52 Game Challenge 2017

[telly]

Welp, finally did my first hard restart in Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter, after about 18 hours of play. (Part of that was because I really didn't know what the different SOL options were so I figured I would try all three. I finally picked the one that sends you back to the very beginning of the game :O )

My feelings about this game so far are very conflicted. I'll save it for the eventual mini review, but basically the game is designed in a way that it forces you to start over and take a New Game plus before you've beaten the game, forcing you to replay everything over again in order to get further than where you were before. It's a fascinating gameplay mechanic, and while I don't like it at all, it toys with how you as a play view a game over, which is interesting and unlike anything I've experienced before.

I'm leaving the PS2 at my folks place, so it's a good place as any to set aside and try to come back to it later. I'll pick it up again someday.

My totals this year was 37 games played, 26 beat, about the same as 2015. Gotta do better next year!

[bikingjahuty]

I am trying really hard to finish Layer Section on the Saturn, but this game is a hard son of a bitch, even with additional continues which I've had to use even to get to the final boss. Whether it is the last game I finish in 2017 or the first game in 2018, it will be a good place to end this year or start next year

[realpoketendonl]

Perhaps a bit cheaty, but a last minute addition in the form of Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again. I beat this game back on DSi, but I transferred it to my 3DS and never beat it again. But it's short, it's pretty fun, so I figured "Eh, why not. An easy last-minute addition to my list for this year." Shameless? Perhaps, but hey, a game beat is a game beat.

This is still a solid puzzler. I remember thoroughly enjoying this title as a kid, but I do have to admit it's not as glamorous playing it again nowadays. Overall the game plays fine. The puzzles are clever and fun to navigate. I do have to admit I found it getting tedious near the end, but that was more out of my own lack of patience than the game itself. You just need to clearly plan out your plan in advance, which I often didn't 100% do. Again though, my fault, not the games. If you're looking for a simple, short puzzle game to try out, or want to try the series at a cheap price, Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! is a great entry point.

So that's 37!
Italics means I had already started with the game November last year or earlier
A red glow means this is a second playthrough
A blue glow means the game has been completed 100%

• Life is Strange
• New Super Mario Bros. U
• Kirby’s Dream Land
• Kirby’s Dream Land
• Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (PC version)
• Super Mario 3D World
• Kirby Super Star Ultra
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
• Learn With Pokémon: Typing Adventure
• Sonic Generations
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
• Drawn to Life
• Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
• 8-Bit Bayonetta
• Mario Kart Wii
• Bayonetta
• Space Channel 5: Part 2
• DuckTales: Remastered
• Super Mario Bros.
• Freddi Fish 2: The Case of the Haunted Schoolhouse
• New Super Mario Bros.
• Rivals of Aether
• Miitopia
• Ben 10: Galactic Racing
• The World Ends With You
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• Melody's Escape
• Bayonetta 2
• Undertale
• Metroid Fusion
• Nekojishi
• Tender Loving Care
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• Kirby: Planet Robobot
• Star Fox: Command
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!

This is most likely going to be my number for the year. I have to admit, 37? I'm quite proud of myself. Now I know this is a pretty unfair ranking. A lot of the games on here are really short, and some people may not even count some of these. But hey, I'm not in this for any serious numbers. I just do this to get myself to play all my games, and get a neat little list on the side. It's fun to look back on what you played throughout the year. Overall I'm quite happy with how this turned out, and I think I may just join in again throughout 2018. Thanks for introducing me to this idea guys!

[bikingjahuty]

Ugh, I really, really hope this is not the last game I review this year. Not a good way to end a year of playing mostly great games:

77. Batman Forever: The Arcade Game (PS1): Due to this game being a title I have really wanted for many years now, but could never find, and also it's a game about a superhero, I will sum this game up by saying never meet your heroes. This is the worst beat em' up I have ever played by far. It does have some redeemable qualities such as cool mid-90s arcade graphics with 3D and 2D assets mixed together, and the overall feel of this game matches the movie and time period that it came from very well. The music is okay as well. That is all the good things I have to say about this game; the gameplay, if it can even be called that, is absolute, unresponsive garbage with some of the most poorly implemented controls and game mechanics I've ever seen in a game. I know beat em' ups are not best game ever material, but this game is about as far from it as you can get. The fact this game is worth over $100 is offensive to me. (12/30/17)

[bikingjahuty]

What a way to end a year of playing games! 78 games beat is going to be the final number, definitely the most games I've beat in one year ever. And I can be glad that my year didn't end with Batman Forever: The Arcade Game...*shudder*

78. Layer Section (Saturn): Wow...I did not expect to like this game as much as I did! Having played both Raystorm and Raycrisis which were both sequels to this game, I figured I'd like it about the same as these, which was well enough, but there were so many other shooters out there I've played that are better. Not Layer Section; the only SHMUP I can say I enjoyed more from start to finish is Radiant Silvergun, which is no small feat seeing how I found Layer Section slightly better than games like Dodonpachi, Battle Garegga and Soukyogurentai, which are some of the absolute best shooters I've ever played. The graphics, level design, enemies, bosses and mini bosses; the soundtrack, the very fun gameplay and scoring, all of it was near perfect in my book. Beating this game made me feel a sense of satisfaction I rarely have after beating a game. An amazing game to end an otherwise amazing year of playing games! (12/31/17)

[chrismb]

Part 1 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg133797.html#msg133797
Part 2 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg140404.html#msg140404
Part 3 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg143994.html#msg143994
Part 4 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg145655.html#msg145655
Part 5 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg146861.html#msg146861
Part 6 :  https://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,7980.msg147689.html#msg147689

132. SSX Tricky [20/20] - Playstation 2 My third favorite SSX from the serie! This is definitely the funnest imo, it's way less realistic than than SSX 3 and On Tour, the maps are just so crazy and the character roster is my favorite from any SSX! It may be only an upgraded version of the first game but it's definitely different enough to be considered more than a simple upgrade! The new tricky system is also the thing that made the serie even more fun, and elevated it to a whole new level!

133. Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike [20/20] - Arcade - My favorite 2D Street Fighter by far! Everything is just so good about this game! The character designs and animations are fantastic, plus the completely new roster added something really fresh to the serie imo. This game has some of my favorite characters from the franchise who sadly never appeared again. The gameplay is also so much better imo, I love fast 2D fighting games and so I'm definitely better at this game than the previous ones!

134. Real Bout Fatal Fury 2 |20/20] - Neo Geo - My absolute favorite Fatal Fury game. This game took everything that made the serie good and made a perfect game out of it. The roster is perfect, the stages are perfect, the gameplay is perfect... everything is just so good. If you don't want to play with all the games from the serie, this is definitely the one to try out imo.

[shfan]

Game Over

Final Score 37/52

Insert Credit

[ignition365]

I don't have my built list yet, but I'll post my yearly stats tomorrow probably.

105/115ish

Final stats for the year.

Top Games played that released in 2017

• Legend of Zelda, The: Breath of the Wild (NS)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
• Super Mario Odyssey (NS)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands (PS4)
• Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (PS4)

Top Games played NOT released in 2017

• Mad Max (X1)
• Dragon Quest IV (NDS)
• Bloodborne (PS4)
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)
• Super Mario World (SNES)

Top Games played overall in 2017

• Legend of Zelda, The: Breath of the Wild (NS)
• Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4)
• Mad Max (X1)
• Super Mario Odyssey (NS)
• Dragon Quest IV (NDS)

Honorable Mention

• Republique (PS4)
• Disaster Report (PS2)
• Under The Skin (PS2)
• Mister Mosquito (PS2)
• Bloodborne (PS4)
• Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
• Snipperclips (NS)
• Ittle Dew 2+ (NS)
• Undertale (PS4)

Console breakdown

• PS4 - XXXIII
• 360 - XII
• X1 - XI
• 3DS - XI
• PS2 - XI
• NS - VII
• SNES - III
• Android - III
• PC - III
• WiiU - III
• GBA - II
• NDS - II
• PS3 - I
• N64 - I
• GEN - I
• PS1 - I
• GB - I

Platform with Most Beat Games: PS4 with 33 games beat. 2 of those being PSVR games. 360 was a far second with only 12 games beat.

Platform with Most unfinished titles: That would be a tie between NS and X1.  I'll give this mostly to X1 as one of the NS games is a puzzle game that I have technically beat but am not counting it until I finish the Mega mode.  2 years in a row that X1 has tied for most abandoned games, I'm sure this type of stat makes Soera happy.

Modern v. Retro v. Mobile/Handheld v. PC: 54 - 30 - 19 - 3 (I am considering anything released prior to Wii U to be "retro")

Game that ate up the most time: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.  I killed a solid month of gaming playing this working towards the platinum... planning to get the platinum in 2018.

Quickest game beat: Gone Home for X1 with a time of under 1 minute.  I probably spent a good 20 minutes just trying to get this achievement, but I did it and beat the game in under 60 seconds.