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52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

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bikingjahuty:
2. Golden Axe (Genesis)

While I never owned Golden Axe as a kid, one of my best friends did and it was one of our favorite multiplayer games to play whenever I was at his house. Having never played or even encountered the arcade version of this game growing up, this was my first exposure to the Golden Axe series. However, it's been easily 30 years since I last played the original Golden Axe and I was fairly sure my opinion of this game had likely changed in that time period. Sure enough, it has.


For a fantasy style beat em' up from the late 80s, Golden Axe is a decent game. The visuals do a good job of capturing that fantasy adventure feel as you quest through each of the game's stages on your quest to defeat the evil Death Adder. In true fantasy style your progression through the game is tracked on a ancient looking map which just adds to the great encapsulation of the fantasy genre. Levels are also pretty memorable as you fight your way through villages, on the sides of cliffs, and eventually inside an ominous looking castle. Enemy variety is unfortunately lacking compared to some other contemporary beat em' ups of the time; most enemies will be the same models, but just color swapped. Bosses are also less varied than I would like, with most just being big looking dudes with giant swords or axes. Still, despite this, the visuals are pretty good in Golden Axe, especially for a very early Genesis release.


The soundtrack is also pretty good. There are some very memorable tunes in this game that gave been burned into my brain most of my life thanks to those Golden Axe play seasons from the early and mid 90s. Listening to the soundtrack now, however, there is still some decent music in this game, but still not as good as I remember. Aside from this, there are cool, crunchy sounding Genesis sound effects when you strike and enemy or they hit you, as well as the cries of enemies when you finally vanquish them.


Sadly, Golden Axe's gameplay isn't great, but in a way not terrible either as far as late 80s beat em' ups are concerned. Beyond the typical repetitive gameplay games from this genre are somewhat infamous for, there is a definite lack of balancing and an undeniable cheapness to Golden Axe's gameplay. Enemy default speed is faster than yours, which is already really slow, which allows them to easy flank you. You can do a variety of things to deal with this, including jumping and a 360 degree attack, but what often happens is the hit detection seems inconsistent, and niot just when surrounded on both sides. The inconsistent hit detection in Golden Axe is honestly my biggest grip with the game seeing how you're almost certain your strike with hit a bad guy, but instead just passes right through them, but next time from the same distance it lands? Okay. The use of magic via potion bottles you collect by kicking the shit out of little elves with bags does spice up gameplays, especially since the more you charge up your magic the better and cooler the attack you unleash. Oh and the three playable characters all have different magic attacks too which is pretty cool. There are also mounts you can use to help you fight, although between trying to actually get on them with getting hit by an enemy and then hit again after just one attack on the mount kind of diminishes their relevance in the game.


I have to constantly remind myself that Golden Axe is pretty par for the course when it comes to beat em' up games from this era, however it still had me wishing the game just had a little more refinement. There are so many great qualities in the Genesis port of Golden Axe, it's just a shame they didn't come together as well as I'd hoped they would. And unfortunately, even my childhood nostalgia for this game wasn't enough to mask these issues and have me coming out the end mostly enjoying the game. Still, the game is super short on a single playthrough (I beat it in about half an hour) and based on that, I feel like if you have an itch for some 16-bit beat em' up action, Golden Axe is worth trying even if there are much better examples from the genre and time period to be played elsewhere. (1/3/26) [29/50]

ssj4yamgeta:
I hope it's not too late for me to join. I don't think I could ever do 52 in a year, but I can see myself finishing 20-30 games.

My current active playthroughs are:

Tomb Raider 2 (Evercade)
Final Fantasy IV Advance (PC via emulation)
Mafia: The Old Country (PS5)

I'm at level 13 of Tomb Raider 2, so I should be finishing that one in a few days. Then I'll play through Tomb Raider 3 on Evercade before moving on to the remasters of 4, 5, and 6 on PS4. I'm also planning to replay the Legend-Anniversary-Underworld trilogy on PS3 since that was my favorite TR trilogy and introduction to the series.

bikingjahuty:

--- Quote from: ssj4yamgeta on January 03, 2026, 12:58:57 pm ---I hope it's not too late for me to join. I don't think I could ever do 52 in a year, but I can see myself finishing 20-30 games.

My current active playthroughs are:

Tomb Raider 2 (Evercade)
Final Fantasy IV Advance (PC via emulation)
Mafia: The Old Country (PS5)

I'm at level 13 of Tomb Raider 2, so I should be finishing that one in a few days. Then I'll play through Tomb Raider 3 on Evercade before moving on to the remasters of 4, 5, and 6 on PS4. I'm also planning to replay the Legend-Anniversary-Underworld trilogy on PS3 since that was my favorite TR trilogy and introduction to the series.

--- End quote ---


It's never too late to join, not to mention we're only 3 days into the new year so we just started.

bikingjahuty:
3. Splatterhouse 3 (Genesis)

Despite my countless trips to rental stores, as well as me and my various friends who owned Sega Genesis consoles, the Splatterhouse series was completely unknown to me until probably the late 2000s. Had I been a bit older during the early and mid 90s, I probably would have heard of it given how violent and spooky it was, but it's not a game that was ever on m radar until long after the Genesis was discontinued. More so, even after hearing about Splatterhouse and its various sequels, it wouldn't be until this year (2026) where I'd finally try one of these games out and see if it was truly something special or just another 16-bit dud. Splatterhouse 3 was always the entry that looked the most appealing to me so it's the one I decided to start with. And yep, it's pretty freakin good.


I'm actually surprised the Slatterhouse series didn't get way more popular after the third game given how violent, gory, grotesque, and at times even disturbing this game is. For a game released in 1993 it even gives Mortal Kombat 1 and 2 a run for its money in the violence department. But beyond it 16-bit carnage, Splatterhouse 3 has an excellent horror art direction that oozes creepiness and atmosphere. Every stage has distinct rooms to traverse through and most of these rooms look pretty different from one another. Especially in the mansion floor stages, one room might be a decrepit study and the next is an old garage or balcony overlooking a spooky forest in the background. There are mangled corpses laying around, blood and entrails on the walls and floor, and sections of this game that looks like hell is doing its very best to merge with ours.


Enemies are also very creative and appropriately scary. There is a decent variety of enemy types in Splatterhouse 3 with most reminding me of some sort of mix between Hellraiser and The Thing in terms of their design. Speaking of enemies, as the main character Rick beats the crap out of them, they will gradually show signs of taking damage and getting closer to death; when most enemies are around halfway through their HP, their heads will become visibly bloodied or even parts of their bodies will fall off. This also happens with boss characters as well which especially show off an impressive level of detail and creepiness in their design. Even Rick and his two forms look cool. If not for the parts of the later stages being a bit underwhelming compared to earlier stages, and maybe a little too much recycling of the same enemy types, this would be one of the best looking Genesis games I've ever played. It's still certainly up there though given its visuals and graphics are its strongest suit.


Before moving on from Splatterhouse 3's visual presentation it's definitely worth mentioning how surprisingly story driven this game is. Unlike most Beat em' ups which just given you a brief explanation of what you're doing and why you're doing it either at the beginning of the game or before it starts, Splatterhouse 3 continued to deliver a narrative through cool 16-bit rendered cutscenes that use a lot of digitized looking actor stills to tell a pretty interesting and creepy story. Splatterhouse 3 goes a step further, however and also has multiple, pretty different endings depending on whether you completed certain levels before the allotted time expired on those levels. All of this absolutely adds to and is a big part of why this game is one of the creepiest 16-bit era games. I've ever played and one that would have almost certainly given me nightmares had I played it around the time it originally came out.


Audio in Splatterhouse 3 is also great. There are actually vocal sound clips in this game that surprisingly clear seeing how this was a cartridge based game. Music is also pretty good with a variety of spooky tracks that definitely add to the action horror atmosphere of the rest of the game. Sound effects when you hit and kill enemies also sound pretty good too. Overall, the audio definitely compliments the overall great horror presentation this game is going for and excels at.


I feel like with most beat em' ups, particularly the ones most remember fondly, I get to praise their visuals and audio up and down, but when it comes to their gameplay, I have to take things down several notches and explain why they're maybe not the most enjoyable games to play. Unfortunately, Splatterhouse 3 is no different. Don't get me wrong, the beat em up action in this game is prety satisfying and well implemented at times, but there are just too many issues with this game's gameplay that hold it back from being anything better than just okay.


For starters, Splatterhouse 3 is an insanely hard game, even on easy difficulty. There are some basic enemies that will drain half your life bar with a single hit, meanwhile most bosses don't even hit this hard. Luckily you have unlimited continues, but you'll be sent right back to the beginning of the stage, meaning you're very likely to die again before completing it and moving onto the next level. Even the main character's power up ability which has him transforming into what he normally looks like, but on steroids does little to make getting through Splatterhouse 3 any easier. I'm not one to be overly critical of games for being "too hard" but when a lot of that difficulty is because of poor design or just general cheapness, I'm going to call it out. Splatterhouse 3 also suffers from some really annoying gotcha moments where enemies will instantly attack you before you have time to reach when entering a new room, and bosses spam certain movies which make dealing any damage to them a matter of out spamming them with cheap moves. These are not hallmarks of good game design for any better em' up or really any game at that.


However, there are some very noteworthy aspects to Splatterhouse 3's gameplay that certainly act as a buffer to its often frustrating, cheap gameplay. Splatterhouse 3 is the oldest beat em' up I've seen with nonlinear progression. Once you clear a room within a stage, you are often given multiple doors to choose from which take you into different rooms in whatever stage you're playing through. This allows you to get to your final destination in each stage differently, adding to this game's replay value. You're given a map to review when you press the start button which allows you to easily navigate through each stage and its rooms, do you'll never get lost. Exploration can definitely be enjoyable as it can reveal secrets, special items, health and power up items, and other oddities you'll be rewarded with for doing so. However, straying from a more direct path to the final room you're making your way towards often comes at a price of running out of time.


Yep, each stage had a time limit, which ties directly in with the story and what is occurring in each stage. You can still beat a stage and progress to the next one if you run out of time, however it will be at the expense of getting a worse story and ending in the game. I don't want to spoil anything, but the time limit is definitely a consideration if you're looking to get a better ending.


The bottom line is there is a ton to appreciate and enjoy in Splatterhouse 3, and this is despite the game's pretty blaring gameplay faults. Even with dying over and over again as I made my way through it, I still really enjoyed Splatterhouse 3 for the most part. It's presentation goes a long way to carry it, but even all things considered, this is one of the better Genesis beat em' ups I've played and worth checking out if you're a fan of the genre from the 90s. (1/3/26) [34/50]

bikingjahuty:
4. Halo 3 (XBONE)

Despite Halo CE and Halo 2 coming out while I was in high school and it being all the rage at the time, I never "loved" Halo, but I certainly liked it. By the time Halo 3 got announced I had graduated high school and was living 1200 miles away out of state for college. My little brother and I shared joint custody of our XBOX 360 Elite console; I'd have it for about 3 months, ship it to him, and he'd send it back in another 3 or 4 months. Around the time Halo 3 came out, my brother was in possession of our 360, which was absolutely appropriate given he LOVED Halo, definitely way more than I did. Funny enough, he went to a huge Halo 3 launch event that was holding an all ages tournament and he ended up winning it along with a free copy of Halo 3, a giant Master Chief cardboard cutout and like $100. I guess that's what playing Halo 2 thousands of hours on XBOX Live amounts to. But anyhow, the combination of my brother having the 360 when Halo 3 came out, me living so far away from all my high school friends whom I used to play Halo with, and the fact that I was never crazy about Halo to begin with meant I didn't play this game back in 2007, or in 2008, or for the rest of the 2000s....or the 2010s. Nope, here we are in 2026, nearly 19 years since Halo 3 originally came out and I finally sat down and played through the campaign. Better late than never I suppose.


As mentioned, I only played the campaign which is where most of my interest in Halo games lies. I enjoyed playing local multiplayer in Halo CE and Halo 2, but in recent years I've only ever played the single player campaign in those games. Same goes for Halo 3. With that said, i am aware how robust Halo 3's multiplayer and map editor modes are and how this games legendary for its multiplayer back in the day, both locally and online. The reason I mentioned this is because your mileage will vary greatly depending on how much you value the multiplayer aspect of these games and my review may not reflect how balanced or enjoyable this experience might be. However, if you're just interested in the single player experience, read on if you'd like.


I'm a bit bummed to say, Halo 3 was not nearly as impressive and many have led me to believe over the years. With that said, I sort of expected to like this game roughly about as much as I did Halo CE and Halo 2, minus the nostalgia I directly have for those two games. And sure enough, I enjoyed Halo 3 about just as much. With me saying that, i have to stress that Halo 3 did have aspects about it that I did genuinely enjoy more than any of the previous Halo games, mainly how much better paced Halo 3 is. There isn't nearly as many chapters and sections that just drag on and on like they did in Halo 2, and especially Halo CE. This meant the action and story just kept coming and coming, which is something I really appreciate. Unfortunately, the final chapter to the original Halo story arch was not as cool as I had hoped, but at the very least ties things up nicely and the final chapter of the game was appropriately epic.


Halo 3 also luckily refined the gameplay from the previous two Bungie Halo games. Shooting feels a little more crisp, vehicles control way better, and level design is generally way better. Speaking of vehicles, there are a decent amount more to pilot compared to the previous two games, which makes the improvements to how they control that much more appreciated. Most of Halo's chapters are very well made, however the sections and chapters that aren't are so bad that I dare say they are some of the worst in the original Halo trilogy. Particularly, the double scarabs fight and the final couple stages that bombard you with flood to the point where it's more frustrating than fun. There are also more weapons, although many are just variations of other weapons that have existed in the series for some time. In saying all this, the gameplay of Halo 3 is certainly improved, but it still has some notable flaws that prevent this game from being the incredible experience this game was often lauded for around the time of its release.


Probably Halo 3's weakest quality is its visuals. That's not to say Halo 3 is a bad looking game, but unfortunately the jump in visual fidelity compared to Halo 2 just didn't wow me as much as I was hoping. Maybe I've forgotten how old 7th gen game graphics can look, but honestly Halo 3 didn't look that much better than Halo 2. This lack of visual sharpness and detail is most evident in character models and animations which again, don't seem to look that much better than how they looked in Halo 2 back in 2004. Sure, some textures are noticeably better, but overall the visuals crispness of Halo 3 is not the leap forward I thought it would be. The beefed up hardware of the 360 seems to have gone more towards the spectacle and scale of the battles that take place; there are definitely way more enemies and just general chaos during the game, and fortunately there are rarely any framerate dips or stutters when these large scale skirmishes occur.


Finally, there's Halo 3's audio which is just as epic as it was in the previous games. Keeping with the Bungie era Halo games, many memorable and iconic tracks from Halo CE and Halo 2 are also present in 3 as well. There are some new orchestral tracks which really complement the action on screen and also fit in well with those classic Halo songs as well. Voice acting is also competent and well done too, with nearly the entire voice cast from Halo 2 reprising their respective roles in this game. As you'd expect, there are a ton of explosions, enemy growls and screams, cool weapon sounds, and just overall the audio design in Halo is something that needs to be experienced. My only real compliant about the audio is sometimes the volume of character dialogue can sound really quiet, even during cutscenes. Seeing how I commonly play games with voice acting on this same TV and almost never have this compliant, this definitely seems to be more the game's fault than my setup.


While it's a shame I wasn't blown away by Halo 3 as I'd hoped, I'm at least happy to say I liked it about as much as Halo CE and Halo 2, with Halo 2 being my favorite of the three by only a small sliver. Still, despite me not thinking these three games are the unparalleled masterpieces thousands, possibly millions of other gamers seem to think, I can still appreciate these games for what they are, but also what they mean to gaming culture. The original Halo trilogy practically defined the zeitgeist of 2000s gaming. I have so many wonderful memories of playing Halo CE and Halo 2 with friends back in high school, and those are honestly just as special to me, if not more so than the games themselves. As for Halo 3, I obviously never played it until just the other day, but I certainly remember the almost indescribable hype surrounding it before and after release in 2007 and 2008, and also how at the time of its release, it was practically synonymous with gaming. In a way, Halo 3 and its predecessors have become a bit of a time machine for me, reminding me of the fun times back in my teens and early 20s. It's for those reasons that I will always hold Halo CE, Halo 2, and Halo 3 in high regard, even if I think the games themselves are just pretty good for the most part. (1/4/26) [36/50]

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