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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: July 13, 2025, 06:50:23 pm »

75. Halo 2 Anniversary (XBONE)

It was my intention to play the original Halo 2 on the original XBOX, however I was under the impression, for some reason, that the original version of Halo 2 was included on the Master Chief Collection. After a day of waiting for the damn game to download onto my XBONE console, I was somewhat disappointed to see just the updated Anniversary release, an updated version that I honestly forgot existed. I debated just playing the original release of Halo 2 on my XBOX, but a combo of laziness and reading that other than visuals and a few minor updates, Halo 2 Anniversary is more or less the exact same game as its older 2004 counterpart. So in the end, my re-entry into the 2nd game ended up being the newer, flashier version.


Like most people my age, I have a ton of memories with the Halo franchise. I was a freshmen in high school when the first game came out and was a senior when Halo 2 came out. While I did play the original back in the day, most of my memories and nostalgia revolve around Halo 2. I actually even hosted a LAN party at my mom's house around the time the game came out. We had three XBOX consoles, thee giant CRT TVs, a ton of junk food, and to top it off, a fist fight almost broke out at one point. More or less, it was the quintessential 2000s Halo LAN party! I've always liked Halo, however I've always been of the opinion that as a franchise, it's a bit overrated. I was hoping replaying Halo 2 again after last doing so about 10-years ago would make me fall in love with this series like so many other did back in the day. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.


Anyone who tells you Halo, or specifically Halo 2, isn't a good game is lying through their teeth. Halo 2 is a great FPS with mostly fun, engaging, and varied combat. There is a pretty diverse arsenal of weapons to fight with, including a plethora of alien weapons that have various strengths and weaknesses over similar human weapons like rifles, pistols, shotguns, and rocket launchers. There is even a cool melee weapon in the form of the beam sword which is highly effective an one shoting most enemies. The overall gunplay is pretty fun for the most part, as is the option to pilot various vehicles through the game. Where Halo 2's gameplay does falter some is in its overall design, especially in the last third of the game.


Before I get into my criticisms of Halo 2's game design, I will say that it is definitely an improvement over the first game, which was already pretty good. Whether you're playing as Arbiter or Master Chief, both characters have an automatically recharging health meter that requires you to manage how much damage you take while also often taking cover to allow your health meter to recharge back to full again. I have never been a huge fan of this mechanic and I feel it somewhat breaks up the flow of combat compared to games with more traditional health meters that require health and shied pickups found throughout the game. Luckily, Halo 2's health recharge system is well implemented throughout most of the game, however you will run into various enemies in various areas in the last couple hours of the game that will truly test your patience. Luckily, Halo 2 has a very generous checkpoint system that allows you to jump back into a particularly annoying area again almost right away after you just died. But still, having to replay sections that provide limited cover while swarming you with enemies from every direction doesn't exactly scream great game design. There are far too many of these parts in Halo 2 to my liking and I'd be lying if I said they didn't diminish my overall enjoyment of the game.


Storywise, I actually think Halo 2 is a downgrade over the first game. Halo 2 does try and expand the in game universe and lore, which is commendable, but unfortunately it's not always delivered in the most well written way. Despite this, there is way more originality in Halo 2's story and writing than in most other games and I have to give credit to the game's writers for this. Also, there is a fairly big chunk of the game that doesn't even take place on the game's iconic ring shaped world, which makes for a game that feels distinct from its predecessor.


Halo 2 Anniversary's visuals are pretty good and I was surprised by how much better everything looked just a decade after the first game came out. Cutscenes in particular look pretty amazing as to most of the game's environments. There are some levels and level sections that lack the visual appeal and detail of others, and there are also certain areas that look a little too empty and sparse, but fortunately most of the game does not suffer from this. There is definitely way more variety in locations and settings compared to the first game, as well as a greater scale to things which really enhances your experience while playing. There are crazy battles that rage with easily 20+ ally NPCs and enemies, as explosions and shots happen in nearly every direction. As mentioned before, this doesn't always lend itself to the gameplay being fun, but it does make Halo 2 feel appropriately epic.


Finally, Halo 2 Anniversary has some excellent music and voice acting. I couldn't find a definitive answer in my limited research about whether the OST is altered or not, but regardless, it all sounds pretty awesome for the most part. The voice acting in Halo 2 Anniversary is thankfully ripped direction from the original game, which is exactly what 343 needed to do. Altering any of the voices in this game would have definitely taken me out of the experience somewhat, but since that isn't the case, I got to enjoy all the familiar sounding voice cast I've been hearing after 20-years of playing this game.


While I am happy to have revisited Halo 2 for its own sake, the thing I'm actually most excited for is pressing further in a series I have never experiences beyond the second installment. For reasons unknown to even myself, I have never played any of the other Halo games beyond Halo 2. I plan on changing that in the near future and I sincerely hope I end up enjoying Halo 3 as much as so many others seem to. While I will probably play some of the more contentious entries in the franchise at some point, I'm just thrilled to be able to see what happens next in Master Chief's fight against the Covenant and the Flood. (7/13/25) [37/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: July 09, 2025, 01:29:54 am »

74. Star Fox 64 (N64)

I'm of the belief that the rail shooter genre is criminally underrated. Whether it's of the lightgun variety (ie. Time Crisis, House of the Dead) or the space ship/projectile firing mutant (Star Fox, Sin and Punishment), they're all quick, fun experiences that I wish more devs would explore. Star Fox 64 was a seminal title in fostering my love for the rail shooter genre and it's still one of the best examples you can find that doesn't having you aiming a brightly colored pistol at a screen.


Star Fox 64 was about as perfect of a rail shooter as you could get, in terms of gameplay at least, in the late 90s. The controls, the stage design, the simplistic upgrade system, the cool open battle field sections, and everything else is just pure magic to experience in this game. Star Fox 64 also has tons of secrets and alternative paths you can take. It's really a game that not just requires multiple replays to experience everything you can in Star Fox 64, but motivates you to want to do so. Each stage is unique and memorable in its own way. There are also alternate vehicles you will use depending on the stage, all of which are unique in how they control and how the level is experienced. There really isn't a dull moment in Star Fox 64 no matter which route you take.


While the visuals are also noteworthy and excellent in their own way, they don't unfortunately impress like Star Fox 64's gameplay. In 1997, Star Fox 64 was very impressive to look at, but there were definitely games that looked better, even on the N64. That's not to say this game doesn't stand out visually, and as mentioned, every stage is unique and interesting, in no small part to the art directions and graphics in them. Star Fox 64 also loves to throw tons of enemies at you at once, really giving you the feeling of fighting a large scale epic battle. There is also a surprising amount of enemy and boss variety too, with some being giant battle station-like bosses, while others are flying smaller, way more agile ships like the Arwing Star Fox and his team pilot. It all contributes heavily to why this game is so addictive, fresh, and fun to play.


The audio in Star Fox 64 is probably its weakest attribute. It's by no means bad or even mediocre, but it just doesn't stand out in the same way the soundtracks in games like Super Mario 64 or even third party games like Turok did on the N64. While the voice acting and silly lines from voice cast have become the stuff of countless internet memes and even gamer culture itself, it always came across as more annoying than anything. Still, I have to give credit where credit is due and it does go a long way to give this game that unique identity that really made it memorable, not just back in 1997, but to this day as well.


While Star Fox 64 is undeniably one of the best rail shooters ever made, and also one of the best N64 games ever made, it's also a game that I have a tone of love and nostalgia for. It was a game I played religiously growing up and even obtained most of the stage medals, which is definitely no easy task. I will say, however, that my own personal enjoyment of Star Fix 64 has diminished slightly since the last time I played it (probably about 5 years ago or so). Despite this, it's still a game I enjoy playing more than 90% of all other games I touch regularly. But yeah, if you want to play a must play N64 game, a must play rail shooter, and a must play game from the 90s, look no further than Star Fox 64. (7/8/25) [40/50]

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General / Re: July 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: July 01, 2025, 11:10:27 pm »

I'm out of town right now and decided to hit up one of the local Gamestops with the wife. She ended up finding some dating visual novel games she wanted, and I picked up another used game to take advantage of their B2G1 used game sale. I also picked up the new Power Rangers game on Switch as well, but that one brand new.


Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (Switch)
Variable Barracade (Switch)
PioFiore: Episodio 1926 (Switch)
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Switch)

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Off Topic / How do you deal with getting older?

« on: June 29, 2025, 01:00:15 am »

I recently had a birthday which puts me in my late 30s. I understand I'm still not old, and by conventional standards I'm not even middle aged yet, but one thing that has been on my mind a lot over the last year or so is how people deal with getting older.


it's a strange thing coming out of your late teens, 20s, and even your early 30s and most things are more or less as you remembered them, but then you realize one day they're not. Your relatives you've had in your minds eye as being around a certain age most of your life are now several decades beyond that, you start to hear more and more about people you knew personally dying, and even you aren't the same person anymore. You don't have the energy you once did, your body has all sorts of random aches and pains you never used to have, and you could have sworn you were just renewing your plates or paying your taxes a few months ago, when it's actually been a whole year already. I guess the passage of time and the reality of how much time has passed is starting to finally catch up with me. Does anyone else have feelings like this or have you dealt with this and somehow come to terms with it?

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General / Re: June 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: June 28, 2025, 06:51:50 pm »

Picked up Halo Wars 2 and Halo: the Master Chief Collection on the XBONE from a local game store today. With those two games, my XBONE collecting days are pretty much over unless I decide to pick up a Forza game or two in the future.

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General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: June 28, 2025, 06:47:16 pm »

And just like that, I'm done with XBONE collecting...sort of.

I own three physical games for Xbox One, one of which I should remove from the collection. Another is the Rare Replay compilation that I don't feel strongly about but should probably hold on to I suppose, and the one remaining is Sunset Overdrive which may be okay for my tastes but is something I haven't played to know for sure. So despite owning an Xbox One and an Xbox One X which both just so happened to be free, there is very little that entices me. I suppose if I were to ever become interested in racing games, there is always Forza, but that may be the only exclusive game(s) I feel are worth buying. Out of everything the Xbox One offers, its best feature is its convenience to play select Xbox and Xbox 360 games. If I were to buy another physical game for the system, I'd be surprised.

Funny enough, I've owned Rare Replay, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, and Shenmue 1 & 2 Collection (not an XBONE exclusive, just wanted to own all releases of it) years before buying the actual console to play them on. Unless you're hardcore into Halo, Forza, or I suppose Gears of War (although that's about to change with the PS5 collection coming out), I have no idea why anyone would buy an XBONE over a PS4. There are almost no exclusives for it. I actually picked up Ryse even though I originally wasn't going to because I just wanted one more exclusive game for it, and it being only $3 when I bought it may have had something to do with it too lol. Despite this, I do contend that the console is worth owning, just don't pay a lot for one lol.

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General / Re: VGC's Anonymous/"General" Topic:

« on: June 28, 2025, 04:50:45 pm »

And just like that, I'm done with XBONE collecting...sort of.


I picked up Halo Wars 2 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection this afternoon, which were the two last XBONE games I wanted to get. A little background, I bought a $50 XBONE console off FB Marketplace two weeks ago and through a combination of luck and actively seeking the dozen games I wanted for it out, I've already completed that collection. The XBONE was never a console I had much interest in aside from a few exclusives, which is why I held off on getting one until I could get one for cheap. I may still get a few of the Forza games at some point, but as far as the "must have" exclusives, I now have all those.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 28, 2025, 04:30:44 pm »

73. Street Fighter 6 (PS5)

I've been a huge Street Fighter fan since SF2 was relatively new in arcades, however the series really clicked with me when Super Street Fighter 2 came out. That game specifically is one of my all time favorite fighting games to this day, especially its Turbo release. Over the decades, I've enjoyed most of the new mainline entries in the series despite Capcom's efforts to monetize practically everything in the game. What keeps me coming back in the amazing gameplay and characters I've grown up with my entire life loving. In some ways, Street Fighter 6 carries on the tradition of quality the series is well known for, but in others it really dropped the ball and took the series in the wrong direction.


Let's get one thing clear, SF6's gameplay is AWESOME! It is probably among the most balanced, well implemented, and polished fighting systems I've had the pleasure of playing in a bit. While the game is very tutorial heavy and the UI is trash, what really matters is the fighting gameplay and mechanics which I have a hard time faulting. It's easy to see, even from someone who doesn't play this game competitively, how it could easily be one of the most competitive fighting games ever released. There are also copious amounts of unlockables, mostly in the form of artwork and cutscenes, but it still adds value to what is already a very fun game to play.


Not nearly as good as SF6's gameplay is its audio. The music in SF6 is fine for the most part. There are a few tracks that I found catchy and appropriately upbeat for a game like this, but others that were downright annoying. The voice acting is equally a mixed bag where some of the performances are pretty good while others are just awful (and not good-awful, just awful-awful). All together, the noises you'll hear in SF6 is decent, if not pretty good at times, but there are many SF games will way better audio, especially in the OST department.


Finally we get to SF6's weakest area and honestly the aspect of it that kept me from wanting to play this game until it was cheap enough for me to justify buying it. Putting it bluntly, I hate the art direction of SF6. I never thought in a million years that the Street Fighter franchise would fall victim to the Fortnite/Zoomer shooter art aesthetic, along with all of its annoying cliches, but here we are. Nearly every returning SF character looks worse than they ever have in this game, while literally every new character to the series looks like crap from an artistic, design point of view. None of them make me go, "oh wow, that character looks so cool! I think I'll play as them!" In fact, my reaction to all the new fighters in SF6 is exactly the opposite. Thank goodness the in game graphics, including the stage graphics make up for the ugly character design, at times even make you forget all about it as you're playing as Manon or God forbid Marisa. Whoever was the art director for this game needs to be shown the door at Capcom HQ and banned from ever returning though since this game odes nothing to further the legacy of this series, and if anything sets it back some.


But even with my disdain for the art direction, I still do enjoy this game quite a bit and had a good time with it as I played it's various single player modes. For me though, classic Arcade mode is always where these games are at their best and really showed me how on top of their game Capcom still is when designing fighting games (from a gameplay standpoint at least). Here's hoping whenever SF7 eventually comes out, all or most of these crappy new characters are thrown away and are replaced by iconic, interesting designs like what we've got in pretty much every other SF game, minus a few of course. (6/28/25) [35/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 28, 2025, 12:56:51 pm »

72. Gitaroo Man (PS2)

Occasionally I'll play a game that is so damn charming that it allows me to enjoy it despite other major flaws the game might have. Gitaroo Man on the PS2 falls firmly into this category. The game just has so much personality and such a unique identity that i find myself enamored with it despite Gitaroo Man's borderline bad rhythm gameplay. There are two main phases in this game, attack and defend, and while the defend phase is fine, it's the attack phase that really makes this game way harder to get through than it should be. Essentially you have to aim the left analogue stick on the controller in a specified direction on the screen while pressing the circle button on timed notes. There is some margin for error, but especially during reverb or sudden pitch changes, keeping your analogue stick going in the right direction is an act of futility. Overall, it's a very poorly implemented system that would otherwise ruin this game if not for its outstanding audio and visuals.


While gameplay in a rhythm game is obviously very important, in many ways its only as good as its soundtrack. In Gitaroo Man's case, the soundtrack is near perfect with nearly every song being catchy and memorable. Particularly the game's main song, The Legendary Theme, is such an amazing song that pops up several times throughout. The audio is made even better by the quirky, hilarious voice acting from the various characters in this game, all of which fit in perfectly with the theme and visuals of this game.


Speaking of Gitaroo Man's visuals, they are also incredible. The entire game is done in this unique, cartoonish art style that is very vibrant and colorful, The level of imagination and creativity in pretty much every character, setting, antagonist, and prety much everything in between is truly special. My only regret is not being able to appreciate it more since my attention is almost always on the button prompts as I'm playing. There are also various inspirational messages and quotes throughout Gitaroo Man which only add even more to the game's undeniable charm and presence.


It really is unfortunate that Gitaroo Man's gameplay is so meh because if it were even slightly better, this game would be knocking on the door of my all time favorite games. Despite its gameplay issues, it's still a game I thoroughly enjoy going back to replay every so often and I game that never ceases to make me smile. (6/28/25) [38/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 27, 2025, 12:16:40 am »

71. Mega Man X4 (PS4)

Not having an NES growing up, I completely missed out on the Mega Man franchise. It wouldn't be until the mid-90s when I got a Super Nintendo for my birthday in 1995 that I finally got to experience this series with Mega Man X. Despite how hard it was, I LOVED Mega Man X growing up. I never played X2 or X3 as a kid, and in fact, it wouldn't be until around 2000 when I finally got a PS1 that I experienced X's fourth entry. Like the first game, I was never skilled enough to beat it as a kid/adolescent, but it still left an impression on me. So much so that I've considered it one of the best games in the Mega Man series all these years despite my memories of that game fading more and more as time has marched on. After nearly 25 years since last playing X4, I finally decided to play it again with the goal of finally beating it. Well, I have, and unfortunately I kinda regret doing so.


No, I don't think Mega Man X4 is a bad game, however I will say it's overrated. In terms of level and boss design, it is vastly inferior to the first game, and even noticeably worse than X2 (I've never played X3, so I speak for that comparison). While it's been a long time since I've played X5 and X6, I do remember disliking those games more than X4 back in the early 2000s, however now I almost wonder if I might actually like them more now. There are just too many gotcha sections and moments in X4, and while some of the stages are decent, just as many are annoying as hell. I could say the same for the bosses which seem to range from incredibly easy to incredibly hard with very little in between. I'd also argue having the right power ups for most of the bosses makes them even a little too easy. But then not using that same power up and just sticking with the stock buster makes them insanely hard again. X4 is just a wildly inconsistent game whether you're playing as X or Zero, and neither character made me enjoy the game more unfortunately.


Visually, the game definitely improved over its SNES counterparts, at least X2 and X3, but in a way it didn't too. The visually fidelity of the stages, enemies, and bosses is noticeably better, however there is just so much about X4 that lacks the presence or personality of those SNES games. I guess it's just a less inspired, less memorable game despite still being visually impressive for what it is. There are also anime style cutscenes spliced into the game at various points and these, while cool, didn't really make the game any more enjoyable for me. They present a story that isn't particularly interesting and had me wanting to get through them just so I could play more of the game instead. Speaking of those added anime cutscenes...


Mega Man X4 contained voice acting, and well, it's pretty bad. While some of it does dip its toes into the so bad it's actually good territory, most of it is just bad to the point where you'd wish they hadn't even bothered dubbing them in English, or even had the anime cutscenes at all. Luckily, the game's OST makes up for this somewhat, but as good as it is, it still isn't as good as X and X2's soundtrack.


One of the risks I take when replaying games I played two or even three decades ago at this point is there's always the chance that my idealized opinion of that game is tarnished by my current point of view. Sometimes it also goes the other way where I wasn't able to fully appreciate how great the game was until I played it as an adult, and actually end up liking it more than I did as a kid or teen. Unfortunately, X4 falls firmly into the former category. Replaying this game in 2025 kinda shattered my once glowing nostalgic opinion of this game. As I said at the beginning of this review, Mega Man X4 is not a bad game, but it is certainly not nearly as good as I remember, and unfortunately I'd argue it isn't as good as a lot of people seem to believe it is. To each their own though. (06/26/25) [31/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 26, 2025, 10:59:07 am »

70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)

Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the came that started it all.

This was really a cool read! Reminded me of a simpler time back when late night, a PS2 and some Dominoes Pizza, the dim lit glow of the screen is all you needed. Carrying a gamecube next door after work. Gaming felt so social back then.

It definitely was another time, that's for sure. I have so many memories around that time of playing games with friends. It really peaked for me when LAN parties became more of a thing. I even hosted a Halo 2 party at my mom's house when I was still in high school. We had three XBOX consoles, three massive CRT TVs, tons of junk food, a fist fight almost broke out at one point, it was awesome lol.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 25, 2025, 01:27:41 pm »

70. We <3 Katamari (PS2)

Back around the time We <3 Katamari first came out, I was working a crappy retail job. Two of my coworkers and I had bonded over our love of video games and anime, which led to one of them inviting us over to his apartment after work one night to play some weird game he had just bought. What ensued is the three of us playing We <3 Katamari until the sun came up the next day while listening to J-Pop and Dir En Grey. It was an excellent experience and beyond just the fond memories of that night, it also made me a fan of the Katamari series with We <3 Katamari being the game that started it all.


Replaying We <3 Katamari around 20-years after I originally played it, and having beat most of the other games in the series, it's hard for me to distinguish one entry from the other since they all share the same basic premise. You play as a weird little creature that pushes around a large ball, aka the Katamari, as you commence to role up objects, eventually being able to roll up larger and larger objects. In each stage, you're given an objective like rolling up a Katamari that is a certain size within a certain time limit, or to try and collect specific items or item types more than others. It's a pretty basic premise, but in the end it makes for an incredibly fun and cathartic gameplay experience.


As I was replaying through We <3 Katamari, I found that time just sort of melted away as I kept on completing just one more stage, then just one more after that, and then another. Before I knew it, hours had gone by and I still didn't want to stop playing. Despite how addictive and fun We <3 Katamari is, it's a far from perfect game. More than anything, the controls can feel a bit still and unwieldy at times. This can be frustrating when you're trying to steer your Katamari towards a specific object(s) and it just doesn't want to turn as quickly as you would like. There are also mechanics like climbing up short walls that sometimes don't work as intended which can also be frustrating. Overall, these gripes are not deal breaking whatsoever, but that do lead to frequent frustrations while playing.


We <3 Katamari is a very vibrant and fun looking game. None of the object, animal, or person models in this game look ultra detailed, but that seems to be deliberate, and goes along with the art style in this game perfectly. There are literally thousands of objects to roll up in your Katamari with some being fairly humorous. That leads me to how umm...weird We <3 Katamari is, as well as the other Katamari games in general. Everything from the characters like the Prince, the cousins, the Cosmo King, and practically everything else about this game will almost certainly be the strangest thing you've ever seen in a video game. It's the sort of game that could only have come out of Japan, and it is made better for it. There is actually a story in this game and also dialogue, but good luck making sense of any of it. It's still highly entertaining and funny in a weird sort of way.


Where We <3 Katamari falls short in its visuals is the reuse of stages and how limited those stages are. Most stages will take place in a very Japanese looking apartment, with some expanding out into the little town around it, but seeing how you will encounter these over and over again does get a little tiresome. There are a few different levels like a campground, a ski resort, and a race track, but the game always seems to default back to the apartment/town setting a bit too often. Other than this, I don't have anything else negative to say about the visuals.


Finally, the soundtrack of We <3 Katamari is a mixed bag. There are both some absolutely amazing songs in this game, but also an almost equal amount of really annoying songs. It all balances itself out to be pretty good overall in the end, but the real tie breaker that makes We <3 Katamari's audio transcend into really good territory are all the noises, sound effects, and funny reactions the various people, animals, Gods, and other creatures will have to being rolled up. It's all part of the strange charm this game has and those noises definitely do a decent amount to give the overall presentation of this game more depth.


Even though I have a difficult time distinguishing We <3 Katamari from the other entries in the series, it's still an very fun and oddly addictive game. We <3 Katamari will always carry a special place in my heart to for not just being the first game in the series I played, but also one that will forever remind me of simpler times, not just in my personal life, but in gaming in general. (6/25/25) [38/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 22, 2025, 11:20:34 pm »

69. Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS3)

I almost have to divide my experiences with the kart racer sub genre into pre-Mario Kart 8 and post-Mario Kart 8. That game not only set a very high benchmark for all kart racers, but just racing games in general with how much I have loved playing that game for the last 10-years. In fact, Mario Kart 8 is a top 10 game of all time for me. I first played Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed (SaASRT) way back in 2013, two years before Mario Kart 8 came out on the Wii U. My then girlfriend, and now wife, used to play local split screen and we did are best to unlock as much as we could in that game, as well as just enjoy playing SaASRT because it was an awesome game. I haven't played SaASRT since around that time and before playing Mario Kart 8 for the first time, which had me worried that MK8 was just so good that it would more or less ruin all kart racers I played before it. I am very, very pleased to say that not only did MK8 ruin SaASRT for me, but SaASRT is actually way better than I remembered! So much so, that it almost gives MK8 a run for its money, as crazy as that may sound.


In the same way that MK8 and the other MK games are a loving tribute to Nintendo, SaASRT is the same thing, but just with Sega. There are so many characters from so many different Sega franchises on tap to play as in this game, even including characters from lessor known, or somewhat forgotten franchises like Alex Kidd. The same is true for the stages in SaASRT, with entire levels lovingly themed after games like Burning Rangers and Panzer Dragoon, in addition to the Sonic or Nights themed levels. There are a few guest characters thrown in, one being Wreck it Ralph, which I thought was kinda cool, but the other is NASCAR driver Danica Patrick for some reason...yeah. But anyways...whether it's the characters or stages, they all possess their own unique charm with how lovingly created they were for this game. The visuals in general are just vibrant, bright, and so well crafted that its hard for me to fault anything about this game. However, saying the visuals are absolutely perfect would be a lie, as there are a few rough graphical elements, mostly having to do with the character models of the vehicles at times, as well as a few weird clipping or geometry bugs I ran into fairly often. Luckily, these issues do very little to distract from what is otherwise a very visually appealing game with a lot of variety in its tracks and racers.


This variety absolutely seeps over into the gameplay of SaASRT where all 15 or so tracks are constantly changing throughout the course of your race and between laps. A section where you had to drive on a road during the last lap may sink into a lake, or maybe is completely destroyed, requiring your vehicle to transform into a plane. This brings me to one of the main gameplay elements of SaASRT which is the actual transformation system. Every character's vehicle has a car, plane, and boat mode, which automatically change depending on the terrain you encounter in the various levels. All three forms control dramatically diffferent, as well as have unique quarks to them which require you to strategize differently depending on form your vehicle is in. This makes races feel very dynamic and interesting as it's not uncommon for your vehicle to change into all three forms within a single race. Speaking of races, there are many different stage modes throughout SaASRT's campaign and GP modes. These come in the form of your standard races, but also battle races, boost races, ring challenges, and traffic mode where you have to avoid hitting traffic obstacles before time runs out. These are just a few of the various race types throughout the game, which really keep things feeling fresh and interesting throughout the entire campaign. Personally, I enjoyed all these modes, except a couple, especially Pursuit races which have you fighting a tank enemy while it fires projectiles at you. Those race types flat out suck and I won't pretend they don't.


The backdrop to all this is every character having their own advantages and disadvantages when it comes to their stats. Some of this is negated by the fact that you can level each character up by using them, which allows you to unlock different stat layouts which can make certain tracks or race modes easier to complete. The entire progression system of SaASRT is based on unlocking more and more tracks, characters, stickers, stat modes for your racers, and various other things. This unlocking of content is part of what makes this game so fun; you always want to play a little more to gain enough stars to unlock a new character or new series of races. However, as you get to the Super Star races, which are the final set of races in the game, things get exponentially harder, especially if you try and complete races on Hard or Expert. Making the races more challenging comes with greater rewards if you win, but my God, some of these are just sadistically difficult, including the Star requirements to unlock the last few racers. Still, I'd rather have things this way than just make those final characters and stages be DLC of some other crap like that.


Everything described about makes SaASRT an incredibly dynamic, engaging, and fun kart racer, but not without its flaws. The biggest flaw in SaASRT is its item system. Like virtually every other kart racer out there, you can pick up items throughout the race that you can use to slow down opponents, defend yourself against other racer's items, or give you a brief burst of speed. SaASRT has all your standard fair kart racing power ups like this, including a really cool All-Star mode where each racer transforms into its own unique form, allowing your to go faster than the other racers while being able to inflict damage on them, all for a brief period of time. This might all sound well and good, but unfortunately most items are far less effective than I would like, and this is especially true in the flying portions of races where outside a couple items, you're pretty much not going to hit anything with an ice missile or blow fish. There is also no balancing to the randomness of these items, with it being just as likely you'll get the coveted All-Star power up in 2nd place as you will all the way back in 10th place. Aside from the issues with the items, there are some genuinely annoying sections of a few levels that are just poorly designed, and one stage in particular which is by far the worst in the game by a considerable amount. Like the issues with the visuals, these gameplay elements, while still a blemish, don't do a whole lot to distract from what is otherwise an incredibly well crafted game with tight, precise controls, and tons of depth to keep things interesting almost the entire time you're playing.


The only thing I haven't discussed yet is the audio of SaASRT. SaASRT's soundtrack is made up entirely of remixed versions of various songs from the various Sega franchises represented in both the characters and stages. While I really liked most of these remixed songs, I couldn't help, but wish Sega had just stuck with the originals instead since they are way better imo. Still, a remix of a good song is better than a bad song, and it definitely is nice being able to recognize some of my favorite Sega sounds as I'm playing through each stage. The characters in SaASRT are all voice acted and sound exactly as you'd want them to and expect them to sound. Sometimes, what they say during races...or I guess the odd noises they sometimes make when hit by an item or when slamming into a wall, can sound very strange and unlike anything you've heard come out of them in any other game, but it's overall not a big deal. Audio, could be better imo, but it's still great for the most part.


Beating SaASRT not only reminded me how amazing Sega can be when they create excellent games like this, but also reminded me how lucky I was to be a Sega kid back in the 90s. Sega as a company and many of their games are among the most special and nostalgic for me to this day. This game does such an incredible job of celebrating Sega's amazing legacy and translating it into an amazing racing game released well after Sega's glory days. If you love kart racers, I would go as far as to say SaASRT is ESSENTIAL! It is seriously that freakin good. It's almost tragic this game seems to have been mostly forgotten, which genuinely bums me out with how insanely fun it is. Definitely track down a copy of this game, or buy it on Steam (you get Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue if you do, which is reason enough to get that version lol). This game is absolutely incredible. (6/22/25) [43/50]

14

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 19, 2025, 01:54:47 am »

68. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (PS2)

When it came to 6th gen Mortal Kombat games, I mostly sat that era out. Between MK4, Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon, I only sunk serious time into Deception, with MK4 being the game I played the second most, but still not that much. I actually owned Armageddon around the time it came out, but due to life circumstances around that time and the game being fairly underwhelming, I barely played it. That leaves Deadly Alliance as the game I've never played, not even once until just recently. Going into MK Deadly Alliance, I expected it to be a lot like Deception, and while in some ways it was, it was also fairly different too, and not particularly in a good way.


Deadly Alliance was a bit of a foundational game that was built upon heavily by Deception, and also slightly by Armageddon. It somewhat streamlined MK as a 3D fighting game in the early and mid 2000s, while also introducing a fairly crude, but serviceable Konquest mode as well as the currency driven Krypt where you can unlock everything from concept art to new characters.  Unfortunately, these extras are not fully realized in the way they were in later games, which makes them not as enticing as they would later be. The other issue I had is you unlock coins to unlock things in the Krypt by playing the game, which in itself isn't that much fun.


I do enjoy certain things about MK Deadly Alliance's gameplay, but there is a lot I don't. At the heart of Deadly Alliance's gameplay is its combat switching mechanic, which allows you to toggle three different fighting styles for each character, including one based around the use of weapons. All the styles have weaknesses and strengths, which do add some depth, but overall, I just felt this system felt a bit bloated and unnecessary. I also found MK Deadly Alliance's actual controls and fighting to be a bit dull and cumbersome. I struggled to get the hang of pulling of certain special moves, or at least using them to get an upper hand on my opponent consistently. I will fully admit that part of this might have been because I didn't sink as much time into this game as I needed to in order to git good, but having played through Arcade mode a few times, the gameplay and combat just never clicked with me despite it being decent and certainly an upgrade over what was found in MK4.


The visuals of MK6 are probably the most noticeable improvement over MK4, which character models and art looking quite a bit better. The one area I did zonk of this game when it came to visuals is the stages are probably some of the least memorable in any MK game I've ever played. Unfortunately they all come across as a bit underwhelming and generic, and also lack that special MK grittiness most other stages from other MK games have. I will also say cutscenes don't look the greatest either, but there are fairly few of these, and the in game graphics are good enough to where you'll mostly forget about those.


Finally, the audio in MK Deadly Alliance is pretty good, but also not amazing either. The soundtrack is appropriately MK sounding, but doesn't get me pumped in the same way many of the earlier MK OSTs did. There is also voice acting, which for an early 2000s PS2 game isn't half bad.


After all was said and done. MK Deadly Alliance is far from being a low point in the series, but it's also just not a particularly memorable or overly fun game. There was nothing in Deadly Alliance that I found down right annoying, frustrating, or broken, but overall the game is just sort of there and does little to inspire me or make me want to play anymore than I have to. Had I played this game back when it first came out, I'd probably have appreciated it more, but playing it close to 25-years later and also having some incredible MK titles released since then, this game just sort of feels like a relic reserved only for those with intense nostalgia for Deadly Alliance, or people curious about some of the earlier 3D entries in the series. I definitely below to the second camp, and after playing through a decent portion of Deadly Alliance, I'd say skip this one unless you're just that hardcore about your MK games. Just don't expect an incredible time when you do play this one. (6/18/25) [30/50]

15

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: June 15, 2025, 02:00:56 pm »

67. Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition (XBONE)

In what felt like a century, Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition finally finished installing onto my newly acquired XBONE and I got to play through my first actual XBOX One game! Going into KI:DE I was hoping for a much more refined, streamlined game compared to the first KI game I played through yesterday, which while memorable in many ways, was a bit of a clunky, overly cumbersome mess to play for the most part. Luckily, I for my wish with KI:DE, but there were also some concessions made as well.


Let's just get right into it; KI:DE's gameplay is WAY better than in the first game. Not only is the combat, controls, and overall mechanics way better than they were in the first KI, but certainly on par with modern fighting games of the time it was released. The combo system, which at times felt like doing a cheat code rather than a basic fight mechanic in the first game, feels intuitive and easy to execute in KI:DE. I never had issues with pulling off the insane combos or even executing combo breakers, which felt like some sort of privilege reserved only for elite players in the first KI game. There was also a much needed sense of character balancing, with certain characters not being insanely broken and OPed, and also there not being any insane difficulty spikes as you played through single player matches. Speaking of modes, there really aren't any in KI:DE. I know fighting game fans have become pretty spoiled in recent years with games now including robust, cinematic story modes and all sorts of other extras to extend the longevity of the game, but KI:DE seems to have missed that memo. As someone who typically doesn't dabble in extra play modes within fighting games, this wasn't a huge loss for me, but I'm not going to discount how important this is to others. Luckily, KI:DE's character roster is pretty large and filled with returning franchise characters, as well as many new ones, including guest characters from Gears of War and Halo, which is pretty awesome. There is a lot to love about this game's overall gameplay, even if it is a bit no frills otherwise.


The visuals in KI:DE are a bit disappointing in some ways. First and foremost, this game looks like a 7th gen game, despite being released for 8th gen consoles. Most character models, especially when viewed up close look fairly unattractive. This is especially true for human characters who looked like their models were pulled from some 2008, PS3 or XBOX 360 game. Luckily while you're actually in matches, some of this visual ugliness is phased out with some pretty fluid animations and decent, but ultimately somewhat underwhelming stages you'll be fighting in. One thing that does save KI:DE from scoring lower in its visuals is the fact that it has a really cool art direction which despite the outdated looking character models, still shines through. It's no secret that KI was originally trying to steal Mortal Kombat's lunch, but fortunately KI definitely distinguishes itself enough to where it has its own distinct identity and vibe, unlike any other fighting game I know of. This definitely shines through in the character design which I am a huge fan of now just in KI:DE, but in the older games too.


The audio, while not bad by any means, was also a tad bit disappointing. This is especially true when you realize Mick Gordon, the guy behind the insanely good Doom 2016 OST did the soundtrack for this game. You can definitely hear Mr. Gordon's signature sound in a lot of the tracks, but overall I didn't really feel like any particular track stood out to me, even though they all fit in well with the game itself. There is also voice acting for each character, which is always a nice touch too. Attacks and specials all have a meaty, impactful sound too which really adds to the enjoyability of this game as well.


Despite its shortcomings, it almost makes me sad that KI isn't a bigger franchise and really hasn't been since the 90s. KI:DE is such a fun, fluid, and fast paces fighting game that deserves more love, however it's clear that it just couldn't get enough love among many other excellent fighting games of the early and mid-2010s. I also feel like it was released on the wrong console, since it doesn't seem like fighting games have nearly as big of a base on the XBOX One as they did on the PS4. Regardless of why this game has more or less been forgotten about already, it still bums me we won't be seeing more KI in the future. I had a great time with KI:DE even though it still has obvious issues and flaws, and its one I'd definitely recommend XBONE owners go out and try if they haven't. (6/15/25) [34/50]