General and Gaming > General
52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
realpoketendonl:
14. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed [PC/Steam Deck]
This game is not new to me: I first played it over 9 years ago. I enjoy it quite a lot, and I've often praised it as one of my favourite kart racers. However, despite that, I never actually "beat" the game. I know it's debatable what you even consider "beating" a kart racer, but I certainly hadn't yet done it with this one. So I now finally sat down and did it. I unlocked all of the characters, I beat all events in World Tour mode on at least Normal Difficulty (most on Hard or Expert), and I beat all Grand Prix cups on at least Normal difficulty. I think that all must count as beating it, right?
And yeah, I stand by what I said. This is a fantastic kart racer, and one of my favourites. I'm not sure I'd put it above Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, but it's definitely up there. This game feels very action-packed. You are driving over gorgeous tracks that dynamically alter as the race goes on, often taking tight turns and doing tricks in tight spaces to boost yourself forward as much as you can, shifting between three vehicle modes that require at least a non-trivial amount of rapid shifting in strategy. Races are a thrill. I will say it can be a bit jank sometimes, with it being easy to bump into walls or something get out of bounds, and I swear there are some tracks with corners that are just too tight for some character loadouts to take without hitting a wall. But overall, it feels great to play. It is also not easy. Mario Kart, at least against CPU's, I can almost always get first place no problem. Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed? I have almost fourty hours in this game now (spread over 9 years but still), and it can still kick my ass. Beating everything on Expert difficulty is actuallly challenging (which is why I haven't 100% completed it yet). But I like that. It's annoying when you're just trying to finish some tasks, but in races, it's great.
If you enjoy kart racers and you have not played Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed before, you're missing out. Only thing I'll say is that I've heard reviewers say that the recent Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is apparently even better, but I haven't played that yet so I wouldn't know. But Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, I can whole-heartedly recommend.
bikingjahuty:
109. XGIII: Extreme G Racing (PS2)
Like many, one of the reasons I play a lot of retro games is experience the zeitgeist of the particular era a specific game was released in. Back in the pre-9/11 early 2000s, there was a general sense of optimism for the future where we all envisioned highly advanced, towering metropolises where everyone lived in harmony and everything was fun, exciting, and interesting. For those maybe too young to remember, or possibly you weren't even born yet, 9/11 was the beginning of the end of that unified, idealistic optimism for the future and its impact has only continued to compound more and more into the very hopeless dystopia most people think of when they envision the future now. Hell, some might argue we are living in that dystopia right now. But anyhow, before things get too serious, the reason I mention that pre-9/11 early 2000s collective optimism for the future is because of how common it was to see remnants of it in a lot of media at the time. Many shows, movies, and even games were saturated in it, and for me one of the most shining examples of it was in XGIII: Extreme G Racing.
I was a huge fan of Extreme G on the N64, so when I heard a brand new game was getting released for the then cutting edge 6th gen consoles, I appropriately freaked out with excitement. When I finally did get my hands on XGIII shortly after it came out in 2001, it was everything I'd ever wanted and then some. I adored it's futuristic settings and tracks that depicted an extreme racing series where futuristic motorcycles capable of touching nearly four digit speeds speed around crazy gravity defying race tracks. Not only that, but the soundtrack would be provided by the biggest EDM studio at the time, Ministry of Sound. Yeah, I was in love with this game...despite it being hard as balls.
Replying XGIII for the first time in probably 20 years or so, I was very happy to see none of the games charms and good qualities had been lost on me as I made several rounds through its excellent career mode, which is really the bread and butter of XGIII. As you race through various cups, you unlock more stages, more races and futuristic motorcycles, and earn credits to make you bikes even faster and more lethal. Oh, did I mention XGIII also has weapons you can use to drain your opponents shields, or just completely frag them too. The game allows you to change weapons on the fly which is a nice feature instead of hitting floating power ups on the track like you had to in the previous Extreme G games, as well as many other combat style racing games of the time. Another thing worth mentioning is your shields also use the same power source as your motorcycle's boost, which creates a very dynamic style of gameplay where you have to choose between being well defending against enemy projectiles and the occasional wall graze, or taking advantage of straight aways to pull ahead of other racers with your boost. XGIII's tracks and overall gameplay show a surprising amount of balance when it comes to juggling the shield/boost mechanic and it definitely adds to how surprisingly fun the game still is. Of course, the controls for racing are pretty damn good too. There is a real sense of speed and agility with your motorcycles in this game that really make for an engaging experience. Luckily most tracks in the game are well designed to accommodate the extreme speeds you'll be reaching in this game too.
It's not all perfect with XGIII's gameplay however. For one, this game is gets very hard the further you progress in it. Even earlier on, this game can really test your reflexed and muscle memory with a controller as you try your hardest not to hit the walls of the track, draining your precious shields. Unfortunately, not all the game's difficulty is by design, which includes some questionable tracks design in certain sections, and also jumps being a bit of an annoyance more than being a fun track feature to contend with. Weapons can also feel a bit ineffective at times, with it being more beneficial to just focus on the track and getting ahead of other racers than attempting to chip away at their shields or blow them up. However, despite these grievances, XGIII is still very fun to play for the most part, difficulty and all.
As mentioned, Ministry of Sound produced the soundtrack for XGIII which makes it a cut above not just most other racing games of the time, but most video games back in the late 90s and early 2000s. My little brother who I used to play this game with often, attributes a much of his love for EDM music to playing this game as a young kid. While I'm a fraction of the techno fan he is, XGIII undeniably has a great soundtrack still that goes perfectly with the visuals and action on the screen. Beyond just the great OST, XGIII has appropriately futuristic sounding narration voiced and sound effects too which all go great with everything else this game has to offer.
Visually, XGIII was also a cut above most games of the time. It's actually pretty surprising to me that this game wasn't a bigger deal back in the early 2000s given how good it looks. There is almost no graphical slowdown or stutter given how fast paced everything on the screen moves, and levels are all vibrant, interesting, and well designed. One minute you'll be racing through some extremely futuristic city, and the next you'll be racing through an equally awesome looking Egyptian looking area that looks like Cairo circa 2780. There was a ton of attention to detail and graphical fidelity put into this game and it absolutely shows. The game would benefit from there being more stages and maybe more variation to the appearances of the different racers, but these are mostly just nitpicks to what it otherwise an outstanding looking 6th generation game.
I can say without any hesitation that XGIII is still a riot to play. Not only does the game hold up very well nearly 25 years after its release, but there's also just very little there for me to fault. Sure, the game gets soul destroying difficult the more you progress in the game and there are a few tracks that are better than others, but on the whole this game is absolutely worth playing still. And of course, I couldn't end this review without mentioning that this game encapsulates the look, feel, and overall mood of the pre-9/11 early 2000s better than most other games released during this calm before the storm era. It was an a very fun time to be alive and thanks to games like XGIII, it can remind me of that as the years march on and I gradually forget more and more of what life was like back then. (11/15/25) [38/50]
kashell:
74. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - Inner Peace
I finished this game relatively quickly, and I already got my next file on Hard mode queued up. It's sleek, polished, sharp as hell, and super accessible thanks to all of the options. I played most of the game without the need to access Assist Mode, but eventually I had to give in on the last part of the last boss. But, oh well. We do what we must. Bosses in this game are hit or miss, which is probably the only complaint I can lobby against this otherwise super awesome 2D throwback. I don't partake in Ninja Gaiden much, which I guess is a good thing since this side story is so different from the norm.
realpoketendonl:
15. Haunted House [Atari 2600]
I picked back up Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration. My goal is to get through the museum mode (which I will consider its own game) and at least play every game in the collection. Not beat all of them, but at least try them out. (So yes, I beat this game emulated. I unfortunately don't have an Atari 2600 yet (but if you have one laying around, feel free to send it to me /j).
Now, this being an Atari collection, of course most games aren't gonna be beatable. If you know of a way to "beat" games like Pong, Breakout or Combat, please do let me know, but for this challenge I'm not going to be counting any of those. However, some of the games in this collection are beatable, Haunted House being one of them. Granted, within ten minutes, but still, I did it, and I'm gonna count it. At least, the game has nine different modes, with mode 9 officially being called "Ultimate Haunted House" and being the most difficult, but I now beat it on difficulty mode 3, and I'm going to consider that "beating" it and beating level nine "completing" it. That seems the most accurate to how "beating" and "completing" works nowadays, right?
Atari 2600 games are games you need to see through the lens of time. But seen through this lens, Haunted House is charming. It's a fun little challenge, and one of the first examples of survival horror it's also decently effective. If you're ever yearning for some Atari and haven't played Haunted House yet, it's worth a look. It's nothing to search out nowadays, but it's an admirable title for its time and I'd argue still holds more value than a lot of other Atari 2600 titles.
kashell:
75. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - Venom
Another great 2D action platformer (and platinum) in the books. As the credits rolled the second time, I found myself comparing the experience to Shinobi, which I finished a bit ago. Between the two, I think I like Shinobi more. That's not to say Ragebound is a slouch. In fact, Ragebound has the better story, animation, and soundtrack. But, there aren't as many options in Ragebound to do what ninja do best: dispose of their enemies. Kenji/Kuromi don't have as much to them where is Joe slowly unlocked a plethora of tools, magics, and items. At any rate, I recommend Ragebound to everyone. A review will be posted soon.