52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[bikingjahuty]

14. Tobal 2 (PS1)

Tobal 2 has been a backlog game for a very long time for me. The reason it's taken this long to play it is because it was never released outside Japan, and well, my backlog is an enormous, never ending monster. But this evening I finally loaded this game up on my modded PS1 and decided to see if it lived up to or even surpassed the first game in the series, Tobal No. 1. The first Tobal game is an incredibly sentimental game for me. I remember longing for this game after reading about it and seeing pictures of it in an old Game Informer I got in the mail one time. It wouldn't be until the early 2000s that I finally got a PS1, and a used copy of Tobal No. 1 from a local rental store was one of the first games I owned for it. While the game is undeniably not as good, polished, or attractive as some of its more well known 3D game counterparts, there has always been something very special about the first Tobal. It's a game that really represents an era where so many studios, including Squaresoft, were experimenting with all sorts of new genres and tech, and as a result we got some very interesting games out of it. The Tobal series is one of them, and Tobal 2 is no different in this regard.


In fact, Tobal No. 1 and Tobal 2 are very similar games. For one, they practically play the same and have pretty much the same game modes. One of those modes, which Tobal No. 1 was famous for was its adventure mode where you controlled one of the characters in a full 3D environment and fought various enemies, dealt with a variety of obstacles, and had to explore pretty thoroughly to get through to a new area. This mode definitely worked better in theory than in practice give the Tobal No. 1 was a fighting game at its core, so making a 3D adventure game out of that was definitely very ambitious for a game in 1996. Tobal 2's adventure mode is definitely more polished and is also more story rich, but unfortunately it is plagued by many of the same shortcomings that the adventure mode in Tobal 1 had. On top of that, your mileage will vary quite a bit depending on whether you speak Japanese since Tobal 2 was never released outside Japan.


Even if you opt to ignore Tobal 2's adventure mode and just play this game as another 3D fighting game it does a decent job at being pretty enjoyable to play. While Tobal 2 is not going to blow anyone's find or pretend to be some crazy deep fighter like Tekken 3 or Virtua Fighter 2, it's still a pretty fun fighting game. My main complaint with Tobal 2's gameplay is how stiff it can feel and also how the low, medium, and high attack system feels a bit on the unpolished side. Still, Square did a great job at making Tobal 2 at least competent and when combined with the game's other qualities, it actually makes for a decent time.


The visuals in Tobal 2 are an undeniable upgrade in some aspects compared to the first game. For one backgrounds are noticeably cleaner and more polished, as are the character models, which were for more blocky in Tobal 1. Still, there was a strange charm to the first Tobal's graphics and visuals that has seemingly been lost in Tobal 2. Still, the game's upgraded visuals are certainly worth giving some credit to even if the game's graphics come across as fairly average, if not a tiny bit above average compared to many other 3D consoles games of the mid to late 90s.


Probably my favorite thing about Tobal 2 is its soundtrack. Tobal 2 has an excellent rock/jazz soundtrack, that is just so smooth and enjoyable to listen to. Especially when combined with the visuals, Tobal 2 definitely tickled that nostalgia part of my brain that made me yearn for the late 90s, even though here I am in the mid 2020s playing this game for the first time. The audio just really captures that mid to late 90s Playstation feel and sound, which made the sort of undercooked gameplay and average visuals far more palatable. There is some voice acting in Tobal 2 from the various characters, but like most fighting games, it's all fairly inconsequential to not only the overall sound design, but the game in general.


Tobal 2 is far from a masterpiece, nor is it a huge leap forward compared to its predecessor. Still, there are certainly improvements in Tobal 2, and while I did appreciate those, the game still isn't anything remarkable. And if I'm being completely honest, I still prefer the first Tobal simply due to my personal connection with that game and the fact that it just has a bit more charm, despite looking a little more rough visually. Tobal 2 is certainly not going to light the fighting game world on fire, not back in 1997, nor today. It's not hard to see why the Tobal series was lost to time and you're now more likely to find someone who knows the atomic weight of Cobalt off the top of their head than you are to meet anyone that remembers this series. Still, I'd recommend anyone looking for a mostly enjoyable, quirky, and unique PS1 era game try this game out. It's at least worth a single play through, if not more given the content it provides. (2/8/26) [32/50]

[droaa]

I'm not big on writing long reviews but figure I should make a blurb or two of what I have beaten so far.

1. Donkey Kong Country 2 -  Aside from some annoying levels which is the standard from 2D platformers at the time, this was really fun. It took me ages to finally get to a point in the game that I have not reached because I tend to play game for a bit and just stop and never come back. This game felt into that category and trust me, its not the only one. It is very close to being my favorite from the first. I love Dixie coming in clutch with here glide move even though I have someone beaten the majority of levels with Diddie. I haven't played through the Klubba levels as I only managed to unlock 1 but maybe someday.

2. Fallout 4 - This was another game that took me years to finally playthrough for real this time and I liked it. Not as much as Fallout 3 and New Vegas but it was fun nonetheless. Story was fine, not the best. Being able to build settlements was cool even thought I didnt build much cuz my lack of creativity but its nice that it is there. I was getting annoying near the end due to the game crashing on me about 6 different times within 1 day of playing over the weekend which unfortunate but sadly expected given Bethesda's questionable quality control. Yeah their games are great but it's not secret that their games seem to hang on by duct tape from time to time.

[bikingjahuty]

15. Pepsiman (PS1)

Throw this one into the "How the hell did I end up playing THIS!?" category of games. Truth be told, I've known about Pepsiman for quite some time, definitely well before the famous AVGN review. Still, the game has been nothing more than strange curiosity that I figured I may or may not play one day. This evening I was going through a ton of import PS1 ISOs and realized I had this in my catalog. I figured, "what the hell" and fired Pepsiman up on my Xstation. The experience was...umm, amusing to say the least.


There isn't a single ounce of Pepsiman that takes itself seriously. Everything about this game is quirky and weird as hell. You play as the Japanese-centric Pespiman mascot, a strange metallic looking man with no face who essentially looks like scientists cross bred a can of Pepsi and a human. The commercials that featured Pepsiman were only aired in Japan, and if this game is anything to go by, only the Japanese would get a mascot and advertising like this. Still, as an American, I found this game thoroughly amusing. Everything from the fact that all the world's problems seemed to be caused and resolved by Pepsi, the strange levels and settings, the TV Game guy (aka Mike Butter) acting like a Pepsi addicted slob between stages, and just how over the top all the voice acting is in this game make it impossible not to find entertaining. Still, this is a video game at the end of the day, and like all games, it lives or dies based on how enjoyable it is to play. In this regard, Pepsiman sort of craps the bed.


Pepsiman is not a well made game. Controls feel delayed and clumsy, level design is mostly trash, and the perspective in this game is functional, but poorly implemented. Being a weird racing/platforming game of sorts, you're taking control of the character the game is named after and running through a variety of settings that make up the game's levels. You're given some weird objective at the beginning of each stage, which each consist of two levels and a...I guess, boss fight at the end? Regardless of why you're running through a sewer, suburban neighborhood, or through a city that looks like it's experiencing the apocalypse (because of Pepsi...or a lack thereof), the objective is simple; collect as many cans of Pepsi as possible. Each level has 100 cans of Pepsi to collect as you steer Pepsiman, trying to keep him from hitting a plethora of obstacles while you're at it. You can also jump, slide, run faster, and slow down as well. While all this is well and good, none of these controls work particularly well and each stages obstacles seen to operate on different definitions of hit detection, making for a pretty frustrating experience overall. You're given a time limit to clear each level while collecting Pepsi cans. At the very least, each level has two or three checkpoints which allow you to start back at the last checkpoint versus having to repeat the stage all over again.


Then there are the boss levels at the end of each stage which are, umm, oh boy...


These boss stages all consist of Pepsiman running towards the screen as objects pop in, giving you next to no time to react to them. Meanwhile, Pepsiman is being chased by a giant Pepsi can, an out of control semi truck, or a bundle of logs, depending on which level you're playing. More or less, beating these bosses consists more of repeated trial and error, and memorizing when and where certain obstacles will pop in, more than your reflexed and relying on the controls to get you through the encounter. These boss fights are the worst part of playing Pepsiman, and the last fight in particularly drove me insane until I somehow beat it through sheer luck.


Almost as bad as the gameplay is Pepsiman's audio. More or less, every song in this game is a remix of the Pepsiman theme which plays over and over, and over again throughout the entire game. Not to mention, there are some incredibly obnoxious sound effects that repeat constantly. It will honestly try your patience to the point of nullifying all the goofy entertaining bits I mentioned earlier. Luckily, it's those goofy entertaining bits within the audio that save it from being complete ass, mainly from the NPC characters that tell you why you're collecting a ton of Pepsi for this time and that lovable TV Games guy.


In terms of Pepsiman's visuals, there actually pretty decent and definitely contribute to the ridiculous, over the top humor that defines this game. Each stage looks very different from the next, making them all feel memorable for the most part. There are also a lot of different obstacles you'll encounter, some of which repeat maybe a little too often within a specific stage, but overall it all helps define each level and set it apart from any of the others.


Despite Pespiman's blaring faults, I simply cannot hate this game. Sure, it's a pain in the ass to play and most of its audio is akin to sticking boiling hot sauce in your ears, but there seems to be something there constantly to make up for it. Still, having played and beat Pepsiman, I can't see myself returning to it ever again for any reason. TV Game guy was funny, the levels and stupid humor made me chuckle, and I love how this game is about as silly as they come, but sadly, this game is not fun to play through. You're honestly better off just watching a lets play, laughing at all the crazy shit in this game, and saving yourself from the frustrating and annoyance of actually playing Pepsiman. (2/8/26) [25/50]

[kashell]

15. Resident Evil Village

I didn't play VII, but I was able to hop right into this thanks to the game's introduction and brief rundown of what happened. I got to learn about Ethan and his crazy adventures in the Baker house, and while I admit I am curious to see more, I know I wouldn't be able to play it for long stretches without getting motion sickness. All that to say gamers can happily play VIII without having played VII. This game was a lot of fun, and it feels like a blueprint for the remake for 4. Ethan was an interesting lead. We barely saw his face, which was an odd choice, but I still felt for him. He really came into his own as he acquired more weapons and things to craft. One thing where the game really shined was atmosphere. Every area had a mixture of creepiness and action, which is a hard balance to get nowadays because of the game market being so saturated. As usual, the biggest issue was the camera and the combat. Most boss battles felt like a Souls game in terms of difficulty and action. Funnily enough, the only time I got a game over was when it was an instant kill (Moreau) or when I was just being silly against certain enemies (specifically in the factory area). I'll probably play the Rose DLC next.

[bikingjahuty]

15. Resident Evil Village

I didn't play VII, but I was able to hop right into this thanks to the game's introduction and brief rundown of what happened. I got to learn about Ethan and his crazy adventures in the Baker house, and while I admit I am curious to see more, I know I wouldn't be able to play it for long stretches without getting motion sickness. All that to say gamers can happily play VIII without having played VII. This game was a lot of fun, and it feels like a blueprint for the remake for 4. Ethan was an interesting lead. We barely saw his face, which was an odd choice, but I still felt for him. He really came into his own as he acquired more weapons and things to craft. One thing where the game really shined was atmosphere. Every area had a mixture of creepiness and action, which is a hard balance to get nowadays because of the game market being so saturated. As usual, the biggest issue was the camera and the combat. Most boss battles felt like a Souls game in terms of difficulty and action. Funnily enough, the only time I got a game over was when it was an instant kill (Moreau) or when I was just being silly against certain enemies (specifically in the factory area). I'll probably play the Rose DLC next.

As someone who wasn't head over heals in love with 7, Village was a great surprise given how much I enjoyed it. I loved the village setting, most of the enemies and bosses, and just overall it was a blast. I'll admit it still veers a little too far off the RE lore path, but still does a decent enough job tying everything back into it to make it feel like it belongs.