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52 Games Challenge 2026!!!
marvelvscapcom2:
9. Mary Kate And Ashley: Magic Mystery Mall [PS1] - Finished Feb 17th, 2026
If you were alive in the late 90s or early 2000s then you know the Olsen twins as peak consumerism. Just paparazzi fuel, kinda tabloid famous from fullhouse legacy. The straight to home disney dvd craze of the late 90s, the fashion. It is a bit odd to note that the Olsen twins are over a decade older than I am considering when you think of them you think of kids bop, sugar surge and lemon heads with the comcast on demand remote... they seem to be perpetually remembered this way as a kid and I feel in this sense they sorta are a time capsule to that era. And my knowledge of their works outside of Fullhouse is not vast but I still think they are classic, simple and Americana. Like the millenial version of Shirley Temple. So with that.. I dove in to their game. It's not the only game I own of the twins. I also own "get a clue" for gameboy color.
Is the game Skyrim? No. Is it harmless mind rot fun that only lasts about an hour? Sure. But it's funny comically. If you were a teen girl in 1999 perhaps the plot would register but I even doubt that. It's cliche but fairly calming and sweet in premise. MKAMM is essentially a series of mini games that make up a larger game.
As the sisters you are led to a mall where you break a heart pendant containing crystals which then freezes the mall in time. Ashley says "this is one mall I dont want to be stuck in forever" and then the plot becomes collecting the 5 crystals to fix the pendant and restore the mall. You can choose between Ashley and Mary Kate. Not that there is much difference being that they are literally identical twins born 2 minutes apart. but Ashley seems to have better fashion sense in almost every skit. The mini games are
Diner - You must control the sisters to make orders for customers. This concept has been done in many games. Think dave the diver or krusty krab games. Where you gotta grab a tray, or food and feed it to the corresponding customers before they get impatient. It's fun. Classic.
Runway - in this mini game. You choose an outfit for both MK and A. MK has denim outfits. Ashley has more pastels. You gotta match the outfit pieces and then take photos of them as they walk a runway making sure to catch them in poses. It's the most useless of the mini games but also the easiest.
The lifeguard boy friends - this one is the funniest, funnest and most 90s teen core to the essence of 90210 vibe. The girls decide they have a crush on 2 lifeguard boys. The photographs of the boys will help prove they are cool for an editorial. So you follow the boys around and you have to snap the photos of Ashley with both boys. This seems dumb but it's hard and actually takes puzzle solving as the boys only pop up in certain areas, and some are at random. So you gotta get the girl lined up with both boys. Extra points if all 3 poses. Banter exhanges with them. The boys start thinking they are being stalked then divert into "yeah but they're kinda cute" acceptance of it which culminates in a group photo. Its hard, and patterned. It took me most of the time to complete this. I think it has the most ps1 IP stalgia of the game. It's goofy and made me feel like I was back as a kid again when all this was relevent. My cousin Felicia had ps1 and games like this. So it's fairly nostalgic even if I havent played it.
Snowboarding - the snowboard levels are easy but also pretty good for the time. Like ps1 era SSX but with no tricks and the olsen twins lol. They say "so rad" and 90s lingo which is cool as Im only playing these games for escapism at this point.
Music video - the final mini game is a music video. You choose moves abd have to slowly fade the camera in and out as the Olsen twins videographer. This one kinda sucks. It's boring and has no substance.
Overall. It is what you expect it to be. A time capsule to goof on. Like when we watch scooby doo movie. It's 2 people larger than life being themselves with youthful nostalgia. It's simple. But as a liesure play. It was not completely a dumpster fire. And sometimes I like to dabble in games like this because its funny to see how capitalism and branding and name recognition get used for quick dollars. Sometimes it works. If the game was like 5 bucks id imagine a girl of the day not compeltely hating it for a night lol.
Rating - 62/100
bikingjahuty:
1. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (PS4) - ABANDONED
One of the harsh realizations I've come to while playing the various classic style Castlevania games is I vastly prefer the Metroidvania style games more. Part of it is due to the fact that most classic style Castlevania games were made in a different era with less advanced technology and more constraints to gameplay, but part of it is also due to how questionably designed many of these older Castlevania games are. Poor difficulty balancing and level design, stiff and slow movement, and cheap as hell bosses and enemies are things that plague nearly every pre-metroidvania Castlevania game I've ever played. Given how much praise Rondo of Blood gets, I figured it must have improved the old school Castlevania formula so much that these egregious issues in games like the NES entires and even newer entries like Bloodlines must have been fixed. Nope. If anything, they're even a bit worse in Rondo of Blood.
Like many people, I'll I've heard for years is how incredible Rondo of Blood is. From a presentation standpoint, I completely get it and will fully agree that this is one of the prettiest and best sounding games of its generations. I adore the art, character and enemy design, the amazing stage art direction, and let's not forget how unforgettable the OST is. It's impossible not to be drawn to this game as a fan of retro video games. Still, I have to imagine that a lot of the people that heavily praise this game have never actually played it.
Rondo of Blood is a bit of a mess gameplay wise. As mentioned, Rondo of Blood suffers from the ultra stiff, slow, and cumbersome movement controls of most pre-Symphony of the Night Castlevania games. You can't control Richter's jump once you've initiated it, your invincibility frame between taking damage is a fraction of a second, meaning you will get utterly destroyed in some of the more difficult, unrelenting sections of the game. Speaking of Damage, nearly every attack, whether it's from a standard enemy or a boss will drain roughly 20% of your health, meaning you're screwed after just 5 hits at most. Bosses are mostly agile and their attacks come at you fast, but as mentioned Richter moves with the ability of a sea cargo freighter meaning the only way to get through this game is an offensive amount of trial and error. The gameplay can still be fun, and most enemies and bosses offer up unique challenges and considerations, but nearly all of this is nullified by the poorly balanced and implemented gameplay. At least in the NES games, most enemies and their attacks were also slow, but Rondo of Blood simply has no excuse.
I only got three stages in before I just couldn't take anymore of this game. That's really too bad since I really, really wanted to like Rondo of Blood after nearly almost universal praise for it since first discovering this game back in the late 2000s. There is so much I appreciate about this game, but none of it redeems how shit this game is to play. I know this will likely piss some longtime fans of Rondo of Blood off, but I feel like you really have to have a preference for the classic style Castlevania games to squeeze any enjoyment out of this one. As for me, my opinion of Rondo of Blood gives me little hope that I'll really like some of the other older Castlevania games I have yet to play. I'm sure I'll give them a shot someday, but for now, I'm feeling pretty pessimistic about any game in this series that isn't a Metroidvania or a 3D entry. (2/18/26) ABANDONED
kamikazekeeg:
9 - Poppy Playtime: Chapter 5 (PC 2026) - BEAT - After playing through the series last year, I was looking forward to this new chapter. I don't love most mascot horror, mostly just this and Five Nights at Freddy's, but it's impressive how this series has improved in quality. The first chapter is a demo, nothing more, 2nd chapter became what felt like a proper game, 3rd to me felt like it understood what it could become and expand on, and then 4 was where the quality came in, better visuals, improved gameplay.
Chapter 5 is that level of quality, but I feel like it didn't take the next step. The hand gimmick in this one is kinda weak and used in less interesting ways and it just feels like less variety, which is a shame. I think there's less lore learned and such here compared to previous chapters, though I don't mind that as much as Chapter 4 had almost too much like cutscenes and character talking that it felt like it dragged because of it. I like the characters introduced, but there's just not enough here. Saying that, I think it's the longest chapter, as I believe I put around 5 hours into it, maybe close to Chapter 4, but there was definitely some wandering padding.
Overall, it's not bad, but it feels like an inbetweener chapter, more setup for what I think is the big finale of the next chapter. It's also a struggle to recommend either this or Chapter 4 at 20 bucks each. Only buy if you can get on like a half off sale.
supremeusername:
--- Quote from: bikingjahuty on February 14, 2026, 06:00:18 pm ---I actually 100% agree that Powerstone 1 is better than 2. I never understood why 2 gets way more praise. It just feels like a much more sloppy, poorly designed game.
--- End quote ---
Late reply, but yeah. Probably because Power Stone 2 is a better party game that it has the more positive reputation. As a game I'd want to take the time playing & learning more about, Power Stone 1 all day!
supremeusername:
8. Jet Grind Radio | 2000 | DreamCast | 2/7:
Glad to play Jet Set Grind Radio on official, North American DreamCast hardware for the first time! The wonderful soundtrack, crisp cel-shaded graphics, and iconic aesthetic of JGR all make for great reasons to replay it again after so long. Everything is pretty much the same as I remembered. The later stages still get incresingly annoying in terms of difficulty -- to the point where I would just brute-force spray graffiti on a wall while getting hit over and over by the flying jetpack dudes. This however takes nothing away from what makes this game special. This was SEGA at their peak: keeping the flow of new ideas constant and creating brand-new experiences and gaming franchises in the process. This was SEGA's make-or-break moment to stay in the console market (which we all know what happened). Still, SEGA really gave it their all just to keep the DreamCast alive, and Jet Set was one of the most memorable outcomes of that bygone era. Grade: A-
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