52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

[telly]

Game 6 - Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES) - 13 Hours

I haven't played an old school game like this in a long time, but I had (mostly) a really fun time with it. There's a lot to like about the Super Star Wars games. The controls are for the most part really smooth, the music and sound effects are top-notch, as are the graphics. The game feels like a scaled down version of the movies with a lot of love put into the cutscenes and voice acting. There's a nice variety of different flying and platforming stages packed with secrets alongside multiple characters to play as well. I really enjoyed most of the boss fights as well, particularly the final fight with Vader.

The game's low points for me were level-to-level with some really poor environmental design and insane difficulty - you're oftentimes swarmed with enemies that constantly respawn as soon as you kill one. The hit detection is really suspect as well and you have almost no post-hit invincibility which can add to the frustration. The game in general is very difficult, but thankfully there's a pretty generous password system to keep you going if you just persevere long enough. All in all, Super Empire Strikes back is probably 70% fun, 30% frustration but I enjoyed my time with it.

[Cartagia]

God of War Ragnarok is a good game, but definitely not as good as the previous one.  Great combat, and while the story was engaging, it was also super disjointed and the pacing was really weird.  tons of the game was just really slowly paced and it sucked all the momentum out of it, and made the game feel way too long, which is a shame, because I do like all of the individual pieces on their own.  Still boggles my mind that this team was able to take one of the most edgelordy characters and series of the mid-00s and turn it into a reflective, emotionally complex story, that doesn't forget what made it work in the first place for the most part.

[marvelvscapcom2]

19. Stubbs The Zombie: Rebel Without A Pulse [PS4] Finished April 2nd, 2025




Stubbs the zombie is a riot!  I liken to to the Gori Cuddly Carnage level of zany simplicity that meets OG Xbox Era goofiness.  And you get real humor.  Where Shaq Fu throws dung at the wall. This game is funny off premise alone. It doesnt have to try so hard.


You play as a zombie that desires to urinate into the cities municipal water supply and you bowl your own head like a bowling ball. What's not to love?

The gameplay is fluid, the trophy titles are even hilarious.  If you enjoyed the original Xbox only version of stubbs. This game is a faithful remaster. Not a remake. It has that old PS2 era feel to it.  But it's clean. And has many filter options which im glad because I hate film grain.


Stubbs powers consist of a detatchable hand, an exploding grenade pancreas and a giant fart. All have unique combat implications and get used often. 


Tanks, jeeps and machine guns.

The game is crude and silly. Fun and zaney.  And the boss battles are actually challenging. The difficulty curve is perfect. As is the run time. (Im a fan of games that dont outlive themselves or take themselves so seriously. Its fine to be concise)


Overall the only cons with Stubbs is their are at least 2 levels. Especially the caves that are drawn out.  The game also crashed on me twice. Which is unacceptable in 2025. Get with it. But the game overall is a blast and I can see why it became a cult classic.


Rating - 90/100

[dhaabi]

19. The Girl in the Window || Mobile || 03.30.2025



On a whim, I found myself playing The Girl in the Window. I really didn't know much about the game prior to playing, but its store page details and images seemed to indicate it to be similar to other puzzle games which I've played and enjoyed, so I was hoping for a similar experience.

Specifically, The Girl in the Window is an escape-the-room type puzzle game set within the context of a murder mystery narrative. Ironically, I only began playing this game after having forgotten my keys and being locked out from home for a while, so my situation was the exact opposite from the game's premise—I was wanting to get in, not out. The game's premise is simple: you as the unnamed protagonist enter an alleged haunted house in a derelict condition that's been this way since a horrific murder took place within it many years ago. While the doors are barred and the inside seems to remain untouched, there have been reports of ghostly apparitions being seen from outside through the windows. So, for some reason, the protagonist breaks in to investigate and immediately finds themselves trapped. Over the course of the game's event while inside while trying to get out, what are brief hauntings or maybe even remains of the past play out during certain key moments, though the ghost doesn't seem to be bothering the protagonist specifically but are rather making their presence known.

Inside, the player is limited to—or perhaps specifically stuck inside—a single small room and must search for items to use in a specific manner or in combination with others to solve puzzles. One step involved will present another piece of the larger puzzle needing answered to reach the main objective of leaving the locked house. Like many of its contemporaries, players are able to gain information and interact with each side of the room one at a time, and there are moments when certain screens indirectly interact with another. At first, I found myself thinking some of the puzzles were considerably obtuse, but there is really just a lot of moving parts to figure out how one set of clues should be used in conjunction with another. For that reason, I actually found the game's later sections easier than the beginning since more and more interactive set pieces had already become activated through earlier progression. So, naturally, there is less to piece together as the options available to use dwindle.

While the narrative does conclude, it is simple and not that important, although it does provide context for why the protagonist is drawn to this environment. In short, it serves it purpose for the actual gameplay. On that note, I did find myself using a guide for two or three segments. Perhaps I could have solved these sections with enough thought invested, but I didn't want to get too hung up on one small moment when there was clearly more to do. Also, I was locked out from my home for the majority of my playthrough, so I didn't feel quite as focused as I usually do while playing these types of games.

Overall, The Girl in the Window is fine. It's completely free, and advertisements are few and really not that frequent. The same developer has numerous other games which seem to be similar puzzle experiences, though I'm not sure if they're a part of a series or connected in any meaningful way. I may or may not visit more in the future, though hopefully it's not while being locked out.

[bikingjahuty]

42. Castlevania: Bloodlines (Genesis)

Throughout my youth, the Castlevania series somehow complete flew underneath my radar. Maybe it's because I was didn't have an NES during the 90s, or maybe it was because none of my friends seemed to know or talk about it either, but for whatever reason, it wouldn't be until the late 2000s that I'd finally dive into this series. Castlevania Bloodlines was actually my first Castlevania game. I remember liking it, but also thinking it had a lot of bullshit levels and sections as well. Well, unfortunately my opinion of Bloodlines is more or less the same as it was about 16 years ago, maybe even slightly worse.


Castlevania Bloodlines' saving grace is its presentation and music. Visually, Bloodlines is up there with some of the better looking Genesis games which is complimented by tons of cool bosses level set pieces, and the general horror setting and vibe of this game. The game is colorful and the sprites look excellent for the most part. The music is also excellent like it is in most Castlevania games. It especially sounds great through the Genesis' sound chip which has that distinct Genesis sound to it that I seem to praise in nearly every Genesis game review I write lol. But seriously, this is one you'd want to listen to in your car. The sound effects are also great and compliment the nearly top notch presentation this game is well known for.


Unfortunately when discussing Bloodlines' gameplay, my praise of this game is far less generous. Even compared to a lot of other classic, pre-metroidvania entries in the series, Bloodlines' has a ton of first time playthrough gotcha traps, which is one of my biggest pet peeves in older retro games. However, worse than that are some of its stages and sections which are just absolute crap in terms of design. With how good most of the other games in the series are, it surprises me Konami and Igarashi were okay putting some of these in the final game. Most appear in the final level, which sucks overall by the way, but there are platforming sections in this game that the controls seem ill equipped to handle. Whether you're playing a Eric or John, they both control very stiff for a game that wants to throw certain things at you that you are likely not able to handle given Bloodlines' gameplay limitations. It really is an example of a game being too ambitious for its own good. That's not to say there aren't some genuinely fun levels, sections, and bosses in Bloodlines because there definitely are, but there are enough of the bad ones where your enjoyment while playing will definitely be challenged.


Bloodlines is definitely a game that is hard for all the wrong reasons at many points in the game, and one I wanted to like more, but just couldn't. By the time the game was over I felt more relieved than happy that I just beat the game. Bloodlines is not a bad game, but its one that is definitely flawed and will test your patience at times despite it overwhelming your eyes and ears with its excellent 16-bit presentation. (4/5/25) [32/50]

[bikingjahuty]

43. F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa (Dreamcast)

As a 13-year old guy in the infancy of my love of cars which continues to this day, I remember seeing the deluxe version of the arcade cabinet for F355 Challenge at my local dave and Busters and nearly dying of excitement. The three panoramic screens, the surround sound audio of the 355's roaring flat plain crank V8, and maybe most of all, the gated 6-speed manual shifter made this the closest I could ever get to actually driving this legendary performance machine. Of course, I was never very good at this game, even years later when I'd come across it, but I still enjoyed the experience of playing this game whenever I was able to play this game in the arcade. While I have some prior experience with the Dreamcast port of F355 Challenge, I've always found it to be lacking in that overall visceral experience I get when playing the delixe arcade machine. This afternoon I decided to sit down with it and give the Dreamcast port a serious play through, and unfortunately it just doesn't scratch that driving sim itch that the arcade version provides.


F355 Challenge is still a pretty impression looking game, and in 2000 was a very impressive looking game. Really, my only major gripes with its visuals are some of the details of the tracks you race in and how some of the other cars looks in your rear view mirror and even when around you while driving. The audio is a mixed bag, but like the arcade game, the pretty realistic sound of the F355's roaring V8 sounds amazing. The soundtrack audio is very mediocre and not particularly memorable beyond the fact that there are very few songs in this game. Luckily that barely matters since you will just want to hear the noises coming out of your car.


Gameplay is less impressive in F355 Challenge. While not terrible or even bad, the driving mechanics in this game seem noticeably artificial while also trying to feel realistic. In other words, it feels like the game is compensating in strange ways in order to give the sensation of actually driving a Ferrari F355, even if it still falls short of being an approximation of what it's actually like. For the record, I've never drive any variant of a 355, but having driven other high performance, mid engine, rear wheel drive cars, F355 feels a bit to squirrelly to feel realistic. And then of course, the lack of the gated six speed in the arcade will also make you long to play that original version. The Dreamcast version does offer some additions not present in the arcade such as unlockable stages as well as more modes. Unfortunately, I found all this extra content still lacking and didn't bring my enjoyment on the same level as playing the arcade version. Sadly, I actually found the Dreamcast port to be kinda boring where I actually kept thinking I'd rather be playing something like Gran Turismo 2 or 3 instead (despite neither of those games having Ferrari's in them). Still, F355 Challenge on the Dreamcast does have its moments and does capture at least some of that magic present in the original arcade release. Unfortunately it's just not as enjoyable as the arcade game and never will be even if it still looks more or less the same and sounds about the same too. (4/5/25) [31/50]