52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

[dhaabi]

45. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars || Super Nintendo || 12.05.24



Realizing some time ago that I should make use of my Super NES Classic Edition unit, I decided it would be the best immediate means for me to experience a game from the Super Nintendo's library. Despite not being someone who'd necessarily identify themselves as a fan of the Mario franchise, I've been wanting to play through Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for many years. Finally, I did just that.

To begin, Super Mario RPG is a game that I think everyone of all ages can appreciate. Like the Super Mario series proper, its story is straightforward, and for some time, it follows the formulaic narrative that Princess Peach must be saved. However, certain aspects within the story and its characters are subverted, including Princess Peach herself and Bowser who both ally themselves with Mario as supporting cast members and battle allies. Adopting Nintendo's family-friendly direction, the game's tone is lighthearted and comedic as well, and very little seems to be taken seriously despite the severe problems at hand which result in the capability for people's wishes to be granted becoming jeopardized. While much of the game's attitude is dictated by story, just as much is influenced by sprite design and expressive animations. In short, though, players acting as Mario must stop an invading evil from the land.

However, much of what else defines the game turns away from series entries before it. Exploration adopts a 3D isometric landscape that feels quite odd for the series, although I imagine that was its goal—to elevate the franchise with new types of gameplay and turn away from pre-established tropes. Despite the game's presentation, though, the most important aspect of what defines Super Mario remains present: platforming. Additionally, as its title implies, Super Mario RPG is a turn-based RPG with a three party member battle system. Much—though not all—of the system is simple. More often than not, I found myself employing the same two battle tactics nearly every battle which was dependent on whether the encounter was a basic field enemy or a boss. Over time, battles do become increasingly more involved, although I wouldn't say that they become more difficult. In fact, I would argue that the game's beginning hours will challenge players more than its ending ones on account of in-game currency which seldom becomes an issue alongside the game's fast travel system that ensures that players maintain the best consumable inventory items, in the event they're needed at all.

Although the game's RPG systems are elementary, the element of timing mechanics does provide battles depth. At certain moments, physical attacks from both party members and enemies can be strengthened or weakened, and it's entirely reliant on timed player input. While it may seem like a small inclusion, it grants players an easier means to overcome enemy encounters which, at times, feel lengthy and a bit monotonous. At the same time, battle items referred to as bonus flowers randomly appear to give acting characters benefits. These include more obvious additions such as heightened stats but also preventing consumable items to be depleted and the ability to act out a second turn. Apart from battles, the leveling system itself is neither so straightforward. As each party members gains enough battle experience to level up, they're not just awarded with default stat gains. An element of stat customization is also present, granting players the opportunity to apply a small stat increase to one specific stat type. Over time, these stats do make a difference in battle, so the ability for players to influence characters builds to adopt specific play styles is welcoming.

To my surprise, there is far more content than I imagined the game to have had with lots of secrets and side objectives to seek out. Some of this content is simple to find, though much of it requires active observation and backtracking, which I think suits players who find themselves invested in the game's world. Initially, I had high hopes for unique battles, though only one instance stands out that is pictured above. Such instance occurs fairly early into the narrative, but nothing else captivated my interest beyond it in the same way that forces players to strategize differently.

Ultimately, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars holds up quite well. I'm glad I decided to play the original game instead of last year's remake, especially on account that the differences from what I've read are largely quality-of-life updates which affect aspects that never bothered me anyway.

[telly]

Game 23 - SSX 3 (PS2) - 7 Hours

I counted this game as finished when I obtained at least a bronze medal in racing, freestyle and freeride on all tracks on all three peaks (i.e., a checkmark by all of them). My completion ended up being 64%.

I miss games like these. They just don't make good arcade extreme sports games like Tony Hawk and SSX of decades ago. This is a game that I've had since I was kid and always had fond memories of, but never set out to actually finish. Since I needed to play something on the PS2 this year I thought this would be a great way to return to the game.

SSX 3 is such a fun game. Incredible gameplay, and controls with so many fun tracks to explore and pick over. The deep trick system rewards skill and knowledge of each course and it was fun to try aspects of the game I hadn't done that much previously, like the challenges. There's a great selection of music available topped off with a really entertaining radio DJ which adds a lot of atmosphere to the game. The atmosphere overall is very slick, cool and just. .. fun! In addition, the game is very well optimized to cut down on loading times, meaning you can take long 30 minute runs down the entire mountain without ever needing to load on top of a very smooth consistent framerate. Add in different unlocks, collectible, cheat codes and other goodies to obtain, it makes for a very satisfying overall experience.

Once you get to the 3rd peak the game does get a little loose with the track design and can through you out of bounds more often than what was my fault, but other than that I have a really hard time finding negative things to say. It's just a very solid game.

[tripredacus]

17. Ultrakill (Steam)
This is a real neat game but it has its gimmicks. Not only fast paced FPS with a variety of weapons but there are parkour and platforming features. And unfortunately these movement features is why I had to abandon the game. It is too bad because I got through level 7 in one sitting. The pistol that can spin around was my favorite weapon of the whole game and I was trying to use it most of the time. The exception was for bosses and some enemies where it was better to use the minigun that had no cooldown.

I hit my first brick wall about half-way through when dealing with an enemy that could instakill you from anywhere on the map. It was quite frustrating to figure them out. They looked like a box with a crown or something and they would put a circle symbol on the ground you were standing on and then you'd die. What I did not know is that it was possible to escape it as there was a few seconds where this targetting thing wouldn't follow you. Then it became manageable. The other thing about that enemy was that it could kill you even if you were in the air so it did seem impossible.

In 7-2 there is a section where you have to do a grapple puzzle and it was too much for me. You hit the yellow grapple and it would open a door for a few seconds, and you had to go through 3 doors then look up to hit a blue grapple point. You get no momentum when using the yellow points, so you had to use wall jumps to move through the doors. Unlike other areas that use the grapple points, the "death" floor in this corridor is very close to the grapples and there is not a tall ceiling so you have to be perfect to make it through the corridor. I was able to get past the doors but then you have literally like a second to look up and shoot the blue grapple and if you miss then you have to start over. It was not worth my time to do this type of forced platforming sequence.

I did like how you interact with the computer at the beginning and the menu animations. I would take a break and just listen to the music the computer made.

[kashell]

88. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

I'm horrible at this game. At least, that's what I thought until I played a TON of it over the weekend and had a blast. Will I purchase it? No. But, I won't be using the qualifier "Yeah, I'll play but you'll kick my ass because I'm horrible at it." It was a lot of fun. More fun than I remember, which I think was during the 3DS era. I never played it on Wii or Wii U. So, it's nice to see that this classic series is still going strong.

[realpoketendonl]

28. Devil May Cry 5

As a self-proclaimed hack-'n-slash fan and massive Bayonetta fan, it almost felt weird I never properly played through a Devil May Cry game before. But I got a Steam Deck a while back and Devil May Cry 5 has been in my Steam account for a while, so I figured it was high time to go for it. Just finished my first playthrough (Devil Hunter difficulty) and damn, this game is indeed fantastic! Really enjoyed my time with it.

Combat is smooth and satisfying, with so many options I think it would feel awesome to master, without ever feeling needlessly overwhelming. I also totally get why people like Dante. He's cool! Granted, I still feel like I'm not great at the game, and I barely beat any missions without buying my way through some deaths, but I think that's fairly normal for your first playthrough of a new hack-and-slash series. I'm sure I'll get better if I replay the game, and I'm confident I'd enjoy the upped challenge the newly unlocked higher difficulty levels will bring. (One tip from me though: pick Devil Hunter difficulty for your first playthrough. I initally picked the other difficulty, Human, and after two missions I restarted because it was just too easy. And you can't change difficulty whenever you want: you have to start over. So keep that in mind).

I don't think I'll start another playthrough right away, but damn, even as I'm typing this I honestly do want to jump back in. Maybe I'll find myself picking it up for a quick mission here and there. Definitely top 5 best games I've played this year, maybe top 3.

For now though, I think my end-of-year goal would be to also beat Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and maybe one of the Swordquest games in Atari 50.

[marvelvscapcom2]

Idk how you guys do this.  I grinded and put some big hours into some games this year.  But here is my full list which hit only 27.  However I did 100 percent many games including astro bot which took many weeks.  Mario Odyssey as well.  Thanks for hosting this. Ive always been interested but never played.  Next year ill follow along.


List of games beaten in 2024

1. Killer Frequency

2. Guitar Hero 5

3. Astro Bot (Platty)

4. Guitar Hero Metallica

5. Resident Evil 2 (True ending)

6. MLB The Show 24 (Platty)

7. Road 96 (Platty)

8. Gran Turismo 7 (Main story)

9. Firewatch

10. Absolute Drift Zen (Platty)

11. Walking Dead S1 (platty)

12. Guitar Hero Van Halen

13. Beatles Rockband

14. Dead Island Definitive (with gf coop)

15. Shaq Fu A Legend Reborn

16. Shredders Revenge (with gf coop)

17. GTA Vice City Definitive (Full ending)

18. Streets of Rage 4

19. Telling Lies (platty)

20. Ninja Turtles In Time Konami Arcade

21. Far Cry 5

22. CTR Nitro Fueled

23. Human Fall Flat (platty)

24. Superliminal

25. Luigis Mansion 3

26. Super Mario Odyssey (Dark side of the moon)

27. Hue

Close But Not Beat

1. Michael Jackson Moonwalker for Sega Genesis

2. Donkey Kong Country for SNES

3. Need for Speed Unbound PS5

[bizzgeburt]

Close But Not Beat

1. Michael Jackson Moonwalker for Sega Genesis

That darn breakdancing zombie bosses, huh?  had me quit it too

[Cartagia]

I beat the Resident Evil 4 remake this morning, and while it is probably objectively a better game than the original RE4, it still felt a little redundant.  This is because while there are a lot of QoL improvements and some better story beats it is still not all that different than the OG.  Compare that to REmake2 which is an entirely new experience.  It's a weird feeling because it is a really great game, but it was always going to have an awfully high bar to clear.  Much like the Dead Space remake, if you are going to play it the new one is the way to go, but I personally am still going to give the edge to the originals.

[dhaabi]

46. No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! || PlayStation || 12.09.24



At times, I'm reminded of just how long certain titles have been a part of my gaming backlog, and it was readily made apparent when I took No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! off from its shelf. Inside, the receipt of my purchase dated from June 2015 was still there. I'm glad to finally have gotten around to playing it.

As its name alludes, No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! features the titular Mr. Domino on what is, to some degree, his destructive path as an anthropomorphic domino in causing mayhem with inanimate dominoes. In short, players must traverse a field of obstacles within a certain time limit (that's irritatingly kept hidden from the player) to create a path of dominoes which must then be knocked over to trigger a chain of events caused by the placement of a domino on one specific tile. Along the track, several lanes are present which the player follows and constantly weaves back-and-forth from one to another, but that's much easier said than done. While working toward this goal, players encounter other tiles with varying effects which may be interacted with and likely will be on many occasions by accident. In a time-sensitize game like this, of course there are tiles which influence speed, but there are also ones which restore stamina which is most useful as Mr. Domino will revert back to the still domino he once was when his energy runs out. In a way, the game could be described as puzzle-like, but it's generally characterized by its action gameplay.

And it's through the game's action-focused gameplay where its arcade influences in the form of its scoring system become apparent. While each stage's goal is to simply trigger each event, the ability for one chain reaction to lead into another through careful placement of dominoes makes accomplishing this task much more fun to reach. However, it's not an easy feat to accomplish, but it's something those interested in the scoreboard will want to invest in, as more events chained together yield a higher score through the game's combo multiplier. In truth, though, reaching the skill level to simply clear certain stages was a major challenge for me. Most notably, this was a problem in two stages. The most difficulty I experienced was in the second stage where I was still trying to understand the game's controls and what was even being tasked to do alongside the sixth and final stage which must be performed with near perfection in order to succeed at a minimum. Between these two stages, there were probably forty total attempts to advance.

Needless to say, attempting to finish No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! requires a lot of trial-and-error patience. A large reason for this lies in the game's isometric view alongside its constant positioning rotation as the path before you curves and veers into other directions which will almost always be the main reason for failing a stage. But players can afford to fail some as each playthrough awards them five retry credits to be used. At first, I thought that maybe I'd raise my skill level to accomplish this, but the difficulty starts high and only rises. So, I resorted to loading my previous save file each and every time I failed. There are six stages to complete and only five credits, so there are only just enough to complete the game using this method since saving the game requires a credit being used. By no means is this the intended way to play nor a convenient one, but it was the only possibility I had to reach the game's end. At this point, I feel confident to say that No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! was one of the most difficult games I've finished which completely blindsided me. Before playing, I wasn't aware of the challenge it presents, but it's something I'm now well aware of through others' comments on gameplay videos and not just my own impressions.

Besides gameplay, presentation is always worth highlighting. As I've mentioned after having played other games, I find myself drawn to games which require players to navigate human-sizes environments from the perspective of someone much smaller. It's an element present in only some of the game's level, though, but it's still a game design I appreciated. Additionally, the game is explicitly Japanese in how quirky it is, both its world design to overall concept. This is greatly exemplified in one stage where Mr. Domino terrorizes a Japanese family, complete with ojiisan.

Like I mentioned above, I was fully unaware of how difficult No One Can Stop Mr. Domino! is, but I think this provided me with a more rewarding and memorable experience. More often than not, competing the game was much more about developing the right skill set that's reliant on quick response time and less about solving what's next to do. A more puzzle-inspired gameplay loop may have possibly been more successful, but I still enjoyed my time playing.

[dhaabi]

47. Pokémon Puzzle League || Nintendo 64 || 12.13.24



Having been gifted Pokémon Puzzle League over ten years ago, finally taking the time to play through its campaign mode was way past due. I thought I had never gotten around to playing the game at all, but I actually had some sort of save data already present on the cartridge. I suppose I have a vague memory of playing the game previously, but I don't think I actually finished it.

To be brief, Pokémon Puzzle League is a simple match-three tile puzzle game that's been redesigned with a Pokémon theme for its Western audience. As one should expect, players are tasked with moving a tower of blocks around the playing field as they gradually rise with reaching the top edge resulting in stage failure. However, players are limited by only being able to move blocks horizontally with another block or even with an empty space which may cause it to fall. When three or more matching tiles are formed in a straight line, they then disappear which allows the game to continue indefinitely. Similar to other games like it, the game's major focus revolves around challenging an opponent with challenges ending once one person reaches the top. As combos are formed in quick succession to create chain and also based on how impressive in number each combo is, series of dummy blocks fall onto the opponent's side to better cause them to fail but can be removed.

Even after viewing the tutorial which explains how to create combo chains, I wasn't really able to form them with intent. At least, I don't think I was based on the game's audio cues which the tutorial teaches. Instead, actions taken generally resulted in combos being separated from another that prevented more damage to my opponents. I'm not exactly sure why this was the case, as I was acting as quickly as the game allowed me. Instead of granting me mobility to move the cursor, I instead was locked to my position as the game briefly paused while the combo's action performed. Nevertheless, it wasn't always an issue, and perhaps it was just an issue where I wasn't understanding when exactly blocks can be moved to form chains. Meanwhile, one of three Pokémon is selected by each player before battles. Playing as series protagonist Ash, the player's options all vary in battle type, although I don't know how—if at all—this influences battle mechanics as I saw no difference when I knew I was at either a type advantage or disadvantage based on my knowledge of the franchise.

Apart from the campaign modes which offer both 1-player and 2-player options, various others are available including practice, endless, time trial, and puzzle modes, and I took the time to experience them all. Additionally, certain modes can be played in either 2D or 3D, though I greatly preferred the former. My favorite gameplay offering was the puzzle mode which tasks players to solve preset puzzle boards within a certain amount of turns. From what I noticed, each stage has only one solution regarding the order of moves players must make. I took the time to solve the first set of puzzles which consists of thirty, but I decided to retire after learning there were 260 in total to solve. It's a fun inclusion for the game but ultimately not one I felt willing to complete. For the first set alone, I spent around an hour solving them.

In addition to actual gameplay, Pokémon Puzzle League's presentation is fine. There is some basic voice work, animations, and expected elementary narrative that complements everything else which is fine and adds enough to the experience. Like the mainline games and anime, players must battle gym leaders to acquire all eight badges in order to finish the campaign mode. However, other modes have their own stories and events to play through, which were added details I thought added a lot to separate each mode from another.

All things considered, Pokémon Puzzle League is actually a fun game and one that doesn't require being a fan of the franchise to enjoy. On some level, a part of me would like to return to the game in order to go through the puzzle mode challenges, so maybe I'll do that someday.

[kashell]

89. Metaphor: ReFantazio - Platinum

After nearly 90 hours of dialogue, combat, and menus, Metaphor is fully finished. What a game. Longtime RPG fan or not, I think most folks will find something to enjoy here.

[Cartagia]

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero - It *looks* incredible, and the movement and combat are mostly really fun. I'm not a fan of how slow a couple of the traversal powers are, and I'm not the biggest fan of having to go back to the same stages over and over.  I think the game just isn't quite big enough and the travel options aren't great.

[telekill]

Calling it as I don't see myself having enough time to complete anymore games this year. Just got done replaying AC2 and it was a blast in comparison to modern AC games. I'll attempt to participate again next year, but expect previous generations to dominate the numbers again. Here's my final list of completed games for 2024:

Completed: 17
Sonic Superstars (Switch)
Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (PS5)
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (PS5)
Resident Evil 5 (PS4)
Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Collection (PS5)
 - Jurassic Park Rampage Edition (Genesis)
 - Jurassic Park (Genesis)
Sonic Origins (PS5)
 - Sonic CD (Sega CD)
 - Sonic 2 (Genesis)
Jet Moto (PS1)
Twisted Metal 2 (PS1)
Tomb Raider Legend (PS2)
Dino Crisis (PS1)
Dino Crisis 2 (PS1)
Tomb Raider Underworld (PS2)
Bro Force (PS4)
TMNT Shredder's Revenge (PS4)
Assassins Creed Ezio Trilogy (PS4)
 - Assassins Creed 2 (PS3)

[realpoketendonl]

29. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

I didn’t feel too compelled to play it when it came out last year, but for some reason I really got a hankering for it recently. So bought it, beaten it, and yup, it’s great! Probably not too surprising, it’s a 2D Mario game, of course it’s good, but still.

Right off the bat, I gotta say I really liked that I could essentially turn it into Super Daisy Wonder, and I played the whole game as her. She’s one of my favourite Mario characters, and it was really fun to finally see her in a main series game.

The level design, new enemies and visuals are all great, and I like the new power-ups a lot too. And the Wonder effects are really fun. I found myself looking forward to what they would do in each level. The whole game is really easy, I never struggled once (helped a lot by how insanely easy it is to get 1-Ups), but it’s fun!

The game isn’t groundbreaking by any means, but it’s comfortable. As a Nintendo and Mario fan who grew up on New Super Mario Bros., it felt comforting and like I’ve never been away. The game oozes charm too. I frequently got a big smile on my face when the game pulled something unexpected and creative, and it even made me laugh a few times.

I already have every Wonder Seed in every world, except the Special world. And I may go back to try and 100% complete the game at some point. Wasn’t expecting that itch, and the fact the game is so easy helps, but still!

At the end of the day, it’s a 2D Mario platformer. Don’t expect anything groundbreaking here, because it isn’t. But it’s a really well-designed, bright, charming and welcoming game, and sometimes that’s just what you need.


So that's 29 games thus far. I may try to knock out some more small games before the end of the year, been wanting to try a Swordquest game for example, but even if I beat nothing else this year, I’m satisfied with that number!

[telly]

Well, I seem to be chilling right at my average again for number of games finished this year. I don't anticipate finishing Eiyuden Chronicles before 2025 even though I'm about halfway done. Will have to make a summary post soon!