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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

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bikingjahuty:
59. POD Speedzone (Dreamcast)

The only reason I own a copy of POD Speedzone is because I remember it being plastered in so many gaming magazines in the early 2000s. One is particular featured a very attractive girl that 13-year old me kinda had a thing for, but I digress. Years ago when I found a cheap copy of POD Speedzone while hunting for games, I decided I was finally going to play this game and see if it lived up to its memorable advertisements. Aside from knowing it was a racing game, I had no idea what to expect going into POD Speedzone. While some Dreamcast games have unfairly been forgotten over time, POD Speedzone is not one of those games.


POD Speedzone has to be one of the most poorly designed racing games I've ever played, which is saying something since I've played some truly awful raving games in my day. The track design is pretty terrible in every course. There are multiple branching paths in each course, with some being fairly intuitive and obvious, while others are poorly marked and very confusing as to whether they are part of the track or not. I can't tell you how many times I found myself accidentally driving the wrong way or wondering if I was even still in the race with out confusing some of the courses are. The game will often tell you which way to go, but the way the track is laid out barely makes that useful. There are also a decent amount of unavoidable obstacles, jumps that you'll often miss even at full speed, and weird track topography that will cause your vehicle to flip or crash into a wall frequently. Like many futuristic racing games from the era POD Speedzone came out, there are various powerups at your disposal to help give you an edge in each race. Unfortunately there are only a few of them and none of them are particularly useful or just redundant as is the case with the boost powerup that doesn't seem to help you anymore than your vehciles built in boost which you can use at will until you've used it all up. Your vehicle also gets damaged for hitting walls, flipping over, or getting hit by opponent power up weapons. If your vehicle takes too much damage it will force you to retire from the race. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you look at it, tracks are so large that you'll often forget you are racing against other opponents seeing how only 5 racers can participate, including you. The end result is a dull, lifeless, and and annoying experience while playing POS...woops, I meant POD Speedzone.


It's not all bad though. POD Speedzone does have a few redeeming qualities particularly in its visuals and audio. POD Speedzone was essentially Ubisoft's late 90s/early 2000s attempt to cash in on the futuristic racer sub genre. Similar to games like Extreme G or Wipeout, you'll be racing on various futuristic tracks. POD Speedzone's tracks are no different and for the most part look pretty cool for the most part. Unfortunately there are so few of them (six I believe) that you'll quickly get bored with racing through them over and over again. Likewise, there are also only a few vehicles to choose from, most of which look like incredibly ugly futuristic dune buggies. Despite their questionable art design, the vehicles actually show of a fairly good amount of detail, including some damage effects if your racer takes too much abuse during the course of the race. If not for how little content there is to look at in PD Speedzone, I may have thought a little higher of the visuals, but as is, this game will not capture your attention for long given how little there is to see.


Last, but definitely not least is the games audio which stands as POD Speedzone's best quality. Sound effects are nothing special, however the soundtrack is a fairly catchy late 90s techno score which actually kept me going in the game despite wanting to quit after only about 10-minutes of playing. Once again, there are only a few songs to speak of in POD Speedzone, but for what they are, they're pretty good.


There is no question whatsoever that POD Speedzone is a crap game, however despite that, there was a subjective charm this game had over me as I was playing through it. The game definitely represents that amazing late 90s/early 2000s video game zeitgeist when even big name studios like EA and Ubisoft released jank like this game that might as well have been developed by some independent team in eastern Europe inside a canning warehouse. Between the soundtrack and visuals, and even to an extenet the sub par gameplay, this game just feel so representative of its time, which is a period of gaming I deeply cherish. Still, if you asked me if I'd ever want to play POD Speedzone ever again, even many years from now when the taste of its terrible gameplay finally left my mouth, I'd still tell you absolutely not. Beyond my own weird minor satisfaction with this game, it's not a game I'd recommend anyone play, even if it's short as hell due to its very limited content. Pass on this one, you aren't missing out on anything...mostly. (5/6/25) [22/50]

dhaabi:
26. Roundabout || PlayStation 4 || 05.05.2025



Over the many years my shared PlayStation account has had an active PlayStation Plus subscription, dozens upon dozens of games I've redeemed yet never played have accrued, even when they seem like I may enjoy them. Roundabout is one of these games, and it's been something I've considered playing for a year or two. I think the decision to let our subscription lapse has been made, so I'm planning to prioritize my time playing these kinds of games—especially ones which are only available digitally—for the next couple of months.

To be brief, players assume the role of a taxi driver named Georgio in Roundabout. However, Georgio is not an ordinary taxi driver by any means, as they are the world's first revolving limousine driver. As a professional, you as the player are tasked with driving all throughout town to pick up and drop off all sorts of riders. And as your title suggests, the limo being driven remains in a constant state of rotation, so it's required to meander through twists and turns even to bypass the most basic of paths while dodging other roadway and environment hazards. When an objective begins, arrows help guide players toward the direction they're needing to drive toward, and there are several points of interest which serve as checkpoints to reach prior to the end goal. The game is designed with a top-down camera perspective, so movement controls are straightforward.

Tasks may seem simple, but players will inevitably fail as the limo takes damage easily and is quickly destroyed upon taking a few hits of collision as hazards are all-around. Fortunately, though, there is no major repercussion toward completing the immediate goal as players will respawn nearby. But, there are some negative effects which take place as a result of vehicle destruction such as losing the current combo bonus which impacts the player's score on leaderboards, though this is an aspect I had no interest in. Regardless, the game's lenient respawn mechanic was fortunate for me as I am not very skilled at actually controlling the limo. However, the respawn system only behaves this way when actively working toward an objective. If choosing to explore freely, respawning transports players to the nearest mechanic's shop which behave as the checkpoints too when not driving passengers.

While those only interested in the game's story path may not feel compelled to freely explore the three in-game areas, others may be as there are all sorts of collectibles to discover. Additionally, money is automatically earned through player performance which can be spent toward vehicle upgrades. Scattered properties are also available to be purchased which allows for greater financial gains to be collected later upon revisiting these sites. There is also a small achievements list players may work toward completing which grant various driving skills, though only one may be active at a time. I did not try out many of the skills I unlocked, although I did heavily rely upon the default skill which slows down time. This ability greatly allowed me to navigate through tight environments more easily, but skills can't be abused as there is a depleting meter for them.

By every account, Roundabout offers an arcade-like experience that's easy to pick-up in short sessions. Alongside its gameplay, though, is also underlying narrative which capitalizes on purposely bad yet comical FMV sequences. The segments are plentiful and appear for every passenger ride, and they provide a lot of charm and upbeat, cheesy humor which gives the game a lot of personality. While there are side story segments which add depth to the townspeople, the majority of segments are interconnected and tell one cohesive narrative which, while simple, is fun. Video playback performed well mostly, though I did encounter one segment where audio didn't play. Upon starting a new game, subtitles can be activated in-game, and they're a nice inclusion for if this sort of error were to occur. I didn't explore the main menu settings after beginning the campaign, so I'm not sure if the opportunity to activate subtitles can be missed, though I did note how they can't be toggled off once on in-game.

At first glance, Roundabout may not seem all that interesting from a gameplay perspective, but its FMV sequences instill a lot of charisma alongside what else is offered. Not long after beginning my playthrough, I was wanting to see how the story would unfold once one ridiculous event occurred after another and more outlandish characters were introduced. In short, Roundabout is just fun.

marvelvscapcom2:
29. Undertale [PS4] - finished May 8th, 2025



The best non SNES.... SNES game


Wow folks!  Wow wow wow.  2025 has brought a lot of surprises.  From Batman Arkham. To Life Is Strange. Franchises and series entering my gaming life and shifting my perspective.  Undertale struck me by the way a lot of indie devs do.  Repackaging nostalgia. "Hey look. Its your childhood. 9.99 on sale" and we often bite. The screenshots looked beautiful and the icon of the game was a pomeranian. The game got me on the classic "old games done better" vibe. And so does usually the games that try that miss something.  I'm also almost never able to pick up on turn based rpg games. I can count on one hand the ones ive finished. Its not my genre

Were gonna need two hands... lol.

Undertale is a glorious game.  From the soundtrack, so gorgeously whimsical at times. So gritty and heavy.  So funny and old timey. To the humor which is rampant throughout. To the emotional depth of the characters.  It's also basically a great nod, an homage to what made that art style so great. But taking it to 100000 with modern hardware.

This game was crowdsourced and had a small dev team.  And the creator Toby Fox apparently was a fan of earthbound.  And it for sure is an earthbound inspired game.  Where as I cant get past 1 hour of earthbound. I binged this game last night until 5 am :)  To me its much better.


It may seem im glazing a lot of games this year. But I am finding it hard to find flaws.  The system the game uses for combat. Much like earthbound but you control a heart shape and dodge icon attacks sorta contra style. So it has bullet hell elements. It's like nothing ive played before. It's quirky. Dripping with personality and the big boy devs just cant go out and buy that stuff. Billion dollar budgets can scoop soul by the spoonfil. It just feels loved. It feels complete. It feels so 1994.


And for that I tip my hat. It's basically home cooking versus other games of the genre being digiorno pizza. This has that sensations of grandma's love in the fresh fudge. The quirky jokes. Dialogue and characters are all so cute. And fun. And make an impact as you play.

The concept of the plot is also deep. Impactful. You get multiple different versions of the game depending how you play.

And above all. It is challenging but to very fair appropriate levels. It blends cinema with action. And it also has pomeranians lol.  Which you know how I feel about pomeranians. Pomeranians add 5 points to almost any rating. Themz the rulez lol.  Jk.

Either way. I believe this game is a labor of love. I feel many developers try to bottle nostalgia and sell it wholesale. Most fail or miss by a centimeter.  This game is to rpgs what Cuphead is to bullet hell shoot em ups.  They take a vintage concept and show you humanity hasnt lost its heart yet.  Each fiber of this game is cool. And the characters show a sorta ying and yang of the duality of conscious decisions. Highly highly reccomend.

Rating - 99/100

marvelvscapcom2:
30. Gone Home [PS4] - Finished May 9th, 2025



Review

Gone Home is a quirkly little thing. I barely know if I fully grasp its mysteries. Imagine coming home after a college retreat. Finding a giant middle American white protestant suburbian bungalow abandoned.  And pieceing together your childhood through exploring it.  Complete with memories. Journal entires and funny callbacks to the 80s and 90s.  That is Gone Home.


It's compact and concise which makes it hard to warrant whatever one would spend on it.  But its warm and laid back which makes it a unique experience. 


The game touches on themes of waining curiosity involving sexuality and coming of age teenage discovery of those topics. Which lends it the more serious and relatable route.  And the things to find are bountiful.  Id call this. 

Explore fancy house simulator.

Imagine having like 9 bathrooms? A softball team could go #2 simultaneously.  Yet theirs no sprint button. Thats a lot of slow walking lol.

I actually enjoyed it. It feels very real to what exploring a house would feel like. And the game for the first time in a while with games for me. Wasnt hyperbolic at all. It was just. Home.  Gone home... 

Rating - 85.75/100

marvelvscapcom2:
31. Super Mario Land [GB] - finished May 10th, 2025





Review - Off to a rocket start in May :).  Which I did to keep pace to my a goal of 10.  It's my birth month. So want to up the output. I also want to hit more retro games. And a gameboy icon marks my first handheld game in a while.


Cool controls

What super mario land does right is its checkpoint system. It was really ambitious for its time and I didn't expect it to be so comfortable to play.  I played half of the game not realizing I could fire rockets which made the game maybe twice as hard during submarine and plane sequences. 


The sprinting in the game feels concise. The screen colors don't lend the most richness but its age isnt showing as much as a game like castlevania adventures to me.  This game is essentially a gorgeous example of an NES game in your hand.  I wasnt alive to see the launch of this. But I imagine this really was like alien technology.  Comparing this to tiger handheld is ridiculous. It just is so revolutionary.

Ranking this in the scheme of other games is hard. It's shorter than William Henry Harrisons term in office and it doesn't allow multi directional jumping. It also has a few design choices I question.  Such as exploding Koopas.  And sometimes slightly off landing zones and hit boxes.


But it's all peanuts when compared to how incredibly ahead of its time it is. The airplane sequences is like right out of modern platformers. The themes and Mario being spelled out in coins feels like mario maker even 30 years later. Its super neat.

I wont spoil the ending. But that really just confuses me in a funny way. Huh?  I thought?... lol.  Idk.  If you dont care about spoilers. I'm sure many of you already beat this. Am I seeing right?  Iykyk. 

I also enjoy the green mono chromatic graphics. Using 2 shades to make a masterpiece is profound.

It just hits a special place and I am happy I got to time warp to a simpler day even before me and give this a whirl.  It's new coke, flock of seaguls and radio shack but in the palm of your hand. Now you're playing with power!


Rating - 88/100

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