine and I picked up the original DreamCast version. After playing the game again in 2018, I decided that this was the year I would go through it again. I wanted a simple, fun JRPG to fill my void and Grandia II fitted that perfectly. After going through the game a final time learning all spells and skills, I can happily put Grandia II behind me.
Grandia II takes many of the aspects of the first game, but also changes a few things as well. Thankfully, they did not touch the battle system which is fantastic and one of the quickest in JRPG history. Battles are over in a round or two, but they also have enough depth where you are not just mashing the attack button. They also changed how you level up magic and skills. In Grandia II, you collect SP and MP points after each battle and you spend those on skills and magic that your characters learn. The higher the level, the more powerful they are and the quicker they go off. It encourages you to spend some time grinding, which helps in enjoying the battle system. The game also takes full use of the DreamCast hardware as this is one of the most colorful games you can ever play. It's a sight to see and such a nice change of pace from modern Gray games.
One aspect I wish they kept from the original was the story. The original game had a simple story about going on an adventure with a super sweet story. This one is more about religion, God and coming together as a human race. It is so forced and hackneyed that you appreciate other JRPG stories. Also, the main character's voice is Leonardo from TMNT, so it is hard to get pass that and his cadence doesn't take well to any heavy emotional scenes.
Overall, despite me not liking the story, I absolutely love everything about Grandia II. Going through dungeons and fighting battles just made the time fly by along with taking me to a rather peaceful place. The battles are quick enough that even non JRPG fans would enjoy this one. It's nothing groundbreaking, but if you love that JRPG feeling, Grandia II sure delivers!
*Denotes Replay For Completion*
1. Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster (PS3)
2. Max Payne 2: The Fall Of Max Payne (XBOX)
3. Streets of Rage 4 (NS)
4. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time Master Quest (GCN)
5. Dirge Of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2)
6. Darkstalkers (PS1)
7. Evolution: The World Of Sacred Device (SDC)
8. Ogre Battle 64: Person Of Lordly Calibur (N64)
9. Draogn Quest VI (SNES)
10. Batman: The Video Game (GEN)
11. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (NES)
12. Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
13. Pokemon Red (GB)
14. Wii Sports (Wii)
15. Splatoon (WiiU)
16. Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (PS2)
***17. Final Fantasy IX (PS1)***
***18. Out Run (GEN)***
19. Assassin's Creed (PS3)
20. RBI Baseball 2 (NES)
21. Puzzle Kingdoms (Wii)
22. Operation C (GBC)
***23. Illusion Of Gaia (SNES)***
***24. Super Mario Brothers 2 (NES)***
25. Forza Motorsport (XBOX)
26. Super Mario Strikers (GCN)
***27. Grandia II (SDC)***
I completed Grandia II on the Sega DreamCast this afternoon!
The original Grandia was a game I absolutely loved on the original Playstation. After I finished the first one, I almost immediately went and picked up Grandia II on the Playstation II. Once again, I love the game, though it was a port and some technical issues. So, when I picked up the Sega DreamCast, I gifted the PS2 version to a friend of mine and I picked up the original DreamCast version. After playing the game again in 2018, I decided that this was the year I would go through it again. I wanted a simple, fun JRPG to fill my void and Grandia II fitted that perfectly. After going through the game a final time learning all spells and skills, I can happily put Grandia II behind me.
Grandia II takes many of the aspects of the first game, but also changes a few things as well. Thankfully, they did not touch the battle system which is fantastic and one of the quickest in JRPG history. Battles are over in a round or two, but they also have enough depth where you are not just mashing the attack button. They also changed how you level up magic and skills. In Grandia II, you collect SP and MP points after each battle and you spend those on skills and magic that your characters learn. The higher the level, the more powerful they are and the quicker they go off. It encourages you to spend some time grinding, which helps in enjoying the battle system. The game also takes full use of the DreamCast hardware as this is one of the most colorful games you can ever play. It's a sight to see and such a nice change of pace from modern Gray games.
One aspect I wish they kept from the original was the story. The original game had a simple story about going on an adventure with a super sweet story. This one is more about religion, God and coming together as a human race. It is so forced and hackneyed that you appreciate other JRPG stories. Also, the main character's voice is Leonardo from TMNT, so it is hard to get pass that and his cadence doesn't take well to any heavy emotional scenes.
Overall, despite me not liking the story, I absolutely love everything about Grandia II. Going through dungeons and fighting battles just made the time fly by along with taking me to a rather peaceful place. The battles are quick enough that even non JRPG fans would enjoy this one. It's nothing groundbreaking, but if you love that JRPG feeling, Grandia II sure delivers!
-
PartridgeSenpai
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 2999
- Joined: Mon Dec 14, 2015 9:27 am
- Location: Northern Japan
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Partridge Senpai's 2021 Beaten Games:
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
* indicates a repeat
1. Dandy Dungeon: The Legend of Brave Yamada (Switch)
2. Dandy Dungeon 2: The Phantom Bride (Switch)
3. Mon Amor (Switch)
4. Terraria (PC)
5. Puppeteer (PS3) *
6. Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon (PS1)
7. Project Altered Beast (PS2)
8. Devil Summoner II: Soul Hackers (Saturn)
9. Kirby Star Allies: Heroes in Another Dimension (Switch)
10. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB)
11. Tales of Vesperia (PS3) *
12. Art Style: BOXLIFE (DSi)
13. Super Robot Wars F (Saturn)
14. Super Robot Wars F Final (Saturn)
15. Super Robot Wars 64 (N64)
16. Knight Gundam Monogatari (SFC)
17. Knight Gundam Monogatari 2 (SFC)
18. Mega Man Legends 2 (PSP)
19. Mighty No. 9 (PC)
20. Mega Man Xtreme (GBC)
21. Mega Man Xtreme 2 (GBC)
22. Super Robot Wars Alpha (PS1)
23. Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden (PS1)
24. Vampire Hunter D (PS1)
25. Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 (PS2)
26. Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 (PS2)
27. Super Robot Wars 2: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
28. Super Robot Wars 3: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
29. Super Robot Wars EX: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
30. Super Robot Wars IV Scramble (PS1)
With this completed, so ends my recent series of playing through the original 4 SRW games (in one form or another). However, given that my playthroughs of SRW 2, 3, and EX were via their 1999 remakes, this is technically the oldest SRW game I’ve played, being more or less a direct port of the Super Famicom original with a few new aesthetic touches here and there. I got the best ending playing as a male real robot pilot, and it took me probably around 60 or 70 hours on original hardware.
This is the original conclusion (before it was remade in F and F Final) of what is now known as the Divine Crusaders SRW games. It’s the first to let you have a player avatar character, though you don’t play a very major role in the story, and it pits our heroes against familiar Gundam villains (those still remaining from prior games, at least), as well as finally letting us fight Mazinger villains. We also get several new series adapted here (L-Gaim, Dancouga, Tosho Daimos, and Zambot 3 among them), and fighting the L-Gaim antagonists in particular takes up a sizeable part of the narrative. Once again, this is an early SRW game, so it’s not exactly high art we’re dealing with here, but it’s still charming, funny, and compelling in the same way most of the early WinkySoft era SRW games are. Even though the narrative is kinda getting to the point where we have a bit too much bloat with how many characters we’re dealing with (with Dancouga’s antagonists being entirely absent, and Daimos and Zambot’s being so minor they may as well not even be here), it doesn’t really harm the overall quality or flow of the narrative for the more lighthearted purpose it’s presented with.
Mechanically, while it’s still pretty recognizably a SRW game as an SRPG, this game absolutely shows its age and then some, as this is another SRW game (as so many of the early ones were) that’s bringing a LOT of “firsts” to the table. As previously mentioned, this is the first SRW game to have a player avatar character with their own original mech. This is also the first game to have the ability to select counterattacks as well as the first to have pilot passive skills (such as Newtype or Parry), rather than just mech passive skills. Most importantly, this is also the first game to have equippable items. These items aren’t gotten from defeated enemies as in most all later games, but instead are hidden in invisible spots on the ground that you either need to intuit (or guess) are there, or you need to use the Search spirit ability to learn that they’re there. This invisible items thing was easily the part of the game that I detested the most, and it’s such a bummer to know that this isn’t the only game in the series that does it Xp.
Aside from those new mechanics, the game on the whole is remarkably easy (likely as a response to how difficult the original version of SRW 3 was, from what I understand). Units can gain levels remarkably quickly if they’re killing enemies that are a higher level than them, many units (particularly multi-pilot super robots like the Dancouga or the Combattler) have VERY good spreads of spirit abilities to help them really throw their weight around, and enemies themselves just generally trend to be quite weak (most notably in how no unnamed enemy has any parry or shield skills, making them very easy to mop up). There are two or three missions I found quite hard, but overall, if you generally keep most folks leveled up so the team split in the last leg of the game has solid fighters in both teams, this is probably the easiest SRW game I’ve played, if not very close to it. The only really pain in the butt Old Game Problem that this 1995 SRPG somehow has is that ammo refillers and healers DON’T gain EXP from healing or refilling ammo. This isn’t a *huge* deal, but it is an annoyance in that your support units are either going to be largely ignored and/or under leveled as they’re just too risky to deploy most of the time.
Presentation-wise, this is quite a nice looking game compared to other WinkySoft PS1 SRW games, but it also definitely shows how much of a Super Famicom game it is. The graphics are much effectively identical, though the soundtrack is more early PS1 than it is late SFC (though an interesting audio note is that your robot’s themes only play when they’re attacking, and not when they’re counterattacking as well like they do in basically every game after this). The most noticeable addition between the two versions is that 4S has voice acting during battle scenes, but only for some characters. It’s generally just the main protagonists of the included series, with some original characters and side characters from especially the new additions to SRW getting voices as well, but not all the time. Grendizer’s pilot, who had been in the previous 3 SRW games is unvoiced, and not a single character from *new* addition Zambot 3, not even its main character, are voiced. This is despite some characters who aren’t even recruitable (original character Gilliam who is only ever a friendly NPC) and some absurdly hard to find/recruit characters (Quess from Char’s Counter Attack) who *do* have voice acting. Regardless of who is and isn’t voiced, though, this piecemeal approach to VA may have seemed neat or acceptable back in ’96, but it’s aged like warm milk and really only drives home how much of the game doesn’t have VA.
One last note on the performance of the game, as this is another place this game shows its age. Yes, the game did crash on me once while loading the theme for Zambot 3 as it was about to attack, but the bigger problem is how awwwwful slow everything is. The way your cursor slowly drags around the map (even on fast mode), the way attack animations slowwwly load, and even the little hitches as it loads the next robot’s theme to play when you initiate an attack add SO much to games that already take a good while to play because you can’t skip battle animations. Now those battle animations are *very* simple, even for WinkySoft era SRW games, but that slowness really adds up. Part of this isn’t entirely the PS1 hardware’s fault. Looking up videos online, a lot of the animations and such for the map were that slow in the SFC version as well. But the loading times are *definitely* longer, and it was to the point where I nearly started emulating the SFC version instead of putting up with how slow this game’s everything was XP. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s definitely gonna be one of the hardest pills to swallow with this game, as is so often the case with these early PS1 RPGs (especially ones that are basically just a glorified SNES emulator XP).
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. As a SRW game, this is a fine one. I’d have a hard time calling it outright bad in any particular way, but it is a very flawed and aged experience. If things like the invisible items (that you very best well use a guide for as I did) and the very slow pace of the animations haven’t turned you off after reading about them, then this may be a game you get some good fun out of like I did. But even still, this is a game I’d only recommend to the most dedicated SRW fans, as there is a lot of much better SRW out there to play on your PS1 (or PS2) that can be attained for just as cheap as this one can be.
----
31. Biohazard (PS1)
Thinking back on it, this is one of very few games I can even still remember that I started playing when I was younger but just gave up on because it was too hard. It was probably some ten or so years ago that I tried playing the American Director’s Cut version of RE1, but I ended up giving up after being completely stonewalled by the first boss. Now admittedly, this game is a slightly easier version (it has auto-aim, enemies are a bit weaker, and you get 1 more ribbon per pile of ink ribbons), but I was definitely happy with how I was finally able to best a game that had stumped younger me (even it’s not exactly an all-time favorite). I wanted to play at least one spoopy game this October, and I ended up being able to beat this one in the one day I figured it’d take me. I even managed to play through the whole thing with the weird ASCII RE1 PS1 controller I got that inspired me to give this game another try in the first place x3. It took me about 10 or so hours (in-game time being just a hair under 8 hours) to beat the Japanese version of the game on real hardware, and I got the best ending with Jill.
Biohazard 1 is a well known story by now to pretty much anyone reading this review. After mysterious monster attacks in the rural American town of Raccoon City, the STARS special forces team is sent to investigate. After Bravo team mysteriously disappears, your unit is sent in after them, and they flee inside the mysterious Spencer Mansion to escape the monstrous dogs that attack them after their initial helicopter landing. It’s up to Jill (or Chris, if you decide to play his harder route), to explore the mansion and survive all of the monsters and zombies out to get them! It’s a cute story that’s aged pretty well. The English voice acting still has that campy fun, and it’s a delightful homage to old American horror B-movies. It’s hardly high art, of course, but it’s a fun story with twists and turns that accomplishes more or less exactly what it sets out to do.
Mechanically, it’s the dawn of survival horror as we know it so well today. Lots of pre-rendered environments for your character to run around in with their tank controls, clunky combat, inventory management, and puzzle solving. While the better auto-aim in this version definitely made the clunky combat a lot easier to bare (and the relative abundance of ammo and health making Jill’s route at least not too difficult overall if you play smartly), the inventory management absolutely did my head in XP. SO much walking back and forth between storage boxes and safe rooms, even with the enemies in the way taken care of, the loading screens between rooms (charming door opening effects or no) take up SUCH a significant amount of the playtime in RE1. It’s a remarkably good effort for a game effectively founding the genre it’s in, particularly in little way like the game telling you that you’ve opened every door a key can open (and giving you the opportunity to throw it away right then), but the at this point iconic inventory management system of this game is definitely as much of an obstacle as it ever was to playing it these days.
As far as its presentation goes, this game still looks quite nice for such an early (March ’96) PS1 game. The pre-rendered backgrounds look very nice, the character models are very expressive and well designed, and the monsters are really cool too. My only real complaint is that I wish interactable items were a *bit* better highlighted, as it’s a tad too easy to not realize the puzzle you’ve been stuck on for ages was all down to you not realizing you didn’t interact with a shelf in QUITE the right way to actually access what’s inside it. The sound design is also nice, with the music setting a really nice tone for the action at hand, whether that action is more spoopyful or action-y.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. There is absolutely still fun to be had with these old PS1 survival horror games, but being a genre so in its infancy, there’s still a lot of crap to deal with just as a result of where gaming was at the time. If you’re ready to meet the game where it’s at and deal with its clunkyness, this is still a relatively easy experience still worth playing, but if you’re not ready for that, it’s probably better looking elsewhere for your horror games. While I didn’t dislike my time with Biohazard 1, I didn’t exactly love it either, and it’s not something I have a ton of willingness to run out and grab other entries in. I liked it okay for what it is, and you very well might do as well~.
Previously: 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
* indicates a repeat
1. Dandy Dungeon: The Legend of Brave Yamada (Switch)
2. Dandy Dungeon 2: The Phantom Bride (Switch)
3. Mon Amor (Switch)
4. Terraria (PC)
5. Puppeteer (PS3) *
6. Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon (PS1)
7. Project Altered Beast (PS2)
8. Devil Summoner II: Soul Hackers (Saturn)
9. Kirby Star Allies: Heroes in Another Dimension (Switch)
10. Kirby's Dream Land 2 (GB)
11. Tales of Vesperia (PS3) *
12. Art Style: BOXLIFE (DSi)
13. Super Robot Wars F (Saturn)
14. Super Robot Wars F Final (Saturn)
15. Super Robot Wars 64 (N64)
16. Knight Gundam Monogatari (SFC)
17. Knight Gundam Monogatari 2 (SFC)
18. Mega Man Legends 2 (PSP)
19. Mighty No. 9 (PC)
20. Mega Man Xtreme (GBC)
21. Mega Man Xtreme 2 (GBC)
22. Super Robot Wars Alpha (PS1)
23. Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden (PS1)
24. Vampire Hunter D (PS1)
25. Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 (PS2)
26. Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 (PS2)
27. Super Robot Wars 2: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
28. Super Robot Wars 3: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
29. Super Robot Wars EX: Complete Box Edition (PS1)
30. Super Robot Wars IV Scramble (PS1)
With this completed, so ends my recent series of playing through the original 4 SRW games (in one form or another). However, given that my playthroughs of SRW 2, 3, and EX were via their 1999 remakes, this is technically the oldest SRW game I’ve played, being more or less a direct port of the Super Famicom original with a few new aesthetic touches here and there. I got the best ending playing as a male real robot pilot, and it took me probably around 60 or 70 hours on original hardware.
This is the original conclusion (before it was remade in F and F Final) of what is now known as the Divine Crusaders SRW games. It’s the first to let you have a player avatar character, though you don’t play a very major role in the story, and it pits our heroes against familiar Gundam villains (those still remaining from prior games, at least), as well as finally letting us fight Mazinger villains. We also get several new series adapted here (L-Gaim, Dancouga, Tosho Daimos, and Zambot 3 among them), and fighting the L-Gaim antagonists in particular takes up a sizeable part of the narrative. Once again, this is an early SRW game, so it’s not exactly high art we’re dealing with here, but it’s still charming, funny, and compelling in the same way most of the early WinkySoft era SRW games are. Even though the narrative is kinda getting to the point where we have a bit too much bloat with how many characters we’re dealing with (with Dancouga’s antagonists being entirely absent, and Daimos and Zambot’s being so minor they may as well not even be here), it doesn’t really harm the overall quality or flow of the narrative for the more lighthearted purpose it’s presented with.
Mechanically, while it’s still pretty recognizably a SRW game as an SRPG, this game absolutely shows its age and then some, as this is another SRW game (as so many of the early ones were) that’s bringing a LOT of “firsts” to the table. As previously mentioned, this is the first SRW game to have a player avatar character with their own original mech. This is also the first game to have the ability to select counterattacks as well as the first to have pilot passive skills (such as Newtype or Parry), rather than just mech passive skills. Most importantly, this is also the first game to have equippable items. These items aren’t gotten from defeated enemies as in most all later games, but instead are hidden in invisible spots on the ground that you either need to intuit (or guess) are there, or you need to use the Search spirit ability to learn that they’re there. This invisible items thing was easily the part of the game that I detested the most, and it’s such a bummer to know that this isn’t the only game in the series that does it Xp.
Aside from those new mechanics, the game on the whole is remarkably easy (likely as a response to how difficult the original version of SRW 3 was, from what I understand). Units can gain levels remarkably quickly if they’re killing enemies that are a higher level than them, many units (particularly multi-pilot super robots like the Dancouga or the Combattler) have VERY good spreads of spirit abilities to help them really throw their weight around, and enemies themselves just generally trend to be quite weak (most notably in how no unnamed enemy has any parry or shield skills, making them very easy to mop up). There are two or three missions I found quite hard, but overall, if you generally keep most folks leveled up so the team split in the last leg of the game has solid fighters in both teams, this is probably the easiest SRW game I’ve played, if not very close to it. The only really pain in the butt Old Game Problem that this 1995 SRPG somehow has is that ammo refillers and healers DON’T gain EXP from healing or refilling ammo. This isn’t a *huge* deal, but it is an annoyance in that your support units are either going to be largely ignored and/or under leveled as they’re just too risky to deploy most of the time.
Presentation-wise, this is quite a nice looking game compared to other WinkySoft PS1 SRW games, but it also definitely shows how much of a Super Famicom game it is. The graphics are much effectively identical, though the soundtrack is more early PS1 than it is late SFC (though an interesting audio note is that your robot’s themes only play when they’re attacking, and not when they’re counterattacking as well like they do in basically every game after this). The most noticeable addition between the two versions is that 4S has voice acting during battle scenes, but only for some characters. It’s generally just the main protagonists of the included series, with some original characters and side characters from especially the new additions to SRW getting voices as well, but not all the time. Grendizer’s pilot, who had been in the previous 3 SRW games is unvoiced, and not a single character from *new* addition Zambot 3, not even its main character, are voiced. This is despite some characters who aren’t even recruitable (original character Gilliam who is only ever a friendly NPC) and some absurdly hard to find/recruit characters (Quess from Char’s Counter Attack) who *do* have voice acting. Regardless of who is and isn’t voiced, though, this piecemeal approach to VA may have seemed neat or acceptable back in ’96, but it’s aged like warm milk and really only drives home how much of the game doesn’t have VA.
One last note on the performance of the game, as this is another place this game shows its age. Yes, the game did crash on me once while loading the theme for Zambot 3 as it was about to attack, but the bigger problem is how awwwwful slow everything is. The way your cursor slowly drags around the map (even on fast mode), the way attack animations slowwwly load, and even the little hitches as it loads the next robot’s theme to play when you initiate an attack add SO much to games that already take a good while to play because you can’t skip battle animations. Now those battle animations are *very* simple, even for WinkySoft era SRW games, but that slowness really adds up. Part of this isn’t entirely the PS1 hardware’s fault. Looking up videos online, a lot of the animations and such for the map were that slow in the SFC version as well. But the loading times are *definitely* longer, and it was to the point where I nearly started emulating the SFC version instead of putting up with how slow this game’s everything was XP. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s definitely gonna be one of the hardest pills to swallow with this game, as is so often the case with these early PS1 RPGs (especially ones that are basically just a glorified SNES emulator XP).
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. As a SRW game, this is a fine one. I’d have a hard time calling it outright bad in any particular way, but it is a very flawed and aged experience. If things like the invisible items (that you very best well use a guide for as I did) and the very slow pace of the animations haven’t turned you off after reading about them, then this may be a game you get some good fun out of like I did. But even still, this is a game I’d only recommend to the most dedicated SRW fans, as there is a lot of much better SRW out there to play on your PS1 (or PS2) that can be attained for just as cheap as this one can be.
----
31. Biohazard (PS1)
Thinking back on it, this is one of very few games I can even still remember that I started playing when I was younger but just gave up on because it was too hard. It was probably some ten or so years ago that I tried playing the American Director’s Cut version of RE1, but I ended up giving up after being completely stonewalled by the first boss. Now admittedly, this game is a slightly easier version (it has auto-aim, enemies are a bit weaker, and you get 1 more ribbon per pile of ink ribbons), but I was definitely happy with how I was finally able to best a game that had stumped younger me (even it’s not exactly an all-time favorite). I wanted to play at least one spoopy game this October, and I ended up being able to beat this one in the one day I figured it’d take me. I even managed to play through the whole thing with the weird ASCII RE1 PS1 controller I got that inspired me to give this game another try in the first place x3. It took me about 10 or so hours (in-game time being just a hair under 8 hours) to beat the Japanese version of the game on real hardware, and I got the best ending with Jill.
Biohazard 1 is a well known story by now to pretty much anyone reading this review. After mysterious monster attacks in the rural American town of Raccoon City, the STARS special forces team is sent to investigate. After Bravo team mysteriously disappears, your unit is sent in after them, and they flee inside the mysterious Spencer Mansion to escape the monstrous dogs that attack them after their initial helicopter landing. It’s up to Jill (or Chris, if you decide to play his harder route), to explore the mansion and survive all of the monsters and zombies out to get them! It’s a cute story that’s aged pretty well. The English voice acting still has that campy fun, and it’s a delightful homage to old American horror B-movies. It’s hardly high art, of course, but it’s a fun story with twists and turns that accomplishes more or less exactly what it sets out to do.
Mechanically, it’s the dawn of survival horror as we know it so well today. Lots of pre-rendered environments for your character to run around in with their tank controls, clunky combat, inventory management, and puzzle solving. While the better auto-aim in this version definitely made the clunky combat a lot easier to bare (and the relative abundance of ammo and health making Jill’s route at least not too difficult overall if you play smartly), the inventory management absolutely did my head in XP. SO much walking back and forth between storage boxes and safe rooms, even with the enemies in the way taken care of, the loading screens between rooms (charming door opening effects or no) take up SUCH a significant amount of the playtime in RE1. It’s a remarkably good effort for a game effectively founding the genre it’s in, particularly in little way like the game telling you that you’ve opened every door a key can open (and giving you the opportunity to throw it away right then), but the at this point iconic inventory management system of this game is definitely as much of an obstacle as it ever was to playing it these days.
As far as its presentation goes, this game still looks quite nice for such an early (March ’96) PS1 game. The pre-rendered backgrounds look very nice, the character models are very expressive and well designed, and the monsters are really cool too. My only real complaint is that I wish interactable items were a *bit* better highlighted, as it’s a tad too easy to not realize the puzzle you’ve been stuck on for ages was all down to you not realizing you didn’t interact with a shelf in QUITE the right way to actually access what’s inside it. The sound design is also nice, with the music setting a really nice tone for the action at hand, whether that action is more spoopyful or action-y.
Verdict: Hesitantly Recommended. There is absolutely still fun to be had with these old PS1 survival horror games, but being a genre so in its infancy, there’s still a lot of crap to deal with just as a result of where gaming was at the time. If you’re ready to meet the game where it’s at and deal with its clunkyness, this is still a relatively easy experience still worth playing, but if you’re not ready for that, it’s probably better looking elsewhere for your horror games. While I didn’t dislike my time with Biohazard 1, I didn’t exactly love it either, and it’s not something I have a ton of willingness to run out and grab other entries in. I liked it okay for what it is, and you very well might do as well~.
I identify everyone via avatar, so if you change your avatar, I genuinely might completely forget who you are. -- Me
Re: Games Beaten 2022
PartridgeSenpai wrote:31. Biohazard (PS1)
If you haven't, you should give the original Alone in the Dark (1992) a try for comparison.
Systems: TI-99/4a, Commodore Vic-20, Atari 2600, NES, SMS, GB, Neo Geo MVS (Big Red 4-slot), Genesis, SNES, 3DO, PS1, N64, DC, PS2, GBA, GCN, NDSi, Wii
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Markies wrote:Also, the main character's voice is Leonardo from TMNT, so it is hard to get pass that and his cadence doesn't take well to any heavy emotional scenes.
Yeah, Cam Clarke has sort of two variations on his voice he uses. One is the smooth voice he uses for Kratos and Die Fledermaus. The other is the more upbeat voice for Leonardo and Ryudo. It unfortunately tends to get a bit of a whiney edge at times as he tries to emulate a shounen protagonist.
Blizzard Entertainment Software Developer - All comments and views are my own and not representative of the company.
-
ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8672
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Games Beaten in 2021 - 59
* denotes a replay
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (1 Games Beaten)
March (0 Games Beaten)
April (3 Games Beaten)
May (3 Games Beaten)
June (11 Games Beaten)
July (14 Games Beaten)
August (2 Games Beaten)
September (3 Games Beaten)
October (1 Games Beaten)
59. Pokemon Yellow - Game Boy Color - October 5*
At the center of the late 90s’ Pokemon craze was the (in hindsight poorly dubbed) anime series following the protagonist Ash Ketchum and his overpowered Pikachu that refuses to evolve or stay in a Pokeball. To cash in on this, GameFreak made Pokemon Yellow Version “Special Pikachu Edition” to put a spin on the Gen 1 games that referenced the anime. At its core this is just another version of Red, Green, and Blue, but there are some aspects that make it distinct.
Other than the routine variations in Pokemon availability, the first major difference becomes apparent as soon as you start the game. In Red, Green, and Blue, you have three starter choices - Fire-type Charmander, Grass-type Bulbasaur, and Water-type Squirtle - but in Yellow, your starter is always the Electric-type Pikachu (hence why it’s called “Special Pikachu Edition”). This Pikachu is special for a few reasons. For one, it won’t stay in its Pokeball unless it’s fainted; it always follows behind you. It also refuses to evolve into Raichu, and since no other Pikachu are catchable in the game, you have to trade with Red, Blue, or Green to get a Pikachu to evolve into the best Pokemon of all time. Most interestingly, it learns Thunderbolt much earlier than usual for Gen 1. Pikachu isn’t exactly an amazing Pokemon - its attack stats are middling, and it’s fairly frail - but it’s also illegal not to finish the Elite Four with your starter, so you make it work. As your rival’s starter was always the counter to yours, Gary also gets a set starter here - Eevee. What he evolves his Eevee into is based on whether you win or lose your first few battles against one another.
My favorite change is that all three of the traditional Gen 1 starters are available. You can’t catch them, but there’s a person north of Cerulean City who gives you a Charmander, a person in Cerulean City who gives you a Bulbasaur if your friendship with Pikachu is high enough, and Officer Jenny in Vermilion City who gives you a Squirtle. This means that there’s a 99% that your team is going to be Pikachu, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur by the time you get to the Elite Four with only two wild card spots (I used Alakazam and Porygon). The other big change of note is that Jesse and James from Team Rocket have been put into the game as a few new battles to further reference the anime. They don’t try to steal your Pikachu like in the anime, but there are a few references to “a kid with a really strong Pikachu.”
Other than that, it’s pretty much just Gen 1 with color. You still catch all three legendary birds in the same places. Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave is still the only real post-game. The Old Man glitch was fixed, so that’s a bummer, but you can still pull off the Mew glitch on Cerulean’s City Nugget Bridge. All things considered, I’d call this the definitive Gen 1 game, but I’m partial to Red and Blue because of Raichu. I know I’m a minority there, though. It’s definitely worth picking up on the 3DS Virtual Console while you’ve got the chance, though, both just to play the game as well as to move a Pikachu with its Hidden Ability up to Pokemon Home.
* denotes a replay
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (1 Games Beaten)
March (0 Games Beaten)
April (3 Games Beaten)
May (3 Games Beaten)
June (11 Games Beaten)
July (14 Games Beaten)
August (2 Games Beaten)
September (3 Games Beaten)
October (1 Games Beaten)
59. Pokemon Yellow - Game Boy Color - October 5*
At the center of the late 90s’ Pokemon craze was the (in hindsight poorly dubbed) anime series following the protagonist Ash Ketchum and his overpowered Pikachu that refuses to evolve or stay in a Pokeball. To cash in on this, GameFreak made Pokemon Yellow Version “Special Pikachu Edition” to put a spin on the Gen 1 games that referenced the anime. At its core this is just another version of Red, Green, and Blue, but there are some aspects that make it distinct.
Other than the routine variations in Pokemon availability, the first major difference becomes apparent as soon as you start the game. In Red, Green, and Blue, you have three starter choices - Fire-type Charmander, Grass-type Bulbasaur, and Water-type Squirtle - but in Yellow, your starter is always the Electric-type Pikachu (hence why it’s called “Special Pikachu Edition”). This Pikachu is special for a few reasons. For one, it won’t stay in its Pokeball unless it’s fainted; it always follows behind you. It also refuses to evolve into Raichu, and since no other Pikachu are catchable in the game, you have to trade with Red, Blue, or Green to get a Pikachu to evolve into the best Pokemon of all time. Most interestingly, it learns Thunderbolt much earlier than usual for Gen 1. Pikachu isn’t exactly an amazing Pokemon - its attack stats are middling, and it’s fairly frail - but it’s also illegal not to finish the Elite Four with your starter, so you make it work. As your rival’s starter was always the counter to yours, Gary also gets a set starter here - Eevee. What he evolves his Eevee into is based on whether you win or lose your first few battles against one another.
My favorite change is that all three of the traditional Gen 1 starters are available. You can’t catch them, but there’s a person north of Cerulean City who gives you a Charmander, a person in Cerulean City who gives you a Bulbasaur if your friendship with Pikachu is high enough, and Officer Jenny in Vermilion City who gives you a Squirtle. This means that there’s a 99% that your team is going to be Pikachu, Charizard, Blastoise, and Venusaur by the time you get to the Elite Four with only two wild card spots (I used Alakazam and Porygon). The other big change of note is that Jesse and James from Team Rocket have been put into the game as a few new battles to further reference the anime. They don’t try to steal your Pikachu like in the anime, but there are a few references to “a kid with a really strong Pikachu.”
Other than that, it’s pretty much just Gen 1 with color. You still catch all three legendary birds in the same places. Mewtwo in Cerulean Cave is still the only real post-game. The Old Man glitch was fixed, so that’s a bummer, but you can still pull off the Mew glitch on Cerulean’s City Nugget Bridge. All things considered, I’d call this the definitive Gen 1 game, but I’m partial to Red and Blue because of Raichu. I know I’m a minority there, though. It’s definitely worth picking up on the 3DS Virtual Console while you’ve got the chance, though, both just to play the game as well as to move a Pikachu with its Hidden Ability up to Pokemon Home.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode
-
ElkinFencer10
- Next-Gen
- Posts: 8672
- Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:34 pm
- Location: Henderson, North Carolina
- Contact:
Re: Games Beaten 2022
Games Beaten in 2021 - 61
* denotes a replay
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (1 Games Beaten)
March (0 Games Beaten)
April (3 Games Beaten)
May (3 Games Beaten)
June (11 Games Beaten)
July (14 Games Beaten)
August (2 Games Beaten)
September (3 Games Beaten)
October (3 Games Beaten)
60. Pokemon Crystal - Game Boy Color - October 9*
61. Pokemon Blue - Game Boy - October 21*
Not reviewing Blue here since it's functionally identical to Red, and I reviewed that last month.
After the enormous success of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow (plus Green in Japan), GameFreak got to work on the sequel games. In comes the Gen 2 games, Gold and Silver, that have you explore through Johto, conquer the Pokemon League, and then explore through Kanto. As was tradition until Gen 8, they then released an enhanced version of Gold and Silver - Pokemon Crystal.
The Gen 2 games have you play as a kid in New Bark Town starting off on his (or her, if you’re playing Crystal since it introduced the first playable female protagonist) Pokemon journey in Johto. There’s a sketchy dude creeping outside Professor Elm’s lab who ends up being your rival (and a wanted criminal), but like Gen 1, the focus is on your adventure more than the overarching plot. You journey through Johto, catching legendary Pokemon and collecting the eight gym badges, and eventually challenging the Elite Four and becoming champion, just like in Gen 1. The big difference here is that you can then travel to Kanto and collect eight MORE badges. With all 16 badges, you can explore Mt. Silver and eventually battle Red, the protagonist from Gen 1. This is, hands down, one of the hardest NPC battles of the Pokemon franchise with Pokemon levels that top level 80.
Crystal Version is, without a doubt, the definitive Gen 2 experience. As one would expect, there are some Pokemon from the Johto dex that can’t be obtained in Crystal, so you’ll need to trade with Gold and Silver if you want to catch ‘em all, and there are a handful of Kanto Pokemon that require trades with Red, Blue, or Yellow. The biggest change to Crystal from Gold and Silver is some story details; Suicune, as the cover legendary, plays a bigger role in the story than it did in Gold and Silver, and there’s a new character, Eusine, who shows up with a connection to Suicune. There’s also an opportunity to get a special Dratini that knows ExtremeSpeed, a move that Dragonite cannot normally learn. There’s also a new Unown sub-story with extra lore. By and large, it’s Gold and Silver but more refined, but there are some of those story additions that make it the definitive version for lore fans, as well.
Most people consider the Gen 2 games to be the best generation of Pokemon, and I can understand why. You’ve got the nostalgia playing in for Millennials, but you’ve also got some genuinely good Pokemon designs. Ho-oh is one of my favorite legendaries, and the games also added the Dark and Steel types as well as the breeding and friendship mechanics (outside of friendship’s limited test run with Pikachu in Yellow Version). It’s the only generation where you get to explore two whole regions, and the battle with Red on Mt. Silver is an amazing conclusion to your journey. Crystal, especially, is a great game if you’re playing the 3DS Virtual Console version because it includes the Celebi event. Who doesn’t want to spend 30 hours soft resetting for a pink onion especially since you can transfer it up to modern games? It’s still got some QoL issues that got addressed in later games, but for 2001 on the Game Boy Color, this is as good a Pokemon game as GameFreak could possibly have made.
* denotes a replay
January (20 Games Beaten)
February (1 Games Beaten)
March (0 Games Beaten)
April (3 Games Beaten)
May (3 Games Beaten)
June (11 Games Beaten)
July (14 Games Beaten)
August (2 Games Beaten)
September (3 Games Beaten)
October (3 Games Beaten)
60. Pokemon Crystal - Game Boy Color - October 9*
61. Pokemon Blue - Game Boy - October 21*
Not reviewing Blue here since it's functionally identical to Red, and I reviewed that last month.
After the enormous success of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow (plus Green in Japan), GameFreak got to work on the sequel games. In comes the Gen 2 games, Gold and Silver, that have you explore through Johto, conquer the Pokemon League, and then explore through Kanto. As was tradition until Gen 8, they then released an enhanced version of Gold and Silver - Pokemon Crystal.
The Gen 2 games have you play as a kid in New Bark Town starting off on his (or her, if you’re playing Crystal since it introduced the first playable female protagonist) Pokemon journey in Johto. There’s a sketchy dude creeping outside Professor Elm’s lab who ends up being your rival (and a wanted criminal), but like Gen 1, the focus is on your adventure more than the overarching plot. You journey through Johto, catching legendary Pokemon and collecting the eight gym badges, and eventually challenging the Elite Four and becoming champion, just like in Gen 1. The big difference here is that you can then travel to Kanto and collect eight MORE badges. With all 16 badges, you can explore Mt. Silver and eventually battle Red, the protagonist from Gen 1. This is, hands down, one of the hardest NPC battles of the Pokemon franchise with Pokemon levels that top level 80.
Crystal Version is, without a doubt, the definitive Gen 2 experience. As one would expect, there are some Pokemon from the Johto dex that can’t be obtained in Crystal, so you’ll need to trade with Gold and Silver if you want to catch ‘em all, and there are a handful of Kanto Pokemon that require trades with Red, Blue, or Yellow. The biggest change to Crystal from Gold and Silver is some story details; Suicune, as the cover legendary, plays a bigger role in the story than it did in Gold and Silver, and there’s a new character, Eusine, who shows up with a connection to Suicune. There’s also an opportunity to get a special Dratini that knows ExtremeSpeed, a move that Dragonite cannot normally learn. There’s also a new Unown sub-story with extra lore. By and large, it’s Gold and Silver but more refined, but there are some of those story additions that make it the definitive version for lore fans, as well.
Most people consider the Gen 2 games to be the best generation of Pokemon, and I can understand why. You’ve got the nostalgia playing in for Millennials, but you’ve also got some genuinely good Pokemon designs. Ho-oh is one of my favorite legendaries, and the games also added the Dark and Steel types as well as the breeding and friendship mechanics (outside of friendship’s limited test run with Pikachu in Yellow Version). It’s the only generation where you get to explore two whole regions, and the battle with Red on Mt. Silver is an amazing conclusion to your journey. Crystal, especially, is a great game if you’re playing the 3DS Virtual Console version because it includes the Celebi event. Who doesn’t want to spend 30 hours soft resetting for a pink onion especially since you can transfer it up to modern games? It’s still got some QoL issues that got addressed in later games, but for 2001 on the Game Boy Color, this is as good a Pokemon game as GameFreak could possibly have made.
Patron Saint of Bitch Mode