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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: June 19, 2024, 01:16:05 am »

30. Streets of Rage 4 (PS4)

Being a Sega kid back in the early and mid 90s, I grew up with Streets of Rage 1 and 2, which in my book are still two of the best beat em' ups from that era. Years ago when I heard they were making a Streets of Rage 4 I was pretty excited, although for whatever reason it took me until last year to finally pick this game up on the PS4. I was feeling like playing a modern beat em up (originally was going to play TMNT Mutants in Manhattan, but of course it had to be the first PS4 game I've ever encountered that wouldn't work), and this game certainly fit the bill.


Streets of Rage 4 was surprisingly able to win me over to the point where I definitely like it more than the two aforementioned Streets of Rage games on the Genesis, which is definitely saying a lot. BTW, I've never played Street of Rage 3, although it's another game on the long backlog to play. But anyhow, the gameplay just felt a lot more balanced and fare compared to Streets of Rage 1 and 2, and also the boss fights were a lot more interesting and fun for the most part. A few very annoying sections, as well as the stage hazards in several stages being extremely annoying at times prevented this game from being awesome in the gameplay department, but for what it was, it was overall an improvement on the older games. A felt someone mixed on the visuals of Streets of Rage 4 at first, however there is so much enemy, boss, and variety in the stages that I definitely felt like it was a standout game visually. I also enjoyed the cool comic like scenes between levels in the story mode which really helped flesh things out even more. And then finally the OST was pretty great; it may have no been as iconic and catchy as the OST in the first two games, but it still had some excellent tracks and it deserves credit for that. I figured I'd like Streets of Rage 4, however I didn't expect it to be as good as it was. It's not going to set the world on fire and it doesn't compare to a few other modern beat em' ups I've played, but for what it is, it's a pretty damn good game. (6/18/24) [36/50]

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Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 thoughts?

« on: June 18, 2024, 12:29:43 pm »

Well color me shocked by how good that Direct was!


I definitely didn't expect Nintendo to announce so many big titles during this direct, although I have a bit of a theory as to why they did, at least the big announcement of Metroid Prime 4. But more on that in a sec. I genuinely loved the DKC Returns, new Zelda game, and yes, Metroid Prime 4 announcement. Even some of the RPGs they showed off look fun, even though I'm not the biggest RPG fan. However, the announcement that literally had me grinning ear to ear with how unexpected it was and also how much of a fan I am of this super underrated franchise was the Marvel vs Capcom Collection announcement. I never expected these games to get a new re-release given the licensing headache it likely would be to have all those characters return together in a new game. Fortunately, Capcom pulled it off and we're getting every Capcom Vs game in one release + an arcade perfect port of the Punisher. I ADORE these games and am beyond hyped to pick this up even though I own all these games already, some of which I own multiple copies and versions of them :p.


As for my Metroid Prime 4 theory, I don't actually think Prime 4 is getting released on the Switch. At best, I can see it getting a duel release where it gets both a Switch and Switch 2 release, much like how Twilight Princess was released both on the GC and Wii when that game came out as a Wii launch title. I think Prime is primarily being made for the Switch 2, and I think the demo they showed was being rendered from a Switch 2. The framerate, animations, and overall visual fidelity just looked too good for the Switch. But again, it might get a Switch version too. I guess we'll see.


Thank goodness for a solid Direct after what was overall a very disappointing showing of games from Summer Game Fest as well as Sony's last State of Play. If the rumors are true and the Switch 2 is still primarily using physical games, you can count me in as being a Nintendo fanboy next gen.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Nintendo Direct 6.18.2024 thoughts?

« on: June 17, 2024, 10:37:42 pm »

It's probably going to be fairly underwhelming, and no, I'm not saying that just to be a pessimistic asshole. Even though Nintendo confirmed there was going to be no mention of the Switch 2 or whatever they end up calling it, I do believe we are less than a year away from at least it getting announced if not just being released. Because of this, i'm sure Nintendo has some really good stuff in development to help sell and promote that new console. Based on timing, my guess is a new mainline Mario game as well as Mario Kart 9, and maybe, possibly, Metroid Prime 4.


With that said, I think tomorrow's direct will have a few last minute AAA titles to drum up one last holiday season of hype before the Switch disappears into the sunset. My guess is a new mainline Pokemon game will get announced as well as a new Wario or Yoshi game, maybe Captain Toad 2. Essentially something first party and semi interesting, but nothing on the scale of a new Zelda, Mario, or Splatoon. And finally, I think we'll get at least one new remaster style game of an old release. I have no idea what this might be, but I'd flip out if it were either Ocarina of Time 3D or Majora's Mask 3D ported to the Switch. Even better if they bundled them together, although I'm certain they wouldn't need to in order to sell a ton of copies. Other than that, I expect a lot of indie games shown off, as well as some smaller releases from bigger studios, but nothing crazy since I'm sure they're all saving their best for the Switch 2 also.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Xbox Showcase 2024

« on: June 09, 2024, 05:41:54 pm »

I'm really excited about the new Doom game they announced, but there was little else that interested me. Great to know EA likely killed Dragon Age by turning it into what appears to be some sort of Overwatch or Fortnite team based game, at least that's the vibes it gave off. My wife is pretty pissed about that right now seeing how Dragon Age is one of her favorite franchises.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Summer Game Fest 2024 - June 7th 5pm EST

« on: June 08, 2024, 10:40:56 pm »

After hearing that there would be very few new reveals, i've opted just to get the highlights afterwards. So far, the only two games that really caught my eye is the new Power Rangers Beat Em Up as well as the Starship Troopers FPS. Funny enough, I'm not even that big of a Power Rangers guy and while I enjoyed the 1997 Starship Troopers movie, I was never into it nearly as much as most of my friends growing up. Other than that, it's been nice to see new trailers for stuff that was already announced a long time ago like the new Fatal Fury game. Hopefully there will be some good stuff announced tomorrow.

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Modern Video Games / Re: May 30th Playstation State of Play

« on: May 30, 2024, 08:19:27 pm »

Well that was about as bad as I expected. The only two things that caught my attention were the additional Silent Hill 2 remake gameplay + release date, and also Astro Bot which looks mildly interesting. Unfortunately I still don't feel any better about owning a PS5 this gen. It's more or less my GT7 machine, with a game or two played here and there. I'm not too optimistic the PS5 has much longer to go before it's replaced since Sony has already said its in the tail end of its life despite it only becoming widely available maybe a year and a half ago. All well...

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Modern Video Games / Re: May 30th Playstation State of Play

« on: May 29, 2024, 08:34:29 pm »

I share your negative feelings about this generation so far. I was looking at my PS5 games, and barely any are exclusive, and there are very few games in retrospect I'd have purchased the console for that weren't also on the PS4 in a slightly downgraded way. But anyhow, back to the subject.


Sony has already announced there aren't any first party titles they're working on that will be released this year, so that only leaves some speculation that they may drop a teaser for something. My money is on Uncharted since it's been a while since one of those games came out. My guess is it takes place about 10 years after U4 and it's primarily about Nathan's daughter, and the game is a sort of handing off of the torch. I'm not a huge uncharted fan, but this is probably going to be the "big" surprise I'm guessing.


Other than that, I'm expecting a ton of underwhelming indie announcements no one will care about, maybe an FF7 Birth DLC sub game, and maybe, possibly. cool third party announcement. I know Capcom is busy making another RE re-remake and a teaser for that alone with make my day. I also expect maybe EA will finally reveal gameplay and something more substantial for Dragon Age, although I can see them saving that for Summer Gamefest,


Overall, my expectations are set pretty low, all things considered, but I guess we'll see.

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General / Re: May 2024 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased New

« on: May 27, 2024, 11:32:14 am »

People say you can't find video games if you go out late, well I'm about to prove you wrong.

I was out for other reasons and it was about 1pm and I decided lets hunt for some random garage sales in the area.

Wii
First I find a Wii for $16. Here's what was in the tub.
- Nintendo Wii (black No GC player) with three Wii Remotes and a nunchuck. (all hookups)
- Wii Balance Board (not shown)
- Wii Sports was inside the console
- Wii Sports / Wii Resort combo pack.
- Just Dance 2
- Just Dance 4

I hit a sale and ask about games and the lady says her son had a bunch he doesn't use and goes to look.
She shows me a a Nintendo bag Sega Genesis with several games, a Xbox 360 with several games, a bunch of PS1 and PS2 games.
The 360 was an early model with HIGH chance of red ring of death, all the 360 and ps2 games were sports. There was about 15 PS1 games but all were
sports except a a few. I first ask what she wanted for all of it and she says $100. So I take the Genesis stuff and a few PS1 games and ask if she'd do $60
and she was fine with that. (always ask a price for everything then separate what you really want to get a better price.)
PS1
- Need for Speed Hot Pursuit III (missing back art)
- Star Wars The Phantom Menace
- Road Rash 3D
- A Gameshark for both PS1 & PS2 with card.
GENESIS
- Sega Genesis with two 3 button and 1 6 button controllers
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (not for resale sticker) (CIB)
- Zombies Ate My Neighbors (missing manual)
- Sonic & Knuckles (CIB)
- NBA Jam (CIB)
- NHL Hockey (CIB)
- College Football USA 96 (CIB)
- Pat Riley Basketball (CIB)
- World Cup USA 94 (CIB)
- RBI Baseball
- PGA Tour Golf
- ToeJam & Earl
- Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
- Boogerman
also a blue/red NES carrying case (I have three of these bags now) and a Playstation underground case,

And last I stop at a sale and talk to a man on his porch about video games, He says he has PS4 and Xbox, sure I'll look and see what you have.
His wife comes out while he looks and we get to talking about video games and about she was thinking of getting a Switch. Then she says I think we have an
old N64, would you be interested in that? Yes I said. Her husband comes out and shows much pretty much scrap PS4 and Xbox one games. Nothing worth
even making an offer for. She goes in and then returns with a N64 and several games. I ask what she wants for the N64 and games and she says $40 okay?
Here's what I got.
- Nintendo 64 (no expansion pack all hookups)
- 2 controllers (red and grey)
- 2 off brand Superpad controllers
- Rumble Pak
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Party
- Super Smash Bros.
- Star Fox 64
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Yoshi's Story

This proves you can still find good video game stuff on a Saturday late in the day.

Garage sales are maybe the only consistent way to find good deals like this anymore. Sure, there's still the very rare off chance a thift store puts something out or flea market seller doesn't know what the have, but like those places, my biggest issue is the amount of time you have to put into getting even a pickup half this good. I'm aware of the "always ask about games" policy when going to garage sales, but for every one sale that has their kids old N64 games and console still in their basement, you're striking out at 50 other sales with either nothing or a bunch of bargain bin XBOX 360 or Wii games. I'm not expecting someone to pull out a Panzer Dragoon Saga to make a garage sale worth it to me, but again, even something half as good as what you just posted. Just my 2-cents. I'm glad you scored some cool stuff in the wild. It's quite a rare sight these days.

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General / Re: IGN just acquired a ton of their competitors

« on: May 22, 2024, 01:31:34 pm »

Game journalism has been... not great... for a long time. There's a lot of crap out there. The best of the gaming sites IMO, GameTrailers.com, died out a long time ago. Unfortunately, both IGN and PushSquare groups are heavily left leaning, so if they post anything that has to do with politics, even moderately conservative opinions will be removed and users banned. I know this as I have been temp banned from both sites at some point for expressing a non-hostile conservative opinion.

Where am I going with this, you may be asking... If IGN has bought out their competitors, then there is no great loss. It's simply the consolidation of the same opinion under one banner and this will have zero impact on the readers and those that interact on their sites. That is... until with everything in the gaming industry at the moment... they start to downsize.

I miss gametrailers.com so much it hurts. It was the last breath of fresh air when it came to big gaming news sites, largely because of how much interesting, independent content they hosted. They were really ahead of their time. It's just too bad it didn't end up working out for them. I still rewatch their old reviews from the 2000s and 2010s, and all their great shows like pop-fiction, their retrospectives and countdowns, and some of the other shows they used to host. A lot of people forget that's where AVGN, Pat the Nes Punk, and Screwattack used to primarily host their content.

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General / Re: IGN just acquired a ton of their competitors

« on: May 22, 2024, 01:19:53 pm »

IGN hasn't been relevant since 2011. The same can be said for all the big gaming news/review sites that peaked in the early and mid 2000s. They are ran by a bunch of out of touch journalists, who are more concerned with how praising or bashing a game will advance their career and reputation more than how good (or bad) the game actually is. On top of that, there is a major pay to play dynamic with all these major sites, where they are incentived to give specific games higher scores in order to maintain access to events, review copies, and inside connections to benefit their sites. IGN and the rest of the gaming journosphere is corrupt and illegitimate to the core. Anyone who still takes anything IGN says seriously is either incredibly naive or misinformed.


Independent content creators have stolen IGN's lunch for years now, and it's only a matter of time until their irrelevancy catches up with them and they shut down too. Gamespot, Kotaku, and all the other large gaming sites will also suffer the same fate eventually.

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General / Re: Fighting Game Collectors, what do you recommend?

« on: May 16, 2024, 07:53:46 pm »

I don't have the time to go through your entire collection, but pretty much KOF, Street Fighter, Tekken, and MK is what I play 90% of the time when I'm playing a fighting game. I've played a lot of the more obscure fighting games and game series, but nothing compares to most of the entries in those four franchise, at least imo. Some honorable mentions outside those for franchises are, Virtua Fighter, Dead or Alive, Fatal Fury, and Samurai Shodown.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: May 04, 2024, 10:59:58 pm »

29. Raiden V: Director's Cut (PS4)

I played Raiden V years ago around the time it first came out, and while I remember not liking it, I almost regret replaying it because I like it even less than I did. Raiden V may be one of the worst SHMUPs I've ever played. From a presentation standpoint it looks worse than the two games that proceeded it. On top of that, some of the levels make it hard to see the projectiles flying at you, creating an unfair situation that is squarly the game's fault. The OST is decent, however the chatter of various characters that accompany you throughout the game never shut up and create this constant chatter that drowns out what is otherwise a decent OST. I cannot stress how annoying these NPC character's chatter is as they are talking for 95% of the time you are playing. It would be one thing if they were actually saying anything interesting, but they're not and it just sounds like they're mumbling half the time. Other than that, the gameplay is okay, but often comes across as sloppy and poorly planned out. There is an additional fire mode called the Cheer system, but it amounts to little more than an alternative bomb attack that you can only use under certain circumstances. Raiden V is absolutely a stain on this franchise and I game I will remember never to return to. (5/4/24) [20/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: May 04, 2024, 01:38:36 pm »

28. Raiden III (Switch)

I've mentioned this often when discussing my history with the SHMUP genre, but the Raiden series is was initially got me interested in the genre way back in the 90s. Since then, I've played and beat every Raiden game, including the spinoffs, except for what many consider to be one of the best games in the series, Raiden III. I will say, me not beating Raiden 3 until today was not due to lack of trying, but rather bad luck. I've owned Raiden III on the PS2 for probably 15 years, however I found out years ago my copy did not work. I then bought another copy, didn't play it for years, and then when I tried to play it, it didn't work either! Finally, i ended up picking up the Switch release and finally got to jump into this cool SHMUP.


Raiden III has surprisingly balanced, and well designed gameplay. My only major gripe is the movement speed of your ship which feels way to slow given what the game typiically throws at you. Still, with enough planning and good reflexes you can dodge most of what this game has to throw at you. Visually, Raiden III is pretty good looking and even has a somewhat cinematic quality to it at times. However, given that it's in full 3D, it did make me lament how amazing the 2D sprites looked in the older titles. Still, for a 3D SHMUP, this game looks great; the stages are interesting and cool, the bosses look epic and unique, and everything else is also visually pleasing for the most part. The audio is probably Raiden III's greatest asset, as there was almost not a single bad or forgettable track in the entire game. It certainly holds the distinction of having one of the best OST's in the series, that's for sure. I'm glad I finally got around to playing Raiden III and seeing what all the fuss was about with it. (5/4/24) [34/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: May 02, 2024, 11:18:01 pm »

27. Mega Man X2 (PS4)

I've decided to branch out beyond the Mega Man X games I grew up with and played around the time they first came out. Aside from X on the SNES, I never played X2 or X3; I returned to the series for X4, but was so underwhelmed by X5 that I would drop the series once again. I need to replay X4 and X5 since it's been probably around 2 decades since i last played them, but for now X is my baseline for all the sequels that would follow.


X2 is a pretty good game for the most part, however I found it inferior to the original X in neraly every way. Mostly everything is slightly worse, but that's not to say X2 isn't a good time, because it is...mostly. The level design, the boss design and mechanics, as well as the power ups you receive by beating them just feel under developed and at times even poorly designed. I also found Mega Man's upgrades like the heart and health containers to be a lot more obscure and difficult to obtain for the most part. I thought the inclusion of the X Hunters was pretty cool, but I still prefer how you obtain Mega Man's suit upgrades more in X. The audio in X2 is pretty awesome, and while I disagree that it's as good as X's, it's still pretty rockin and one of the better ones I've heard on the SNES, which is saying quite a bit. While I certainly don't like X2 as much as X, it was still worthwhile to finally play it, and I'm curious to see how it stacks up against the later titles in the X series, especially X3 which seems to be the game that fights for X2 for second place when it comes to the best Mega Man X game on the SNES lol. (5/2/24) [33/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2024!!!!!

« on: April 29, 2024, 11:31:53 pm »

26. Breakers Revenge (PS4)

I played the first Breakers game on the Dreamcast after finding out it was a port of a pretty obscure Neo Geo fighting game from the mid 90s. I did find some redeemable qualities while playing Breakers, overall though, it left a very bland taste in my mouth overall and mostly felt like another forgettable off brand 90s tournament fighter that was trying to be Street Fighter 2 or King of Fighters so badly, but fell short. Unfortunately, the same can be said about its sequel, Breakers Revenge. What surprised me most is that Breakers Revenge came out in 1998 despite looking like a game from the early 90s. In fact, I'd say overall it looks worse than the CPS1 version of Street Fighter 2. With that said, the sprites and character animations are still pretty good, however most of the stages are bland, generic, and forgettable. Speaking of bland and generic, these same adjectives can be applied to Breaker's pretty small cast of playable characters too. The audio, while someone pleasing, isn't really that memorable either. Gameplay is decent overall, however some annoying balancing issues and fairly shallow mechanics make this just as generic as the rest of the game. I really was hoping Breakers Revenge would somehow surprise me as a hidden gem on the Neo Geo, but unofortunately it ended up being about what I expected; a justifiably forgotten obscurity from the 1990s tournament fighter craze that most people forgot, and even more people never realized existed at all. (4/29/24) [29/50]