52 Games Challenge 2018

[kamikazekeeg]

I got no clue how it's different between us, I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary here lol

[wolfen]

Mega Man Legacy Collection (Switch)

16. Mega Man 5

  I'm about halfway through 5, and I'm shocked at how easy it is feeling.

This is exactly how I felt, it's definitely the easiest one by far, but also pretty meh, and that's really all I have to say about it.

Time: 3-4 hours

17. Mega Man 6

This definitely feels the most cohesive with its theming and story and has my favorite assortment of robot masters, but it's also kinda janky and has some suspect enemy patterns that are just traps and unavoidable. I also love that they relegated the rush powers to seperete modes without an energy bar. I would say it's my tied favorite with MM4

Time: 3-4 hours

I'm glad I finally got to play these classics and get prepared for Mega Man 11

Now that I'm out of my little Skyrim bender I'm gonna be jumping back into Kingdom Hearts 2 and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door.

[ignition365]

I got no clue how it's different between us, I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary here lol

Yeah, I'm at Kaiser Sigma now, don't really need to go fill my subtanks since I have the Hyper Chip, but I might need to go refill my weapons.

[kamikazekeeg]

43 - Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (PC 2017) - ENDLESS - So this was a game? I put a few hours into it? I don't know if it has much of a real story or if it's just random stories you do...It's like if Cookie Clicker had more depth, but also not, because the gimmick of the game is that you don't even have to play and even if you turn off the game, you'll still earn money, which you use to upgrade your characters or unlock new ones.  I really can't recommend this game, I only checked it out because they were adding characters from a D&D campaign I watch online lol

[telly]

Game 12 - Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS) - 12 Hours

+ This game is really fun, and it was hard to stop playing. The gameplay is great, and the controls for the most part are really good. I like the new powerups they put in (at least since the last Metroid I played), and overall it's great to explore everything and search for upgrades. Really nothing else to say about it.

- I think the game moved just a touch too fast for my liking. And some of the controls were really un-intuitive, like activating rapid fire and the grappling beam. That's about it though.

Back to my list

[kamikazekeeg]

42 - Mega Man X3 - (Switch 2018) - BEAT - The game actually started out promising for me.  Some of the boss fights were the usual bit of annoying, but some had very reasonable patterns to work with and I took out a number of them with the buster, even the bonus guys I managed to take down.  Then I got the upgraded x-buster and much like X2, the upgraded X-Busters SUCK.  Who thought it was a great idea to add huge delays to his attacks? It's frustrating and tedious and defeats the purpose of even having. I literally would rather play the game without it.  Also most all the boss weapons suck to.  They either have a delay or feel useless, I don't get what was going on with these.

I also hate the final levels.  Just tedious enemies and design here and the same 'ole boss gauntlet.  I was honestly not expecting to dislike the X games that much till the later ones that have some big issues.  Not that X2 and X3 are bad, it's still all the good gameplay and visuals that I really like, but just feels like some errors in judgement were made.  Thankfully I'm onto Mega Man X4 and at this point, I just need a change of pace whether it's a good or not lol

[telly]

^ Good luck with the boss fight on X4, he's brutal 

[kamikazekeeg]

^ Good luck with the boss fight on X4, he's brutal 

Like worse than X1? I'll keep it in mind as so far I've been liking everything in X4 other than the goofy dialogue and voice acting lol A brutal final boss will be annoying, but so far everything is on an upward swing after getting frusted with X3.

*EDIT*
Oh, three forms of Sigma and the last one is crazy...Gotcha lol

43 - Mega Man X4 (Switch 2018) - BEAT - Okay, that boss fight isn't anything crazy.  Once you figure out the patterns, it's totally cool.  This is definitely the easiest of the them all so far, but you know what? I had a fun ass time! X plays well, the weapons are useful, the levels are kinda basic, but again enjoyable, and the boss fights had a comfortable challenge that relied on you really figuring out the patterns.  X1 is kinda the picture perfect version of X series, but X4 was just a good time.  Automatically my 2nd favorite right now.

The only major negative I have is the very awkward dub and dialogue.  I don't know if it's as bad as...Mega Man 7? 8? Whatever it was, but oh boy it's not good.  Capcom was on a roll with these poorly acted scenes during this era lol Not a fan of X with a kid voice either.  It's not good lol

Also, it physically hurt me, it hurt my very soul, to realize that the robot was named "Double", because he was a double agent.  Why game...why?

[telly]

Oh you had an easy time with that final boss? For some reason I had a really tough time with it haha.

[ignition365]

Oh you had an easy time with that final boss? For some reason I had a really tough time with it haha.

Same, kicked my ass a good handful of times until I managed to start the fight with a usable sub-tank.

[Cartagia]

Speaking of brutal Mega Man bosses: I just finished MM7 and holy crap the Wily Capsule in this one was insane.  It took me an hour and a half and even then I barely won with using 4 Sub-Tanks.

[kamikazekeeg]

Oh you had an easy time with that final boss? For some reason I had a really tough time with it haha.

At first I thought he was gonna be ridiculous, but the first form of Sigma you can get through taking no damage, and 2nd form, I could get through with nearly minimal damage.  Third form seems ridiculous, but you can avoid damage through most of it with careful positioning, which to me is a first for a Mega Man final boss and I've fought them all from MM1 to MM8, and MMX1 to MMX3 so far lol

[telly]

Game 13 - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (Wii U) - 10 Hours

+ This game is a lot of fun, a really solid platformer. While it's not my favorite of all time, it was still very enjoyable overall. The controls are pretty good other than some minor collision issues. The level design is excellent and every level has it's own unique and fun platforming quirk and they're all really well designed. The soundtrack is masterful, I'll definitely be listening to it long after I put the game away. I liked how you can buy power ups in the shop to help with all the extra collectables, and they also add a lot of replay value to the game even though they don't really unlock anything special. I liked the ability to pick from the other three Kongs as your sidekick, even though I used Dixie pretty much 100% of the time, she's the overall best one in my opinion.


- While I liked the controls, I didn't like how the dash and "Donkey Slap" are both mapped to the same button. Oftentimes instead of slapping down I would dash over the edge and die. You have to be completely still to use it. While the graphics are really good I felt a little uncanny valley with the first opening stages, especially the beginning opening and those first character models. It was a little unnerving. Also, since the game showers you with 1-ups I still had more than 60 by the time I beat the game, and I didn't buy any from the shop.

Back to my list

[kamikazekeeg]

44 - Mega Man X5 (Switch 2018) - BEAT - Another one down and I generally enjoyed this one much like I did X4.  I really like multiple armor sets, Zero is an option (I honestly haven't played as Zero yet in X4 or X5, maybe down the road), and the customizable parts are pretty cool.  Where it feels lacking is kinda the presentation, story, and dialogue.  The hand holding by the one robot always chiming in through out levels is entirely unnecessary as this isn't a hard game and I don't feel like there are enough images for the cutscenes to really make it all work.  Like it's fine that they dropped the anime cutscenes and dialogue, it wasn't that great, but it feels like they needed to show just a smidge more.

Overall, it was fun.  Right now I have it placed just under X4 in third place.

[bikingjahuty]

Part 4 of my reviews for the year and subsequently my post for successfully reaching 52 games beat/played this year


I've still got several games from my old top 10 games of all time to play before the year's up, but at this point I'm going to slow down quite a bit since we still have over 4-months left in the year and I've already reached 52.


52. Need for Speed Underground (PS2): I originally got this game on Christmas Eve 2003, right around the time it came out. At the time I was really into tuner cars and just cars in general. One huge influence was the movie Fast and the Furious, and anytime I'd see a modified Eclipse or Civic on the road I'd freak out. So at the time I was very excited for a game that allowed you to customize import cars and race them. And playing this game is like revisiting that period of time; this game screams early 2000s car culture from its overall asthetic to its music. This is mostly a good thing, however the ridiculousness of some of the mods for your car are so ricerish that only someone from the early 2000s could ever appreciate them or think they looked cool. With all that said you think I love this game, but I haven't got to the gameplay yet. The game is actually really fun up until 2/3 into the game when the difficulty becomes retarded and also the car physics in this game begin to show how terribly flawed they are. This is by no means I racing sim, very far from it, but hitting a car further into the game or sometimes even a curb is like launching the car into the air with rockets while spinning it like a top. Some may make the argument that it's because your cars towards the end of the game are a lot faster, but it happens even during lower speed collisions. My theory to why this is has to do with the modifications and what they do to the car's physics, while understandable to a degree, they completely break the game's racing physics and gameplay later on. This is really too bad since I really enjoyed Underground up until this point, and also enjoyed unlocking some of the cooler upgrades you don't get until later on. Also, while there is some variation in levels, you will be racing through many of the same areas over, and over, and over, and over again for the entire game which does feel pretty repetitive. Luckily the selection of cars and how they look and sound in the game is pretty good. Another gripe I have is the menu music which is bottom of the barrel rap and hip hop from the time period this game came out, which is just awful. How anyone could like T.I. or Lil' John still boggles my mind. Overall Need for Speed Underground is a decent racing game that is unfortunately ruined towards the end by a unstable and poorly implemented physics system. (8/17/18) [30/50]


53. Pilotwings 64 (N64): Pilotwings 64 is one of the most nostalgic titles that remind me of the halcyon days of my childhood and the early days of the N64 along with Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64, and Cruisn' USA. This game's ability to take me back to simpler times is unmatched by most games given it's very memorable design, music, and gameplay. I love how the game gives you different challenges with 6 different "vehicles" that allow you to experience the game in different ways. The controls are tight, the objectives are fun, and while this game is never too difficult it is still enjoyable to play from start to finish. The soundtrack in this game is excellent and among the best of the N64 which had some stellar OSTs. Overall, Pilotwings 64 has been and will always be one of my all time favorite N64 games. (8/20/18) [39/50]

54. Shenmue (PS4): This is the game I've been meaning to play all year; both Shenmue and Shenmue II are my all time favorite games and hold a very, very special place in my heart as a person and as a gamer. As a little disclaimer before I begin, I am reviewing Shenmue as a game, not as a PS4 port. In regards to the PS4 port it was done very well and the optimizations they made to the PS4 version are very much appreciated. I did notice some sound glitches in this port, but nothing that dampened my experience with the game at all. But now back to my review of the game itself. A year and a half ago I played The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which is the only game I've played since first beating Shenmue about 16-years ago that ever challenged Shenmue as my favorite game of all time. Being as open minded and honest as possible, I went into playing Shenmue again knowing that it very well could be demoted to my 2nd favorite game ever after sitting at the top for so long. After binging my way through Shenmue and screwing my sleep schedule up severely from not being able to stop playing until the early hours of morning when I had to work the next day I can confidently say that Shenmue still holds its spot as my favorite game of all time, despite both it and Breath of the Wild carrying the same perfect 50/50 score. Shenmue is still to this day one of the most compelling, immersive, beautiful, interesting, and versatile games I've ever played. One minute you can be doing detective work, asking people for clues about your father's murder, the next you're at the You Arcade playing Space Harrier or a game of darts, and then the next you're fighting some thugs in an empty parking lot fighting game style. There is so much gameplay variety and it is all done so well that it's hard to think of many other games, even games like GTA and Yakuza that offer so much to the player in terms of gameplay variety. While the gameplay does have it's faults, there is so much to love that it can easily be forgiven when the gameplay doesn't shine its brightest. The soundtrack is amazing, and while the voice acting can be bad at times, the fact that each character in the game is given distinct lines, a distinct voice, and a distinct personality, even the unimportant NPCs, speaks volumes about the level of detail in Shenmue. The city is filled with the sounds that you'd hear if you were actually in a similar setting as well, and again, it is something I've never seen on this level in any other game. And then finally there's the story; while it is nothing groundbreaking, it is executed so well and so convincingly within the context of everything else in the game that it transcends your typical story of revenge. The steps you have to take to find your father's killer Lan Di are believable, as are the trials and setbacks that Ryo experiences on his journey. Hell, even getting a job later on feels believable and adds to this games stellar sense of immersion. Just like Breath of the Wild, I am hard pressed to find any fault that interferes with my overall enjoyment of Shenmue, and for every actual fault this game has, there are easily 20 other things I really enjoy about it. Shenmue is still an outstanding, incredible game to this day and one of the all time greatest games ever made, beyond it's place in my personal opinion. It broke so much new ground and similar to games like Chrono Trigger, Ocarina of Time, and yes, Breath of the Wild, it raised the bar so much higher than any other game at the time it came out and redefined what excellent games had to be in order to be amazing. While I still have to play through Shenmue II, a game I remember loving just as much as the first, I can say with absolute confidence that Shenmue is still my favorite game of all time, and could very likely always be. It is truly an experience unlike any other and one I will cherish forever. (8/27/18) [50/50]

55. Shenmue II (PS4): Before getting into the meat of my review for Shenmue II, I just wanted to preface by saying that this mini-review is for the game itself and not the PS4 port. I will say this port was very good, especially in the visuals department. My only gripe with the PS4 port was the voice audio in many parts was super quiet compared to the XBOX version of this game, requiring me to turn the volume up many times during cutscenes or when speaking to other characters. Overall though this was a great port of an excellent classic. Now to my review. As I said in my review for the original Shenmue, there was some question prior to me playing through these games that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild might have surpassed both Shenmue and Shenmue II as my favorite game of all time. Within the first quarter of Shenmue II I knew that there was no possible way I liked Breath of the Wild more than Shenmue II, or its predecessor for that matter. In fact by the time I completed Shenmue II, I knew that Shenmue and Shenmue II were in a league beyond Breath of the Wild or any other game I have ever played, which is saying a lot given how amazing some of my favorite games are. Shenmue II is the most beautiful, magical, interesting, immersive, and captivating games I've ever played. While playing through this game I am constantly overwhelmed with various positive feelings of various types, and the further I got into this game, the more I fell more and more in love with it. There is so much to do, so much to see, so many characters to speak with and interact with that this game creates such an incredibly believable and immersive world that is unmatched by most modern games even. There are certain things that the first Shenmue does better, but likewise Shenmue II has many advantages over its predecessor including its much more expansive and interactive world, the pacing of the story, and the introduction of Shenhua which may be my favorite part of either game. However, it is impossible for me to say which of the two Shenmue games I like more or think is a better game; they are both incredible masterpieces that raised the bar for the entire video game industry in so many ways when they were released, making both games some the most important games of all time imo. Perhaps one of the best things about completely Shenmue II specifically this time around was the fact that I knew that Ryo Hazuki's saga was not over and that Shenmue III is now a reality that we will all get to experience in a year (assuming it isn't delayed). As a diehard Shenmue fan that is one of the best, most amazing feelings in the world after not knowing if I'd ever get to see this amazing franchise get continued for over a decade prior to the Kickstarter announcement for Shenmue III. But Shenmue II, and the first Shenmue are by far the greatest, most wonderful, most beautiful, most special games I have played and I am almost certain now that I will never love a franchise and its games more than Shenmue. (9/4/18) [50/50]

56. Tony Hawk Pro Skater (Dreamcast): There are few games that embody what it meant to be cool in the 90s as well as Tony Hawk Pro Skater and its sequel. Badass skaters, skate parks, sticking to the man, and punk rock made these games so much fun. And that isn't even mentioning the pretty good gameplay which while simplistic still hold up today. My main gripe with the first Tony Hawk is the level design, with half the stages being mediocre to almost bad in terms of level design and layout. The amount of character progression is fairly shallow compared to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 and 3, which is understandable since both those games built on top of the foundation that the first game laid down but I will give Tony Hawk Pro Skater credit for having any sort of skill progression at all. I am also a fan of the objective based gameplay in each stage, even though they all boil down to get high score, get higher score, find secret skate tape, find S.K.A.T.E letters, and run into X object. While I'm not a huge fan of punk rock, the soundtrack in this game definitely adds to its overall coolness which makes it all the more welcome. Replaying this game, you can definitely see why it became such a huge deal in the 90s when it came out and why the franchise was so highly acclaimed for so long, well at least until Pro Skater 3. A very enjoyable game, although it is undeniable that the two sequels that followed improved on it in nearly every way from what I can recall. (9/6/18) [36/50]

57. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (Dreamcast): Just like I remembered, Pro Skater 2 improves upon the groundwork laid in the first game in almost every way. The two most improved areas are the controls and gameplay feeling a lot more smooth and refined, and also the stages are way better in the second game. The addition of building your own pro skater, more stats and unlockables, more skaters, and double the objectives per stage also greatly improve this game's appeal. The only areas that this game doesn't improve in is the music department, which while good has several tracks that feel a little out of place for a Tony Hawk game, but at least there are more songs to listen to while you play. The other department is the visuals, which seem to be on the same level as the first game, both in terms of stages and skaters. Overall, Pro Skater 2 is definitely a better game in nearly every way over its predecessor and the one I definitely played the most growing up, other than 3 on the PS2 which I will review another time. (9/7/18) [41/50]

58. Power Stone (Dreamcast): There are a handful of games that heavily remind me of the launch of the Dreamcast, and this is definitely one of them. I remember the first time I ever played Power Stone was at my local Hollywood Video store, where they have a Dreamcast setup several weeks before the console officially came out. At the time I had never played a game like Power Stone, and given it's power up system, super moves, and abundance of items you have to use against your opponents, as well as the open 3D levels, I was totally blown away. Iit had me hyped beyond belief for this game and the Dreamcast to come out. While I did get a Dreamcast several months later, I didn't actually get Power Stone for several years later, although I did rent it several times before then. Power Stone is definitely a good time, but it's one of those games that becomes a lot more fun when you have a friend to play with. By itself however it's still a really fun, unique game with colorful graphics and fast, fun gameplay. The game does get repetitive after a while, and the music is pretty average as well. Still, on a personal level there is a lot of nostalgia for this game and I still enjoy popping it in from time to time both for the sake of walking down memory lane and also to enjoy a unique, fun fighting game. (9/8/18) [34/50]

59. Layer Section (Saturn): I played this game late last year and it was one of the best shmups I'd ever played, and you know what, it still is. However, the reason I decided to replay it so close to when I last sunk some series time into it was to see if it truly belonged in my top 10 games list. I gave this game a rating of 44/50 when I reviewed it last year, which made it the second best shooter I'd ever played following Radiant Silvergun. My current cut off for a game entering my top 10 has to be greater than 43/50 so I felt it appropriate to put this score to the test and see if it still holds true. While Layer Section is still an astounding shooter, it just isn't good enough to be a top 10 game of all time for me. It hits all the right notes in every way in terms of gameplay, sound, and graphics, but where it lost a single point compared to last time is my personal enjoyment. This game is ridiculously hard with it being super stingy on continues, even when using a cheat that grants you 8. The brutal difficulty is just a bit too brutal at times which is why I took away a point. Still, Layer Section is definitely one of the all time best shooters ever made, just not quite good enough to be in my top 10 ever. (9/29/18) [43/50]

60. Mortal Kombat (2011) (PS3): This is a game that I came so close to adoring, but sadly it just barely falls from grace in some really unfortunately ways. The most glaring issue is the gameplay, which is really the bread and butter of any fighting game. Specifically, the game's leniency towards spamming moves and approached to gain victories. While playing this way is not required for normal opponents, I found it to be far more advantageous than playing in a dynamic, fluid way. Worse than this is the game's requirement that you spam moves to an even greater degree on the large boss type enemies, especially Shao Kahn who is a mid game boss and the final boss in the game. You will fight these large boss enemies at various points in the game and I never found them fun given I had to be just as cheap as them to gain victory. Aside from my main grievance about the gameplay, the graphics were a bit rough, but it wasn't anything that diminished my enjoyment of Mortal Kombat. What I love most about this game is how well it reboots the franchise while paying tribute to the story and source material of the original three MK games. Not only that, but it mixes in elements of the 1995 movie which is still the best video game movie I've ever seen. There is also a lot of interesting original material as well which creates an overall enjoyable experience. I'm also always a fan of unlockables in fighting games which really add to the replay value, and Mortal Kombat has a ton of unlockables. The things I enjoy about Mortal Kombat I really, really enjoy, but the things I dislike about it are just to blaring for me to ignore. I feel like this game could have been much better had more energy gone into the fighting system, but for what it is, Mortal Kombat is a great game. (10/7/18) [39/50]