Ran out of room in my original list on Page 1 of this thread. Here is part 2:
34. Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers (Switch): Despite this game being 25-years old and having tons of ports, updates and version, this might be my favorite version. I like both the New and Classic graphics and audio settings; my favorite being the New visual style with the Classic Audio; I'm able to enjoy the awesome, new graphics in widescreen with the classic tunes that get me ultra sentimental. I am also a huge fan of Violent Ken as a character despite his hilariously goofy name. My only gripe with this version of Street Fighter II is that it is probably the easiest version I've played, and doesn't feel right unless played at the hardest difficulty. But otherwise, this game is just as awesome as it has ever been and a port well worth owning! (5/27/17)
35. Off-Road (Arcade): This is one from my childhood that I used to play often at a sports bar my dad used to take me too when I was about 5. Of course I didn't actually play this at that sports bar or an actual cabinet, but still. This game is still pretty fun, especially the option to upgrade your truck with your race winnings. It does get a tad but repetitive and dull if played for more than 20-minutes, but for the time it came out and for what it still is, it is a pretty fun, old racing game. (6/3/17)
36. Dark Souls (PS3): I will start by saying this is not my first attempt to get into the Souls series, and specifically this game. On paper it is a series I should absolutely love, or at the very least really enjoy, but that couldn't be further from reality. I cannot get into these games no matter how hard I try or want. The combat is often sloppy in so many different ways, and why this game and its controls get praised so heavily I will never understand. The story is so confusing it might as well not even be there and also the grind in this game is just stupid; I called it quits about 5-hours in and had spent about an hour actually breaking new ground, and the rest grinding my ass off to beat the second boss in the fucking game! If I have to grind that much just to beat the first boss than something is seriously wrong. And before people assume I played this game like it was God of War, no, I realize you have to be very tactful, calculating, patient, and also utilize defense as much as offense in this game, but it was still an unfulfilling piece of shit regardless of how much I didn't want to feel this way. I am official done trying to get into the Souls games; I concede that it is just a series that is not for me and I will never enjoy. (6/4/17)
37. Serious Sam: The First Encounter (360): This game has pretty good, tight gameplay, and pretty good level design for an FPS, however the game comes across as super generic and uninteresting. I wasn't expecting some groundbreaking, super well written story or characters, but Sam is a poor man's Duke Nukem, you are on a quest to find orbs with crosses in them for reasons, and the enemies are very generic. I got bored with this one fast and can't see myself playing the sequels either. (6/8/17)
38. Einhander (PS1): The first thing that comes to mind after playing this game is style over substance; Einhander looks and sounds great, but all that is let down by some very annoying game design issues which let the whole game down. Specifically I hated the mid stage checkpoint system which is one of my biggest peeves in STGs and also the power up system that really screws you over when you die and lose them. On top of that some of the areas of the game are just cheap and annoying, however I'd be lying if I said certain parts of the game weren't enjoyable. Overall, this one is more disappointing that not, but a good effort from Square. (6/10/17)
39. Gradius V (PS2): I've never been a huge Gradius fan due to its terrible weapon select/upgrade system which I find to be very limiting and also very annoying that you lose all your upgrades when you die, making an already difficult situation even worse. Gradius V is no different, albeit it is the prettiest Gradius game. Still, this has to be one of my least favorte SHMUP series of all time, this game being no exception. (6/10/17)
40. God of War II (PS3): Even though it has been three or four years since I played and beat the first God of War game, I remember liking the game, but wasn't overly impressed by it. Fast forward to this week where I played through God of War II, and I can say I really, REALLY liked God of War II! This had to have been one of the most balanced, fun, fair, interesting, and well paced action games of this type I've ever played. I can't think of more than a few times where the game fell short in anyway, and it has me pumped to play God of War 3. If God of War 3 delivers in the way this game did then I will gladly be purchasing the new God of War day 1 when it is released. Such an awesome, amazing game this one was! (6/17/17)
41. Battle Garegga (Saturn): I typically don't review the same game multiple times within the same year, but considering I did it with Unreal Tournament last year (reviewed the Dreamcast and PC versions), why not make an exception again. This game is incredibly faithful to the arcade option and offers several extras which while cool do little to enhance or make this game better. Unlike the arcade version, there are loading screens and transitions in the Saturn version, while not too annoying, still make this version less appealing. Perhaps the biggest disappointment for me though was the ability to change the metal looking bullets to orange in order to improve their visibility; first off, there are still metallic looking projectiles that fly at you (maybe misslies??) and making some of the projectiles orange did little to make me better at this game. This game is still incredible and for collecting reasons this would be the version to own, however for what this game is going for, you'd be better off just playing it on MAME since this version does not provide enough extra content to justify its nearly $200 price tag imo. (6/25/17)
42. Gigawing 2 (Dreamcast): I will begin by saying that this game has some pretty cool features; I really like the 3D backgrounds and some of the ship design, as well as how each fighter you can select handles different, and has different shot types and different bomb attacks. The controls are also very smooth and precise, however this is kind of where the enjoyable aspects stop. The biggest issue with this game is one of its key gameplay mechanics which is let down severely by an very long lag, which in a game like this is unacceptable; I died far too many times because the bullet absorb attack, which is required to get through most of this game took nearly a full second to initialize between the time my finger hit the button for it and when it actually started. The other issue I have is regarding just how underwhelming and bland this game is. If it's main mechanic actually worked well and the enemy/boss variety was better then this game would have been far more fun but instead it just sort of stayed in the "meh" territory for me. (6/27/17)
43. Gunbird 2 (Dreamcast): Because this game was made by Psikyo, one my my least favorite SHMUP devs I didn't expect to be a huge fan of this game, and you know what, I was right. This is not my first outing with Gunbird 2; since purchasing it about 5-years ago I have returned to it again and again hoping that I'll like it the next time I play it, but it simply falls flat on me every time. The game is absurdly imbalanced and aside from some good sprite work and somewhat catchy music, the game itself is unremarkable boarding frustrating almost constantly. The later stages in particular are a huge mess, especially with the game sending you back to the beginning of the stage in the later levels if you use a continue. This is not a game I enjoy or would recommend. (6/27/17)
44. Soukyugurentai (Saturn): Before playing Soukyugurentai I assumed I would like it, but I did not expect to fall in love with this game as much as I did. There are very few shooters that have keep me on the edge of my seat like this one. Also, the games homing attack, of which there are two, add a layer of depth to the gameplay that very few other SHMUPs can match. The challenge is fair, the balancing is great, and the enemies, bosses, and stages are varied and interesting. Since getting this last week I have had a hard time putting it down and it is definitely a top five STG for me. (6/27/17)
45. Mushihimesama (PS2): First and foremost the presentation in this game is outstanding. Graphically and the cool, unique art style of insect and plant type enemies is a breath of fresh air in a genre dominated by space ships, disks that shoot lasers, and the occasional mech enemy. The soundtrack here is also really good as well. Gameplaywise is where this game sort of unravels a bit though; this game takes bullet hell to a whole new level, often throwing an insane amount of projectiles at you to the point of absolute absurdity, especially in the maniac and ultra difficulty settings. The game compensates for this by giving your character an ultra small hit box that will at times seem like you just passed right through an enemy bullet. While this is all fine and dandy, a significant portion of getting through this game without dying seems largely in part to luck, almost just as much as skill. If it were not for the deliberate need to manage the enemy crowds and having a general of idea of where you needed to be in general to avoid getting destroyed, this game would be a mindless, imbalanced piece of crap, which it certainly is not, but still, too much is left up to hoping you don't get hit in a series of seemingly hopeless scenarios that give you little option than to just move around and hope for the best. Maybe not worth its glorious reputation, but certainly an STG worth checking out and experiencing. (6/28/17)
46. Crimzon Clover WORLD IGNITION (PC): Balancing is important in any video game, however it is especially important in a shooter because otherwise you get a total mess where you are pretty much just dying over, and over, and over again in between 5 to 30 second periods of playing the game. This is Crimzon Clover in a nutshell. The game is widely unbalanced which translates in you just continuing over and over between trying to dodge everything the game throws out at you haphazardly. The game does look pretty cool and has decent music, but still skates that edge of being fairly generic in style as well. The game overall is nothing special and in fact an example of how not to make a bullet hell STG. (7/3/17)
47. Doom (PC): This is one of those bucket list games that I felt I owed it to myself to beat seeing how I have been a big fan of this franchise since I was in elementary school, but have never actually beat the original game. This game is pretty fun and cool from start to finish, however the game gradually becomes less enjoyable the further in the game you get, mostly due to the excellent level design in Knee Deep in the Dead going out the window for the most part in the two other chapters. Despite this, the game is still mostly fun with cool art design, a great soundtrack, and all the iconic monsters and weapons that made this series famous. The game still holds its own against most modern shooters which is a testament to how timeless this game is, although it has admittedly been outdone by many shooters at this point, including the 2016 reboot. But all of these better shooters owe the original Doom a debt of gratitude for pioneering the FPS genre. (7/3/17)
48. Tekken 3 (Arcade): There are very few 3D games from the early to late 90s, arcade or otherwise, that didn't age poorly and Tekken 3 is not really an exception. However, this game is still fun to play with cool, memorable music, stages and characters. It isn't my favorite Tekken game, but it is still fun to play, especially the definitive version. Also, the game reminds me heavily of the 90s arcade scene which is always a good thing in my book. (7/8/17)
49. Grind Stormer (Genesis): This game was mostly a frustrating mess overall; for one the game is very trial and error, being less skill based and more just memorizing what's around the bend as you die over and over again. However, my biggest gripe is a stupid, arbitrary checkpoint system that makes you replay a section of a stage again when you die, making you start over at the last checkpoint until you reach the next, interrupting the game in the process I might add. The music in this game is also offensive to the ears in combo with the sound FX. The graphics are decent for a Genesis shooter, but definitely not on par with the Thunder Force games or MUSHA. I'd pass on this one. (7/9/17)
50. Raiden DX (Arcade)-REDUX: I replayed this game because of many others saying how incredible this game was and how I must be missing something if I ended up not liking it as much as I did. Well, they were partially right although I still stand by a fair amount of what I originally said about this game. Playing this game on the normal difficulty which gives you access to the first five stages is a good time for the most part; the game remains mostly balanced in terms of enemies, projectiles, power ups, and your ships speed. However, when you do hard mode and gain access to every level in the game, the game definitely throws most of that balance out the window and becomes so ridiculous that it just loses most of its fun. This would be fine and all if it didn't mean being able to play nearly half the game depended on you diving into hard mode. Other than that the graphics and sound are great, just gameplay suffers when playing the hardest difficulty. (7/9/17) (10/14/17)
51. Jurassic Park (Genesis): Playing this game is a trip down memory lane as it was one of the Genesis games I owned as a kid and Jurassic Park was among the most memorable parts of my childhood. Sadly, this game does not live up to the movie or the nostalgia I have for it. The game is hard for all the wrong reasons, mostly due to its really clunky and inaccurate platforming, as well as its leaps of faith it requires you to take at times which you can only progress past with trial and error. Another thing that I hate about this game is how if you die, you go back to the very beginning of the stage. I will always have a bit of nostalgia for this one, but it is honestly better left in my past. (7/26/17)
52. Space Harrier (Arcade): This game is still fun to play even today, although the shock and awe it created back in the 80s is partially nullified by the repetative stages and enemies that are only different due to a swapped color pallet or and a mix up of enemies. Bosses are mostly the same too despite some superficial differences. The game requires very quick reflexes and the last 6 or 7 stages are absolutely brutal, but they were still mostly enjoyable. (7/26/17)
53. Tetris (NES): There aren't many games you can call timeless, but Tetris is truly one of them. Just as fun to play as it was 20-years ago, it just never gets old. It's easy to lose hours to this one (7/28/17)
54. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis): I hold the Streets of Rage series among the best of the famed 90s genres known as Beat em' Ups. Despites waves of the same 10 or so cookie cutter enemies with slightly different colors, this game manages to stay fun and cool with it's interesting an frequently changing stages, it's surprisingly fun gameplay, and an incredible soundtrack. In my opinion this games main competitor, Final Fight, doesn't hold a candle to this game or the other two games in the series. Streets of Rage 2 oozes the coolness and style that made the Sega Genesis a blast to own back in the day. (7/28/17)
55. Splatoon 2 (Switch): The single player is mildly fun, but overall the true value of this game is in its multiplayer, but given the type of game this is, it suffers the most because of this. I will come right and say I am not a fan of online multiplayer, however there are games that I have been able to enjoy it, but this is not one of them. Specifically, this game is a team based multiplayer game and your success is greatly dependent on how good, supportive, and talented your team is. Even having one incompetent player on your team can result in a overwhelming loss regardless of how good you and your other two teammates are. This is what I found to be the single most annoying and frustrating part of this game. It almost ruins the whole game for me, but i will give credit where credit is due and say there are fun, diverse and cool gameplay elements that keep this game enjoyable. I am also a fan of the art style and the music as well. (8/5/17)
56. Sin and Punishment: Star Successor (Wii): In its own way this game almost accomplished being as fun and special and the first game on the N64. Everything about this game was just awesome, and in fact I feel like in terms of level design this game actually has the first game beat. There were a few annoying areas, but overall the game was a blast from start to finish. This will definitely go down as one of the best Wii games I've played. Definitely a gem! (8/26/17)
57. Sonic Mania (PS4): You can tell a ton of love went into this game and was developed by huge fans of the classics from the Genesis/Sega CD era. This game is filled with references to many main and side Sonic games which have the Sega fanboy in me gushing every time one comes up. The music, levels, art, and just about everything makes this game truly feel like it was meant to come out in 1995 or 1996 as the true sequel to Sonic and Knuckles. My only gripe about this game was a few of the levels which I felt did not have a good flow to them and weren't as fun as many of the other levels. Also, in order to see the "True" ending you need to obtain every Chaos Emerald which is no small feat, in fact it is extremely difficult. A very fun game and one of the best Sonic games in years I've played. (9/4/17)
