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52 Games Challenge 2025!!!
bikingjahuty:
113. Yoshi Story (N64)
Over the last decade I've developed a love and appreciation for many of Nintendo's Yoshi platforming games. It started with my wife and I beating Yoshi's Wooly World on the Wii U, and then most recently beating Yoshi's Crafted World on the Switch earlier this year. However, prior to all that, I remember renting Yoshi Story on the N64 back when that game first came out. Even though that game was made for kids around my age back in 1997, I still thought the game was sort of babyish and as stupid as it sounds to me now to say this, I think I was put off it wasn't a full 3D platformer like Super Mario 64. Unfortunately, I wouldn't touch Yoshi Story again until almost 30 years later.
Like many of the other Yoshi games I've played, Yoshi Story is an incredibly comfy, adorable game. Going along with the Story part of the game's name, Yoshi Story has you creating a choose your own adventure as you complete levels on each page of a picture book. The pages act as over worlds and there are six in total. Given you you only have to complete one level per page to progress to the next page, the game encourages replaying it to play through all the levels and also to get a different story depending on what stages you completed. Stages all look appropriately cute, however they can also be a bit on the plain side too. Still, the visuals carry a lot of charm and definitely go along with the very lighthearted tone of this game.
The audio is also pretty good in Yoshi Story too. There are some genuinely relaxing tracks that really capture the vibe of that cozy N64 era of games. Yoshi's various noises and grunts are also cute, as are the sound effects of eating shy guys, fruit, and interacting with various stage elements.
Gameplay, while good overall, is probably Yoshi Story's weakest quality. Despite how simplistic the gameplay in Yoshi Story is, the controls can feel a bit slippery at times, especially when doing anything other than jumping on immobile, stationary platforms. The water stages and some of the more technical platforming in the fina world stages can be particularly annoying given how its hard to play Yoshi where you want him at any given time. It really makes this game hard at times for the wrong reason, although, calling Yoshi Story a "hard" game couldn't be further from the truth. Overall, Yoshi story is a pretty easy, short game, maybe even too easy. Not only that, but even for a platforming game released in 1997, things are just a bit too simplistic most of the time. You're pretty much just trying to eat enough fruit to get to the next page and there are the occasional boss fights thrown in here and there for good measure. Sometimes it just makes the game a bit boring to play, despite Yoshi Story being a more enjoyable experience than not.
I've very happy I revisited Yoshi Story again. It's not the amazing gem of a game I was hoping it would maybe be, but it was still an excellent way to spend a large chunk of my day off from work. Yoshi Story is a genuinely charming, wholesome game with some flaws and shortcomings, but on the whole, it's still worth playing for any Yoshi fan or a fan of 2D Nintendo platformers. (11/28/25) [33/50]
bikingjahuty:
114. Freedom Planet (PS4)
Pretty much every review you read or listen to is going to mention Sonic the Hedgehog when discussing 2014's Freedom Planet. It makes sense Freedom Planet began its life as a Sonic fan game before the developer repurposed it into its own original IP. While the influences and similarities to the Sonic franchise are undeniable in nearly all facets of Freedom Planet, the game successfully distinguishes itself from any Sonic game I've ever played (I've played and beat nearly all the 2D Sonic games) and becomes something so fresh and enjoyable that I actually ended up liking Freedom Planet more than most Sonic games I've played. In fact, Freedom Planet was so damn good that I'd place it in the upper echelon of incredible platformers I've played. And trust me, it's among some incredible company (DKC2, Sonic 3, and Sonic Mania just to name a few)!
If I didn't know any better, I could easily assume Freedom Planet was developed for the Sega Saturn back in 1997. The game oozes loads of charm in its visuals and audio. The sprite work is fantastic with nearly every character, stage, boss, or basic enemy being lovingly created with some of the best pixel art I've seen in decades. The game does an amazing job of giving all the main characters and villeins an excellent range of emotions and expressions, which are shown of masterfully in the games many cut scenes. Speaking of these cut scenes, they provide a surprisingly interesting and fun story that plays out as you progress through the game. You won't just be going from one stage to another with only a loose idea of what you're doing so, like in most 16/32 bit 2D platformers. These cutscenes do an excellent job at making you like and care about the various characters, and motivate you to want to want to see what happens next. However, the cutscenes visuals are only a small piece of the pie when it comes to why Freedom Planet is so gorgeous. The in game graphics when you getting through stages is incredible and each stage is memorable and distinct from any other you've played previously. There are very few reused assets in Freedom Planet, even in terms of standard enemies. And then there's the bosses! Holy shit do they show up a level of creativity and coolness unmatched by the vast majority of 2D platformers I've ever seen! I don't often say this, but I honestly can't think of a single fault in Freedom Planet's visual presentation. Your eyes are almost guaranteed to love what they're seeing from start to finish.
The audio in Freedom Planet is nearly just as stellar as the visuals. Nearly all the music in this game is a combination of catchy retro tunes that go perfectly with the action, or more calm melodies that will trigger nostalgia in anyone old enough to remember gaming back in the 90s. It's the kind of video game OST you'll want to put on your phone and listen to when you're in the car or on the go. As for the voice acting in Freedom Planet, it's a mixed bag in terms of quality, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Voice acting performances range from professional tier to some characters sounding like they were part of the dev team or friends of the dev team who volunteered to voice a character. If this were a game that took itself far more seriously, this would potentially be a major problem, but in Freedom Planet it just works. Even the more sub par voice actors in this game give their characters a level of charm that greatly enhanced my investment in their individual stories and what happens to them throughout the game. The voice acting almost reminds me of a late 90s Working Designs game where they'd famously, or infamously depending on who you ask, would commonly hire amateurs with little to no voice work to their name to do major characters when dubbing their games. However, I honestly wouldn't recast a single character in Freedom Planet with how it all just works so well.
My only gripe with the audio is that some audio quality when characters are speaking seems inconsistent. It's as if some voice actors were using different equipment to record their lines or were in different locations than other actors who contributed their voices. I found this to be especially true with the main character Torque whose voice didn't have the same fidelity that some of the other characters did. There were a handful of other examples of this as well, but Torque's was the most obvious. Still, this is a fairly small blemish in what is otherwise an excellently produced game from an audio standpoint.
While Freedom Planet's presentation is outstanding, the same is not true of its gameplay. As mentioned, Freedom Planet is a 2D sidescroller that takes undeniable influences from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. The stage layouts, obstacles, and other features are very reminiscent of what is seen in most Sonic games, however in many stages, these elements, as well as new elements that Freedom Planet brings to the table aren't always executed as well as they probably could. Stage layout and design can be an issue at times, and the flow of some stages in particular just doesn't feel as fun or fluid as what's seen in many Sonic games. Despite this, there isn't a bad stage in Freedome Planet, but there are unfortunately entire stages or parts of stages that are just decent to maybe slightly above average in terms of their design.
Freedom Planet allows you to play as one of three characters, similarly to how the later Sonic games gave you a choice of multiple characters to play as. Each of these characters has their own strengths, weaknesses and abilities they can use to get through each stage. Most of these abilities are implemented pretty well overall and definitely make for a pretty fin times regardless of what you're doing. As mentioned above, however, sometimes what your character can do and what is being asked of you at a particular part of the game does not always mesh as well as it should, but these isolated areas of annoyance fortunately do not represent the majority of Freedom Planet's gameplay.
I gushed over the visual appeal of Freedom Planet's bosses earlier, and it is with deep regret that I can't fanboy over actually fighting them. Don't get me wrong, some bosses in Freedom Planet are a blast to fight. Battling them is intuitive and engaging, and at least for me represent some of my highest highs while plating through this game. Unfortunately, some of my lowest lows while playing Freedom Planet also occurred when fighting some of its bosses. The design and balancing of some of the boss battles just wasn't that great and felt more frustrating than fun to play against. Some of these more frustrating, poorly designed boss fights can also be cheesed which really undermined their impact. However, I'd say half the boss battles range from good to very good, a quarter are just okay, and another quarter are pretty bad. So yeah, the boss battles can be a point of contention, but overall you're more likely to enjoy them than not.
Playing through Freedom Planet reminded me why I love video games so much and why they've been such a massive part of my life for the majority of it. This game was surprisingly amazing and from start to finish, the passion of the development team shines through. I'm almost ashamed it took me as long as it did to finally get around to playing Freedom Planet seeing how I originally bought the physical version off Limited Run Games ages ago, and even contemplated selling it at one point since I wasn't sure if I'd ever play it. Fortunately, I didn't sell it and after playing it I have almost nothing but unfettered praise for this game. Freedom Planet is an outstanding 2D platforming game that needs to be played by Sonic fans, genre fans, or just people who love retro video games. You will not be disappointed! (11/30/25) [42/50]
dhaabi:
62. Resident Evil 2 || PlayStation || 11.24.2025
Before playing, Resident Evil 2 was a game I knew little about besides some major structure elements. Looking back, I can't really remember if it's a game that I understood the general public as thinking was more successful than the debut title or not; however, it's clear that a franchise had certainly been established once this game's success was cemented. After completing the first entry without much issue, I was looking forward to playing its sequel.
Like the debut title, Resident Evil 2 is divided into two main campaigns, which the player can freely select when beginning a new save file by playing as either Leon or Claire. I don't think there's any general consensus regarding which of the two is easier—they both seem to have strengths and weaknesses. However, this is especially true because each campaign have two alternate scenarios that are dependent on whether the campaign is selected first or second. Why this is done is because, once completing one character's campaign, the option to play the other character's becomes available in a way similar to other games' new game plus mode. So it's my understanding that there are, in a sense, four different campaigns, though I'm unsure how each of the character-specific ones vary exactly. Regardless, there seems to be enough content to warrant at least one follow-up playthrough, as was previously implemented. And with that said, my first playthrough was Claire A, since I read while skimming through information that it made more sense to begin that way.
Almost immediately upon starting, players are left stranded right in the middle of a zombie outbreak throughout Raccoon City, which sharply contrasts the first entry's elevated tension. While danger is mostly exemplified by the sheer number of zombies and other miscellaneous enemies, it's also demonstrated through setting choices. One of the first shelters players stop at is a gun shop of all places, but the game promptly subverts any hint at safety it's first implied to provide. Eventually, players take reliable refuge in the game's central environment that is the city police station. Of course, one would also presume such a place would be safe, but it's anything but and is again trivialized. Unfortunately, though, the heightened chaotic level of action set by the game's introduction isn't really sustained even relative to the first game, really. Like before, players will navigate throughout a large environment with enemies scattered throughout.
I will mention, though, that I did find the game's introduction to be difficult—arguably the most difficult part across the entire game, even. For this series, I've always read how it places a greater emphasis on resource management than its contemporaries, but I've really not seen how that's true. Even for a new player, there are just enough items to collect if being thorough to defeat nearly every enemy while even executing missed attacks. But at the beginning, I did not know that; so, for that reason, I began playing overly resourceful while navigating throughout the falling city outside as hordes of zombies stagger everywhere while having a limited means to combat them. And obviously, passing this section became much easier upon deciding to just the resources I have. Generally, enemy numbers are larger than I remember them being in the previous game despite the corridors players traverse being no wider. And just like before, exploring each of the game's main environments is a puzzle in itself. Most roadblocks are just simple locked doors, but certain barriers are more unique such as a fire needing extinguished and a larger cluster of enemies needing felled, hinting at the need for a different weapon type to gain first. However, these types of obstacles are few and far between. And related to resource management is the ink ribbon save system that's also returned. Its implementation again negates my long-held understanding of the franchise's earliest games that there is this immense tension being established throughout the playthrough. I was able to save my data quite liberally with plenty of unused ink ribbons by the game's end. I eventually began saving far more often than I really needed to far more out of convenience than the fear of triggering a game over.
Complementing exploration once more are prefixed camera angles, though I found its execution to be a bit annoying, which is an opinion that deviates from my thoughts on how they performed previously. There are times when camera angles changing without good reason aside from designing combat to be more cumbersome by intentionally obscuring the player's view from the threats they face. As a result, I found myself electing to play far more defensively than I'd prefer to be, which is saying something considering that I already play survival horror games overcautiously. When players encounter enemies, enemy presence is known ahead of time while within a certain distance from them due to the sounds they make. However, how far that distance is can't always be discerned unless they're visible on-screen. And since enemies creep toward the player at such slow speeds, I found myself waiting at times up to nearly a full minute for them to come into camera view to ensure that my ranged attacks would be successful. All of this is was done to avoid the momentary physical contact I'd otherwise have been subjected to since resources are finite, which I wasn't purposefully trying to see how depleting them would work out for me as it'd certainly create a more tense atmosphere. Another detail worth mentioning now is that enemies take a considerable amount of hits to defeat. What that amount is seems random too, despite the distance and ammo type used being the same. And just like before, I found no reason to engage with the single melee weapon.
For some time, puzzles are quite minimal, and they're not particularly difficult either. As stated before, most puzzles are just locked doors, and I can only readily think of one actual puzzle that deviates from simply requiring the player to gain a specific item and then using it somewhere else. Something else to comment on is the act of finding items. While the game's environment details are far superior than in the previous game, their quality comes with a caveat, being that it's sometimes easy to overlook needed items. At the same time, there are several instances where items to collect are out of view entirely, so it's necessary to press the action button when these viewpoints occur if wanting to acquire valuable pickups like health restoratives and ammo. And by the time I reached the game's end, I realized that how the two scenarios interconnect is more engaging that I previously believed them to be. Apparently, some item lockers and other interactive set pieces are shared between both campaigns. And if I'm understanding how they operate correctly (for I've only played through Claire A), then they're designed as an interesting risk-reward sequence.
Now, of course, I'm needing to address Resident Evil 2's plot. Generally, my opinion on it is that it's subpar, as even with added plot points does it ever seem like the story elevates beyond the need to escape the town's terror. A secondary character whom I wasn't previously aware of also becomes a crucial element to the story around the midway point, and their inclusion does admittedly provide some much-needed tension while also expanding upon the newly-developed G-Virus that's devastating the city. Yet while I ultimately do regard the story elements being lackluster, I will admit that it does openly expand upon what all is exactly happening in Raccoon City as it's indirectly ravaged by the antagonistic force Umbrella. At this moment, though, I'm not particularly invested in the story. But perhaps I'm being too critical of it from the perspective of playing nearly thirty years after its release and having interacted with more modern horror.
Finally, I will point out some other assorted game elements worth commenting upon. Perhaps my favorite update to the game from the first title is item storage. Namely, that ammo can now stack is a much appreciated change. For Claire at least, there is even a weapon that has several ammo types, and ammo can be freely swapped out too. Meanwhile, the game's visuals and CGI are impressive too, that's also complemented by relatively strong voice work. And another fun inclusion is the Game Over screen that shows the moments following player death. Any enemies prey upon their body, so it's particularly fun to see when multiple enemies are in the vicinity. However, one aspect I take some fault with is the visual cue that enemies have fully fallen. Usually, blood pools around their body, but sometimes it doesn't trigger, or it at least can't be discerned based on color choices. There's also a routine graphics glitch where defeated enemy bodies twitch, which is confusing since enemies may appear dead but actually aren't.
After having now completed this sequel entry, I think I ultimately regard it as being a slight step lower in quality than the debut title. I think that may be a bold opinion but perhaps not. Nevertheless, I would like to revisit the game in time to play the Leon B scenario and maybe eventually play the opposite scenarios, Leon A and Claire B, too.
bikingjahuty:
115. Ninja Five O (GBA)
Ever since I began collecting video games nearly 20 years ago, it never ceases to amaze me how many expensive "hidden gem" games are undeserving of both their inflated price tag and their gem status. Sadly, from my experience, very few of these supposedly great games that were unappreciated during their time actually live up to the collector hype around them. After playing through Ninja Five O on the GBA, you can add this overrated collector's trophy to the pile as well.
Ninja Five O is pretty unimpressive in nearly every way possible. Even compared to similar actions games released over a decade prior to its 2003 release are vastly superior in every possible way. Ninja Gaiden, Shinobi III, Elevator Action Returns, and many other similar games far mroe deserving of your time (and money). It's hard to start with what Ninja Five O's strength are, so I guess I'll start with as good a place any any when discussing a video game, it's gameplay.
Gameplay wise, Ninja Five O is sort of a mess. The game has you completing isolated stages broken up into smaller levels where you'll be collecting colored keys, saving hostages, and taking down bad guys as a traditional looking ninja character. Levels are non liniar in the sense that you won't just be going left to right or right to left like you do in games like Ninja Gaiden, but rather you'll have to investigate areas of the level to accomplish all the things I mentioned a second ago. Unfortunately, nearly everything about doing this gets repetitive and boring by the time you reach the end of the second stage. It doesn't help that controlling your Ninja isn't ideal either. You'll friently get caught up on ledges when you meant to land flat on a platform to slash an unsuspecting bad guy, you'll accidentally kill a hostage just because you landed on a crate then slashed, instead of being on the same level as the bad guy holding the hostage, or you accidentally swing into a wall of spikes or other stage obstacle accidentally when trying to swing to a ledge. Speaking of the grappling hook mechanic, it's probably Ninja Five O's worst gameplay aspect as it can be very fidgety and difficult to get your character where you want them to go as you're swing from a ledge or trying to climb up a wall. Wall climbing is by far the worst, most needlessly difficult thing to do in this game, and even when you think you've got the hang of it, you'll quickly realize you didn't as you fall to the bottom of a shaft or something and have to try and get up to the top again.
Ninja Five O's gameplay isn't all bad, in fact, when the game's poorly executed controls and mechanics occasionally work, they produce some pretty satisfying moments. I found these satisfying parts mostly involved combat or stealth killing a bad guy from behind. The boss battles at the end of each stage can also be fun, although I found a lot of them to just involve keeping your distance and throwing shurikens at the boss until they dropped dead. Unfortunately, these high points of Ninja Five O's gameplay were not enough to make up for all the negatives which you'll be dealing with way more if you choose to play this overrated shelf fodder.
Both the visual and audio presentation of Ninja Five O aren't that much better. Having personally played a lot of GBA games in my day, I am fully aware of how good games can look on this little, amazing machine. Unfortunately, Ninja Five O's development team either lacked the time, budget, or talent to make this game look as good as it probably could have. Stage backgrounds are all flat and mostly unremarkable. There are things like scenic backgrounds or city scapes in some of the stage levels, but overall, everything just looks unappealing and dull in this game. The character, enemy, and boss sprites don't fair much better. There are very few enemies in this game and most are just reskins or color swaps of other enemies you've faced dozens of times before. Bosses do look better overall, but there lack of creativity and visual appeal is only rivaled by how lackluster fighting them can be at times.
I wish I could say the audio was better, but it really isn't. The music in this game is neither memorable or that good. Sound effects are equally unremarkable. Everything you'll hear in Ninja Five O is serviceable I suppose, but outside the game likely being more dull without it, it's doesn't help the game be anymore entertaining for the most part.
What's sad is I could totally envision how Konami (yes...THAT Konami who has made countless other great 2D action games) could have made this game way better. Of they had given the visuals a bit more polish, stringed the stages together better with a fun, cheesy narrative and had Ninja Gaiden-like cutscenes, and had one of the Castlevania composures cook up a memorable OST, Ninja Five O could have launched a new franchise. And that's without even touching the gameplay. Unfortunately, that's not what happened and instead we got whatever Ninja Five O is and has been for over 20-years. If you're reading this, I hope you never waste money on the original GBA version of this game. I would struggle to even recommend the Limited Run Games re-release of this game which is way cheaper. Either way, Ninja Five O is barely worth a bargain bin pickup, let along $40, or hell, hundreds of dollars. Play a different ninja game, like almost any other ninja game for a much better time. (12/1/25) [24/50]
bikingjahuty:
116. 1080 Snowboarding (N64)
I probably mentioned this in my Tony Hawk Pro Skater reviews, but back in the late 90s there were few things cooler than skateboarding and snowboarding. As a young adolescent during this time I tried my hand at both and failed miserably at both. Luckily I had excellent games to play where I could live out my pro skateboarder/snowboarder fantasies in. While the Tony Hawk games had me covered on the skateboarding front, 1080 Snowboarding for the N64 had me covered when it came to snowboarding.
Growing up, I played the hell out of 1080. I have wonderful memories of friends and I playing this game on winter break or just on Friday nights just as the weekend was getting started. We've try and outdo each other's scores in trick attack mode or race down one of the few courses in 1080. For a little while, 1080 was actually our goto sports game and we relished in this game's distillment of how cool it was to be a snowboarder during that time. Even playing this game nearly 30 years after it first came out, I'm still enchanted by how well this game still captures that late 90s extreme sports feel and transports me back to being an angsty, albeit care free young teen during that time.
1080 is still a pretty damn fun game to play. While this game does have a slight learning curve in terms of how not to bail on your board whenever you catch any sort of air, and also the rhythm of pulling of tricks and trick combos, it does such a good job at representing the sport of snowboarding on the limited hardware it was developed on. Unfortunately the controls, especially in trick attack or just when trying to pull off more technical tricks does suffer from the limitations of the N64 controller and console it was developed on, but these don't distract too heavily from what is otherwise a fun, enjoyable snowboarding game. In fact, I'd say there wouldn't be another snowboarding game that rivaled 1080 until SSX came out a few years later, and even then I'd argue it took until Tricky to surpass 1080 in the gameplay department. It was just that good and that fun to play.
Sadly, 1080 does suffer from limited content, which also holds this game back a bit. There are only about 6 selectable boarders, probably a dozen different boards, and only 6 courses. The courses do have unique features that help distinguish them, however I wish a few of them were a little more distinct. Luckily, they're all fairly well designed, with a few the exception of a few sections in some of them. Character and board stats are all different too, making it matter who you choose for what kind of mode you're playing in, and also what board you choose to do the job. This definitely ads a layer of depth to 1080. Unfortunately, some of this depth does go out the window in the higher difficulties where there's almost a but of rubber banding going on in races. But for what it's worth, this is a small blemish on what is otherwise a pretty fun, well made game to play.
1080's presentation does unfortunately suffer somewhat of the limited riders and courses made available. There are a few different courses in the trick attack mode, but given one is a half pipe and one is literally one giant jump, it's not making this game feel anymore visually appealing for the most part. The character models of the 6 selectable boarders are all good and they definitely are distinct from one another. The selectable characters also radiate that late 90s coolness too despite the large polygons that make up their models. Overall, there are definitely better looking N64 games out there, but 1080 doesn't suffer from anything too egregious while also being pretty good looking for a 1998 console game.
Finally, we get to 100's audio which may be the best part of this game. Each track has its own music, with some of the tracks being kinda generic. However, there are a few songs, both in stage and during the ranking and replay menus that are INSANELY good. If you enjoy 90s drum and bass music, this game is absolutely worth checking out for the soundtrack alone. Other than that, there are cool snow shredding sounds when you take a sharp corner, or the sound of water or pavement if you choose to skate over those surfaces in a few levels. The characters are also uniquely voice acted, although you won't be hearing any lengthy dialogue or exposition in 1080s. They'll pretty much just shout one liners when you select them and when certain things happen while playing.
1080 Snowboarding has absolutely been surpassed in the snowboard game genre, but one thing none of its more contemporary rivals have is that late 90s X factor that will make most people who were old enough to remember that time period gush with starry eyed nostalgia. That's at least how 1080 makes me feel. On top of that, the game is still surprisingly fun to play despite various shortcomings from the game itself as well as the platform it calls home. It's still worth picking up and playing for a but though if you fancy yourself a late 90s extreme sports fan. (12/1/25) [34/50]
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