52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[ignition365]

Boop

[ignition365]

Bloop reserved

[bikingjahuty]

Almost 2 years since took part in this. Let's go and howdy yall.

Welcome back!

[marvelvscapcom2]

1. The Bouncer [PS2] - Finished Jan 1st, 2026





I am so incapacitated by flu that it's almost depressing at this point. I cough in my dreams. I really wish everyone health and safety away from this strand. For whatever that's worth.  But being bed ridden for a week sent me to this off the wall classic!   I was able to sit as the ball dropped and get my first score on the board early just like last year!  Beaten at 2:00 am EST of 2026.   To ring in the year.  And i'm happy with the choice off sentimentality alone.

This time with a very nostalgic childhood game. It is very symbolic for me.  Even the title entrance voice thheeeee Bouncerrr. This is a lesser spoken of Squaresoft beat em up.  My stance on it is that considering some people paid 60 dollars for this game at launch back in the early 2000s.  That's quite the tough out.  But as a small experience, I enjoyed my time with it.   And my brother let me borrow this game when I was like 7 years old.  So its full circle to witness end credits with it


The plot is I believe meant to pivot around choosing sion. I chose volt and leveled up only volt. It punishes you slightly with dialogue for doing this. The game is a bare bones rudementary beat em up that actually has stellar graphics for its time.  Some of these cut scenes have such great visual light reflection effects that it looks borderline Ray Tracing!! It's very pretty for a game that I remember playing before passion of the christ the movie was even released.  2 decades or more of added onto my back like armadillo scales but the game remains what it always was.  An easy. Anyone can do it beat em up for begginers of the genre.  I was able to beat the game without buying any special moves.

The plot is ok... although rushed. Not as flushed out as say kingdom hearts but more flushed out than say dynasty warriors. The combat is ok although not very nuianced. I do think its simplicity is what aids its nostalgia for me because it is how I remembered the game being.  Some of the fighting feels club brawl style and fist fighting fun.   


Sion - Dollar General Sora
Volt - spike from buffy the vampie slayer

Other dude - the host of ink master Dave Navaro.


This is lamens terms of what were dealing with in terms of character development. And they seek to rescue A drew berrymore blonde girl from some disapperance or kidnapping. It's random and off the rails but it keeps itself somewhat glued with the well animated cut scenes.  The blonde girl.  Has secrets. So does All the characters really.


The game is very punch punch kick repeat. Unless you buy combo moves which I didnt.


Overall its a nostalgic cute simple beat em up for ps2.


77/100

[kashell]

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's do it!

1. Mega Man X7

I went through this game multiple times back when it was initially released in 2003 because I was a poor college student and didn't have many other options. It was bad then. Now, I had a video guide AND the Brady official guide next to me when I did this random replay. It's still bad. Why did I think it wouldn't be? I dunno. Maybe some of 2025 was still lingering in the background. Oh well. First is the worst. Get it out of the way.

2. Astro Bot - platinum'd

I technically finished this before the new year, but I'm marking it complete now because I got all of the additions from the Gacha Machine now. Man oh man. What a game this was. I loved every second of it. Seeing the celebrated history of Sony's gaming franchises (and many third party ones) getting their flowers with the various Bots was lovely. Of course, the game itself played like a dream and looked gorgeous. The physics were magnificent. I can't recommend this game enough to all types of gamers. Favorite deep cut Bots were: Arc the Lad, Mad Maestro, Chrono Cross, and The Legend of Dragoon.

[droaa]

Almost 2 years since took part in this. Let's go and howdy yall.

Welcome back!

Yuh!

[realpoketendonl]

All right! 2026 edition, let's go! Last year, I managed to beat 19 games, 17 of which for the first time (and one I beat twice). Not my highest score ever, but not bad. Let's see how I do this year!

Beat:

• Spyro the Dragon (Spyro Reignited Trilogy) [Switch]

(Purple = started it last year or earlier)
(Orange = already beat it before)

[realpoketendonl]

1. Spyro the Dragon (Spyro Reignited Trilogy)

And that's the first game of the year beaten already: the remake of the original Spyro the Dragon, from the Spyro Reignited Trilogy. I started this game a few years ago, but I finished it just now. And well, sorry to start the year off on a negative note. I know the original Spyro and this remake are beloved, and I genuinely wanted to like it. But I'm sorry, I didn't. There's a reason I put the game down a few years ago. I found some parts to be fine, but in other parts it was tedious and finicky.

Some sections were outright annoying. I'm thinking of some precise glide jumps that I would repeatedly die to until I made them, with no idea of what I did differently. And the enemies you have to chase with your dash, they can get lost. I always had a little difficulty controlling Spyro, especially when it came to those long glides and in lining up my dash attacks. In some levels the game wasn't bad, but even there it also just never grabbed me. Many times when I died, I just didn't feel compelled to try again. I just wanted to stop playing and pick up something else.

It's a shame. I want to like this game. I love Spyro's character design. I like the idea of a world populated by cartoony anthropomorphic dragons. I know these games are beloved. But this game just did not do it for me. Funnily enough, the first Crash Bandicoot from the N. Sane Trilogy didn't either, so that's an extra thing Crash and Spyro share I suppose. Maybe Spyro 2 and 3 are better, that's possible, but I honestly do not feel compelled to pick them up right now. I've got other games in my backlog I'd much rather play than more of this.

Speaking of which, Metroid Prime 4, you're up.