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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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bikingjahuty:
53. Oregon Trail (PC)

Just to be clear, this review is for the original 1985 Apple II version of the game, which is the version I mostly played back in elementary school. Technically, Oregon Trail was one of the first video games I ever played as this was one my classmates and I regularly played in computer lab back in the early 90s. Later on, our school got the 1992 updated version, but it was always the OG Apple II version that is forever burned in my memory. I was having a hard time deciding what I felt like playing this evening so I decided to fire up a Apple IIe browser emulator and party like it's 1848!


Oregon Trail is an incredibly basic, yet pretty fun game. You'd be hard pressed to find any American adult under the age of 50 that didn't play this at some point, but for those that haven't, you create a character and four family members, as well as pick a profession that dictates how much money you start off with and also how adept you are at handling some of the obstacles you'll encounter as the five of you make your way from Missouri to Oregon. As a kid, I didn't plan very strategically for my trip, mostly just buying plenty of bullets and food, but as an adult I realize how important some of the other items are like clothing, wagon parts, and oxen. Needless to say, I am typically able to make it way further than I did when I was a kid, however the unfortunate events that can and will befall you and your family during your journey are largely out of your control. Family members will frequently get sick, hurt, or even die. Oxen will get lost, natives will raid your wagon, and various other unfortunate events will occur at random as you make your way to Oregon. I get this is to simulate the hardships that pioneers back then faced when traveling by wagon over such long distances, but in terms of what you can do to counter these events, your locus of control is probably a bit more limited than it would have been in real life. This is mostly due to the limited tech of the Apple II back in the mid 80s, but some of it also might be to keep the game simpler for its primary audience of young kids; this is an educational game after all and not some sort of life simulator. For what it is, Oregon Trail's gameplay is pretty good for the time, but does unfortunately have its annoyances and issues too.


Visually, the game looks very basic and crude now a days, but back in the early 90s, I thought the graphics were fairly good. Surely, there are way worse looking PC games made back in the mid 80s and Oregon trail does a good job of providing still images of various landmarks you'll arrive at, as well as graphical representations of animals you can hunt. There's also animations like your wagon traveling and when you cross a river. None of it is mind blowing, or really that impressive, even back then, but it's still fitting and certainly provides a much needed break from the text menus you'll mostly be navigating through while playing.


Finally, the audio in Oregon Trail is very limited and arguably more crude than its visuals. Music mostly only plays when you decide to look around at the various landmarks you'll reach throughout the game, as is mostly midi versions of classic children's songs like Yanky Doodle or She'll be Coming Round the Mountain. There are also a few sound effects like a blip when you fire your gun. Outside that, there really isn't much else, but again, this game came out in the mid 80s when many games offered little in the way of audio.


Oregon Trail is a fun little trip down memory lane for me and still a genuinely fun experience. While I by no means think the game is a masterpiece or is something I'd want to play more than once a decade at most, it's still surprisingly an enjoyable game to play, even 40-years after it originally came out. (4/24/25) [31/50]

dhaabi:

--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on April 24, 2025, 02:40:01 pm ---Well, I did it! I've never reached 52 games beat this early in the year before, not even close. My overall goal this year is 100 games beat, but even at the 52 games milestone, things feel pretty good right now.
--- End quote ---

Do you plan on keeping up the momentum? If this rate is maintained, you can complete 160 games which is quite the number.


--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on April 25, 2025, 12:14:17 am ---53. Oregon Trail (PC)

Just to be clear, this review is for the original 1985 Apple II version of the game, which is the version I mostly played back in elementary school.
--- End quote ---

If you're looking to play the earliest version of the game that's not been lost to time or, at least, unavailable to the public (which would be the 1971 version), here is the 1975 version which is able to be played in-browser via archive.org.

bikingjahuty:

--- Quote from: dhaabi on April 25, 2025, 08:40:20 am ---
--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on April 24, 2025, 02:40:01 pm ---Well, I did it! I've never reached 52 games beat this early in the year before, not even close. My overall goal this year is 100 games beat, but even at the 52 games milestone, things feel pretty good right now.
--- End quote ---

Do you plan on keeping up the momentum? If this rate is maintained, you can complete 160 games which is quite the number.


--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on April 25, 2025, 12:14:17 am ---53. Oregon Trail (PC)

Just to be clear, this review is for the original 1985 Apple II version of the game, which is the version I mostly played back in elementary school.
--- End quote ---

If you're looking to play the earliest version of the game that's not been lost to time or, at least, unavailable to the public (which would be the 1971 version), here is the 1975 version which is able to be played in-browser via archive.org.

--- End quote ---


I'm not sure if I will or not. I definitely want to hit at least 100, but we'll see if I continue to remain as motivated to play games throughout the year. It helps that I don't have anything major going on this year, but that's not to say something won't come up at some point and take away from my ability to play so many games. I guess I'll keep on going the way I have been and see what happens.


I actually realized that right after I posted my mini-review. I had no idea there was a much earlier text based version of the game.

bikingjahuty:
54. ExZeus (PS4)

Prior to this game and its sequel getting a physical release on Limited Run Games, I'd never heard of or seen anything about ExZeus. However, realizing it was a arcade style rail shooter where you play as mechs, and also it was given a Sega Naomi release at one point, I knew right away I was going to buy the Complete Collection. Despite their diminished popularity for the past 25 years, I'm a huge fan of rail shooters and some of my favorite games as a kid, and even now, belong to this underrated genre. Unfortunately, like any genre, there are terrible games in it and ExZeus is absolutely one of those God awful titles.


By far the reason ExZeus sucks so much is its horrendous gameplay. I use that adjective with no irony or exaggeration; the gameplay is ExZeus might be the worst of any rail shooter I've ever played. There seems to have been minimal thought put into the game design and balancing of ExZeus. Projectiles and enemies will come flying at you from all over the place, giving your huge ship little to no time to move out of the way, not that you'll even know if what's coming at you half the time is a projectile, a power up of some kind, or some other item. There is a dodge mechanic, but I never found it useful. In fact, 90% of the time when I used it, I avoided one projectile or obstacle only to be hit by another as soon as the dodge animation finished. It's completely useless. Oh speaking of your movement in this game, your mech flies at what seems like 5mph unless you collect a boost power up which temporarily speeds you up to 15mph. It makes the action feel underwhelming as there is no sense of speed whatsoever in this game. Finally, ExZeus gives you several shot types including a standard energy shot, a megalaser (that's actually what they call it in the game....), and a homing attack. The two latter weapons are dependent on an energy bar that recharges over time after you use it, or can recharge faster with power ups. You'll almost exclusively be using these other attacks on the game's bosses, which are kinda cool, but just as underwhelming and annoying as the rest of the game. At least they contrast with the absolutely bland corridors that constitute the game's stages which have very little going on for them and will bore you to tears most of the time.


The visuals of ExZeus are a minor improvement over its gameplay. I really appreciated the very Dreamcast/Naomi looking visuals and the three selectable mechs look pretty cool too for the most part. While the bosses weren't amazing, they definitely fit in with a lot of arcade style bosses you'd see in various other games like this back in the late 90s and early 2000s. The first boss you fight gave me some massive King Ghidorah vibes too which was a massive plus. Unfortunately, anything good I have to say about ExZeus' visuals is immediately undermined by the aforementioned levels which are just straight, open corridors that you have limited movement through. They each have their own theme, but none of them have much in the way of visual flourishes or really anything that makes them interesting or stand out in any way. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the enemies which are more or less boring ass objects and ships with no real presence or identity. There are only about half a dozen or so different types of enemies which just adds to why this game is so boring and unremarkable to play through.


Last but not least, the audio in ExZeus is fine I suppose, but like the visuals, it's nothing special. There's an rock themed OST somewhere underneath the much loud explosion and laser sound effects, and it sounded okay from what I could hear. Some of the bosses make roaring noises too which gives them a little more personality too. I actually don't have much else to say about the audio in ExZeus; it's fine for the most part, but lacks any sort of draw that will make you enjoy the game more.


My tastes in games are fairly curated and because of this I rarely play games that I would consider terrible or even bad. That's not to say I don't like taking a chance on game's I know little to nothing about, but for the most part I'm drawn to games that have a reputation for being good, or at least okay for the most part. ExZeus absolutely falls into that terrible.bad game category. Luckily due to the game's arcade style gameplay, it's a very short lived experience you can beat in about half an hour. Still, even at such a short length, I still would not recommend anyone go play it. Now, excuse me while I wash the taste of this turd out of my mouth with a much better game. (4/26/25) [18/50]

kashell:
34. Celeste

This might be the first game I finished out of stubbornness this year. Another game I played with a friend, this game was not enjoyable and I'm trying to figure out the appeal. The art is ugly, the challenge feels padded, and that beep-boop voice acting doesn't do a thing to make me want to cheer for the characters. Props for music and that's it. I'm glad I never have to play this one again.

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