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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 19, 2026, 02:26:50 pm »

26. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3)

Having been at the right age when GTA3 came out, I remember my friends and I being obsessed with that game back in 2001 and 2002. My friend Austin and I specifically would literally stay up all night playing it and marveling at the amount of chaos and destruction you could cause in that game. It was also nice that the story and missions were also fun and interesting too. Of course, this love of GTA3 carried over into the releases or GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas as well. However, it was GTA's leap into the next console generation that had me the most hyped and excited back in 2008 when GTA4 was released.


I've played and beat GTA4 numerous times, however what dawned on me last year was that I hadn't beat it since the PS3/360 were part of the current console generation. So yeah, it had been at least 15 years since I'd last beat GTA4. I somewhat blame GTA5 and the Read Dead Redemption games for distracting me from replaying GTA4, but regardless I decided this was the year I was going to return to this game. While it was never one of my favorite games, I always remembered mostly liking GTA4 and having a pretty good time with it. So when I replayed GTA4 again just now, I was definitely not expecting to find a game that felt far more outdated and annoying with than I had anticipated returning to.


For the most part, I do still enjoy playing GTA4. Most of my enjoyment of GTA4 happens within the first third of the game where I felt the story, characters, and overall plot of the game are at its best. I feel like the missions are also the best designed and thought out in the earlier portion of the game. I think a big reason for this is because the more GTA4 asks of you, the more this game's flaws become not just apparent, but downright frustrating. While GTA4 is definitely a bridge between old school 3D GTA and what we'd get in GTA5, for better or worse, it shares far more DNA with those older games. Because of this, controlling anything, whether it's the main character Niko or the vehicles you can drive feel stiff and unresponsive, but at the same time feeling almost twitchy to. You definitely have to adjust to this as you play, however in many of the latter missions where you are fighting many enemies is more complex or confined areas, or need to chase down a character on a motorcycle, the game's flaws are impossible to ignore. Essentially, you just have to get through these missions and hope you're not so pissed off that you'll just want to put the controller down and walk away. The same goes for the aiming, shooting, and cover system in GTA4. While it isn't terrible, it's so easy for you to take excessive damage or enemies to swarm you, making the cover mechanic almost useless. It's also too easy to take cover in places you don't want to, leading to you getting wasted pretty quickly on some of the harder missions.


I know that was a lot of negativity thrown at GTA4's gameplay, however, despite al that, I'd still say it's more fun to play than not. The sandbox of crime and mayhem is still present in this game as it was in the previous entries. Sometimes, it's almost more fun just to go on a massive crime spree than it is to complete the next mission in the story. I guess in a way, GTA4 excels at being a sledge hammer rather than a surgical knife in the sense that way more fun to just go all out and crazy than it is to have to pull off some super technical mission or drive in cramped alleyways or areas ripe with hazards. And fortunately, I'd say 80% of the game allows you to play GTA4 as a big, dumb open world crime sandbox. However, it's that 20% where the game wants you to do more than what it's been designed to do that kinda drag this game down from a gameplay perspective.


As far as the story of GTA4 goes, it's definitely not one of the best in the GTA series, but it's still decent for the most part. Niko Bellic, however might possibly be the best GTA protagonist in the entire series, not just from a character writing perspective, but also with how likable he is. He's not an over the top cartoonishly crazy character like Trevor from GTA5 or a stereotype like Carl Johnson from San Andreas. He feels like a believable, real person and this is only complimented by the excellent voice work and writing given to his character. Unfortunately, the rest of GTA4's story is more of a mixed bag. Once again, I feel like the beginning the of the story is the most interesting and well written, particularly when you're working with the Russians and a certain plot twist happens about a third into the game. After that however, the game's story does take a fairly sharp nose dive in terms of quality, picks back up again towards the end, and then the ending of this game is one I always found to be a bit annoying and even slightly anticlimactic. Still, there are some pretty interesting side characters thrown in throughout the game, even if some of their missions aren't the greatest.


I mentioned Niko Bellic's voice acting being phenomenal, and fortunately the rest of GTA4's voice cast does a great job too. Where GTA4's audio does falter for me a little is in its spread of licensed music, which is probably the weakest in the entire franchise. You're going to hear this music a lot when you're driving around Liberty City, and well, most of it isn't that great. By 2008, we had Vice City and San Andreas' amazing soundtracks, so the fact that GTA4 mostly consists of unremarkable music from both well known and not so well known artists is kind of inexcusable. Luckily, the rest of GTA4's sound design is fairly top notch, which certainly makes up somewhat for the game's lackluster OST.


Finally, from a visual standpoint, GTA4 was a pretty impressive looking game for the time, despite showing its age somewhat now. The level of low detail to characters, cut scenes and environments is definitely a huge leap forward compared to previous games in the franchise. However, the main issue I have with GTA4's visuals are how inconsistent they can look, with some environments and even character models looking somewhat flat, while others look amazing. Also, the game has this almost dark filter on it, which definitely makes the colors and details feel a bit washed out at times. I find of remember many games using various visuals filters to give games a certain mood or vibe, and while it does seem to work sometimes, I feel like in GTA4 it's mostly hit or miss, leaning more on the side of miss.


Once again, I want to reiterate that I mostly enjoyed my time with GTA4, however my disappointment over how much this game has aged and how haphazard certain aspects of it can be cannot be understated. Still, I'd say this is a worthwhile game to play, even in 2026, and one any fan of the GTA series should go back and play. Just be prepared for some extremely annoying missions towards the later parts of the game and controls that feel more akin to an early 2000s game than the ones we'd get in GTA5. (3/19/26) [36/50]

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Classic Video Games / Re: $100 Collection Challenge

« on: March 17, 2026, 12:38:53 pm »

Cool thread idea!

What's crazy is back when I started collecting in the late 2000s, $100 went A LONG way! I know that makes me sound like a boomer, but it's true. I'd bring about that much money with me to a flea market I used to live near back in 2010 and walk out with an entire backpack full of quality games, sometimes more. I picked up an Ice Blue N64 and about 20 good games for it for $50 one time. I imagine now that lot would have been worth easily over $800. Even when I did turn to eBay or game stores, prices were still pretty low, especially one some stuff now that is completely out of control, like Pokemon games and survival horror titles. I truly miss those days.

I was originally going to pick the Dreamcast, but after trying to get a worthwhile bundle of games for under $100, I simply couldn't. The same goes for so many consoles where the prices have become unreal. I'll instead pick an easier console, the PS1 to do this for.
A racing game - Crash Team Racing ($15)
A 2D platformer / 2D Sidescroller - Mega Man X5 ($25)
A RPG - Final Fantasy VIII ($20)
An action game (shooter / 3rd person action / fighting - Tekken 3 ($20)
A puzzle / strategy - Tetris Plus ($5)
A wildcard game (any genre, something that didn't fit into the other listed genres or double dip in a genre) - Spyro the Dragon ($15)

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 16, 2026, 11:06:00 am »

I was completely oblivious to the hate for this game until after I beat it. I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's different than the original, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. It seems the biggest gripes seem to be how Nemesis was handled and also the game's length. I didn't have an issue with either and thought the game was pretty fun. I actually like it slightly more than the original game.

I didn't hate it either, a lot of my annoyance was that it just felt so much more lacking compared to RE2R, like they cut back on what you could do against zombies where you could shoot off limbs and such, which was so weird to get rid of.  After I finished, I found all that was missing from the original and it's kind of a lot, which would've helped with how short the playtime is.  I put as much time into my first run of Requiem than I did all the time I spent playing RE3 lol I know there was some other annoyances that just didn't work great for the game either, but a lot of it was just how short the game was and how unsatisfying the replay for it was. It's one of those games where in vacuum it's mostly fine, but compared to the other games and its original, it's really lacking.

oh, no doubt. It's definitely not a top 5 RE game for me, and probably not even a top 10 game. Still, it was a fun, pretty memorable RE game that I've been meaning to play through again. However, at the moment I'd pretty much been submerged in RE following RE9 coming out and need a break for a bit. On top of that, I'll probably be playing Revelations 2 or the original RE4 next, whenever that ends up being.

Hopefully I wasn't too harsh with my little critique of it. I had some fun moments with RE3R, but it was just a major step back. Interestingly, it was the one I went in with the highest hope because I usually enjoy the "black sheep" games in major series'.

Same here, at least with the RE series. Despite all the hate it gets, I actually really like RE6. I expected to hate it and ended up enjoying it quite a bit in the end. RE5 though...that one has me agreeing with the haters on it.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 16, 2026, 01:46:32 am »

25. Mega Man 2 (PS4)

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that despite being a gamer for over 30 years of my life, I've never really played or beat one of the core Mega Man games.

...

One gripe I have with a lot of video games made before the late 90s is how it was a fairly common for a game's difficulty to be tied to how broken or poorly thought out the gameplay was. Some of this is due to the limited technology of the time, however much of it is also because devs back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s were trailblazing a medium that was still very new for the most part. The end result of this for me personally, is the older a game is, the less likely I'm probably going to enjoy it. My enjoyment cutoff, at least for console gaming, seems to be somewhat in between the 3rd and 4th console generation; essentially most NES and Master System games don't appeal to me all that much,

We are in the same boat (though, I haven't hit the 30 year mark yet. Another 2 years before I can claim that).

Out of the hundreds of games I have played, Mega Man is a pretty huge gap in my experience. I played through 1 and 2 last year for the first time.

Yellow Devil sucks, but the rest of the game was pretty good. A solid 7 for me. 1 gets a bad rap but its not that much worse imo. Like a Low-Mid 6. A little bit more "frustration as game design" than 2, but still manageable.

I will say though that while I agree with your general thought that a lot of games on the NES were somewhat poorly thought out, and as a result poorly balanced (or in the worst case, just not fun) there are enough gems on the NES that I can't personally throw the whole generation out. The NES Super Mario Bros. games are all gems, with SMB3 being one of the best games of all time in my opinion. The Legend of Zelda is an all time classic, and seeing it's DNA in Breath of the Wild is what helped elevate BotW to a 10 for me (I would only consider 3 games I've ever played to be a 10, maybe 4 if you count TotK which feels a bit like cheating cause it's just BotW again with even more stuff lol).

But for every gem there are like 2 or 3 games that treat making the game so difficult that you have to play a level 100 times to memorize their layout as good game design. An interesting thing about this design philosophy though (that the longer you play the game, the better it is) is that it hasn't actually changed. Just instead of making the game super hard and replaying the same content over and over, you now just do the same thing over and over to pad out games. Instead of replaying the same level 100 times, you play a level that has been copy and pasted 100 times instead. It's weird how games evolved and how gamer's brains have been conditioned to correlate playtime with quality.

There are definitely 3rd gen games I enjoy (MM2 being one), but unfortunately I'm left feeling disappointed and/or annoyed when I play most 3rd gen games, particularly on the NES since that's where the bulk of my 3rd gen experience is. I played and somehow beat the Castlevania on the NES earlier this year and while it had its moments, my overall experience with it was not very positive. The same goes with Ninja Gaiden, the original Contra, and a few other games that are generally considered among the better games on the NES. Still, I do enjoy games like Super Mario Bros, so it's definitely not all games from that gen. I don't discount my own bias and preferences in why I feel this way, but a lot of it is also gameplay I'd considered fairly outdated and difficult to go back to, when compared to 4th gen games.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 16, 2026, 01:39:19 am »

I was completely oblivious to the hate for this game until after I beat it. I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's different than the original, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. It seems the biggest gripes seem to be how Nemesis was handled and also the game's length. I didn't have an issue with either and thought the game was pretty fun. I actually like it slightly more than the original game.

I didn't hate it either, a lot of my annoyance was that it just felt so much more lacking compared to RE2R, like they cut back on what you could do against zombies where you could shoot off limbs and such, which was so weird to get rid of.  After I finished, I found all that was missing from the original and it's kind of a lot, which would've helped with how short the playtime is.  I put as much time into my first run of Requiem than I did all the time I spent playing RE3 lol I know there was some other annoyances that just didn't work great for the game either, but a lot of it was just how short the game was and how unsatisfying the replay for it was. It's one of those games where in vacuum it's mostly fine, but compared to the other games and its original, it's really lacking.

oh, no doubt. It's definitely not a top 5 RE game for me, and probably not even a top 10 game. Still, it was a fun, pretty memorable RE game that I've been meaning to play through again. However, at the moment I'd pretty much been submerged in RE following RE9 coming out and need a break for a bit. On top of that, I'll probably be playing Revelations 2 or the original RE4 next, whenever that ends up being.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 15, 2026, 06:11:09 pm »

23. Resident Evil 3 Remake

I would say this was short and sweet, but there isn't much "sweet" about it. The blueprint is there, but it feels like there's more bad than good in Jill's/Carlos' campaign. I like both of these characters, and both seem like seasoned warriors. And yet, I'm having to once again backtrack often to make space for inventory. The Nemesis thing has the same flaws as other games with "stalkers" in them. It's a bit jarring at first, but then it turns into irritation. Needless to say, this was a one and done campaign that feels good but not great. Kudos for the trophy that referenced Power Stone, though.

This one was disappointing.  They had the blueprint for sure in multiplayer ways, they are coming off two big wins with RE7 and RE2R, and then they just dropped the ball with it, primarily because they cut a ton of content from the original and it felt like a downgrade from RE2R.  The original was meant to be like a quick offshoot of RE, abit more actiony, but you can't do that quite the same here, because it needs to still have most of what the original game had.  Add to that they attached the awful Resistance mode to the game and it's kind of a double whammy of lame.  Just unfortunate that there's all these great new games and remakes post-RE7 and then there's just this huge misstep in the middle.  We need a remake of the remake lol

I was completely oblivious to the hate for this game until after I beat it. I really enjoyed it. Sure, it's different than the original, but I don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. It seems the biggest gripes seem to be how Nemesis was handled and also the game's length. I didn't have an issue with either and thought the game was pretty fun. I actually like it slightly more than the original game.

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General / Re: March 2026 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: March 13, 2026, 04:22:26 pm »

After these pickups I'm so close to 24,000 games in my collection.

What an empire!  Absolutely amazing. 

Out of curiosity. Is it your intent to have the world record? Or just in general have the most? Because from the little research ive done.  24,000 games verified at least is very rare territory and at least by guiness standards. Only a few hundred away from their record. Everytime I see your total climb I think of this. Congrats on the collection. It's quite breath taking.   

I've always wondered if Flea has a game room tour, or more accurately a game warehouse tour. I just imagine his collection being like the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Arch where the camera zooms out and it's this massive warehouse of endless secret items. Instead of top secret relics, it's just games and consoles as far as the eye can see. As someone who struggled to make space for a collection of around 2500 games, I can't even imagine what it' like to manage 24000!

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 13, 2026, 12:48:58 pm »

25. Mega Man 2 (PS4)

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that despite being a gamer for over 30 years of my life, I've never really played or beat one of the core Mega Man games. My history and love of the X series is well established, but for whatever reason I've never gone back to play the original series where it all began. When I was planning out my backlog for 2026, I knew I finally had to do something about this. I decided to go with what most people consider to be the best of the classic Mega Man series, Mega Man 2, to see if the core series was right for me. What I found out was yes, yes it is for me.


One gripe I have with a lot of video games made before the late 90s is how it was a fairly common for a game's difficulty to be tied to how broken or poorly thought out the gameplay was. Some of this is due to the limited technology of the time, however much of it is also because devs back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s were trailblazing a medium that was still very new for the most part. The end result of this for me personally, is the older a game is, the less likely I'm probably going to enjoy it. My enjoyment cutoff, at least for console gaming, seems to be somewhat in between the 3rd and 4th console generation; essentially most NES and Master System games don't appeal to me all that much, mostly due to how annoying that can be to play, with some exceptions of course. Luckily, Mega Man 2 is absolutely one of those exceptions.


I was genuinely surprised by how well thought out, balanced, and masterfully implemented Mega Man 2's gameplay is. Whether it's the stage obstacles and enemy placement, the boss fights, or the various other challenges you encounter throughout the game, Mega Man 2 has some of the best, most well designed gameplay of any 1980s game I've ever played. Don't get me wrong, there were a few parts and one particular boss fight towards the end that made me wonder if the dev team was hung over from partying the night before, but these blemishes on Mega Man 2's gameplay were were and far between, and also relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. I honestly struggle in deciding whether the boss battles or the stages themselves were more fun or memorable. This game is just that good and is still a blast to play through.


As for Mega Man 2's visuals, the are pretty impressive for a game released in 1988. Stages all have their own unique feel, layout, and theme, making them all pretty memorable. Enemy and boss design is great for the most part, with some of the game's most memorable boss fights occurring towards the end of the game. There are also really cool cutscenes and cool stage transitions after beating a robot master. You can really see the foundation that the X series was built on in these early games and I was pleasantly surprised to see how similar games as old as Mega Man 2 were to some of the earlier X games which came out half a decade later. Regardless, I have few complaints or issues with Mega Man 2's visuals. It's an awesome looking game.


Finally, the audio in Mega Man 2 is outstanding. Mega Man 2 has to have one of the best soundtracks on the NES, which is definitely saying something despite how crude sound processing and production was on that system. Capcom composed literal symphonies of nostalgic sound in this game, and that may be most apparent in the theme that plays during the end credits. Music during the stages is all high energy, catchy tunes which all go great with the action occurring on your TV. Mega Man 2's soundtrack is nearly perfect in my book and a shining example of how good an NES game can sound.


Wow, I honestly am shocked by how much I liked Mega Man 2. I figured at best I'd be here saying something like, "meh, it was pretty good I guess" but rather I'm thinking it's one of the best games in the series I've played. Despite my praise of the game, I will say that it being an NES game does limit its overall appeal to be somewhat, however with Mega Man 2's gameplay being as good as it is, this was hardly an issue. Mega Man 2 absolutely deserves its status as not just one of the best Mega Man games ever made, but one of the best games of its era. (3/13/26) [39/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 12, 2026, 10:14:12 pm »

24. The Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast)

The House of the Dead series, specifically the first two games are among my favorite and most special arcade games from the 90s. While the first House of the Dead game was a treat I really only ever got to experience in arcades, I would eventually get the arcade perfect port of House of the Dead 2 on the Dreamcast shortly after I got one back in late 1999. I've probably played through and beat House of the Dead 2 over a hundred times in my life and it remains possibly my favorite lighten shooter of all time. So yeah, when Sega took House of the Dead 2, replaced the guns with keyboards, and had you typing zombies and monsters to death, my initial reaction was likely WTF...


It's been many years since I first played Typing of the Dead and it's been the sole reason I still own an official Dreamcast keyboard. I decided to play through the game once again and what's crazy is it's just as charming and fun as the game its based on. And this is despite the fact that I'm not a very good typist. In addition to carrying over all the visual and auditory charm that made House of the Dead 2 so memorable and fun, Typing of the Dead is more than just type words and sentences that appear on the screen. First off, the things the game will have you type are distractingly hilarious at times. Phrases like "cat toilet", "stinky finger", and other ridiculous phrases commonly appear on screen and will often made it hard to type while you're laughing at what you're trying to type. Likewise, there are certain sections and bosses that will have you typing out the answers to questions or completing spoofs on nursery rhymes that had me audibly laughing out loud. Keep in mind all this is happening while James, Harry, and Amy have Dreamcast consoles strapped to their backs while a keyboard is propped up in front of them as they're walking. This game has an amazing sense of humor and I commend Sega for going that extra mile and adding silly stuff like this to make this game even more memorable. Still, covering inputs from a lighten pointed at a screen to rapidly typing words, phrases, and sentences with a keyboard was not a seamless transition.


There are parts in Typing of the Dead that make the use of the keyboard a bit frustrating. For one, once you start typing a specific word or phrase to kill a specific zombie, you're locked into it. That means if a projectile is heading towards you, typing the proper letter or word to "type" it out of the air won't be possible until you finish the word or phrase you started on. This situation is where I took the most damage in this game and made certain parts fairly frustrating. Likewise, the game is particular about you using punctuation and special characters when prompted, but it doesn't care about the spaces between words? It's a bit strange and inconsistent, but aside from some frustration, it wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of this game.


I dare say that Typing of the Dead is just as good as House of the Dead 2, maybe even arguably a bit better due to its unique, unconventional gameplay. Had Typing of the Dead been around when I was learning to type on a keyboard in elementary school, I might have actually been motivated to correctly type instead of the weird T-rex style I've adopted sine I was a kid. This game is such a hilarious, and unique game and is worth tracking down a Dreamcast keyboard (and I suppose even a Dreamcast console too) just for the pleasure of playing it. If it hasn't been already, this game is begging to be ported to modern PCs, which would not only make it more accessible, but also not having to cross my legs to use as a makeshift desk for my Dreamcast keyboard would have been nice. Regardless, this game is awesome. (3/12/26) [37/50]

Oh man I always wanted this game but never wanted to commit to buying the keyboard peripheral for just the one experience. Then I discovered how much I love the JP Clear version of the dreamcast keyboard so now I am stuck waiting for a "deal" on one that never comes lol.   This review may have reignited my need for this game. 


Between this and Seaman, dreamcast had some novel and off the wall concepts that some how worked.  I found that SEGA made a version of this game for PS2 but I have no clue if its as good. It's certainly not as beloved.  I need a reason to fire up my dreamcast considering I only have 1 game for it for the past 15 years of owning it. Whats funny is when I bought the dreamcast. The guy told me "get typing of the dead. Best game for it".  And thats why I want it so bad.

I played Seaman years ago and had a hard time getting into it. I get it's supposed to be super weird and all, but I got to a point where I could get Seaman to do anything else and just sort of got stuck with it. But yeah, Typing of the Dead is amazing. It's freakin hilarious and fun too. I'd just grab a standard keyboard and a copy just to try it out. What's nuts is I bought my copy of the game around 2011ish, when you could still buy brand new Dreamcast back stock directly from Amazon. I think I got my copy new for like $15 or something like that at the time. Feels like forever ago.

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General / Re: Intro thread

« on: March 12, 2026, 10:10:02 pm »

Heyo, names Niko. Have been coming to the realization that I actively hate Reddit and what it has done to fandoms/hobby communities, and trying to branch off from using it so much. I already have a few other sites I've been using since forever, but it never hurts to join more. Especially since most forums are pretty slow moving these days, so just having more people to talk with never hurts.

I've been collecting games (as in actively building a collection, not just getting games as a kid) since 2012 or thereabouts. I mostly collect Japanese GBC and GBA right now, but I'm a modern gamer too and play new games on Switch 2 and PS5 mostly.

Anyways nice to meet you all. Even if its a pretty small community at least I know you're all (likely) human and not some bot lol

Fellow Reddit hater here lol! I generally don't like using mainstream social media in general to discuss my hobbies. The bigger the platform, the more idiots, bots, tourists, and trolls use it too. While I wish there would be slightly more activity on small forums like this, the sense of community can't be beat and I'd rather see a few posts every few days than dozens or hundreds of low quality posts in some place like Facebook or Reddit.


I feel like many of the regulars here have significantly slowed down when it comes to collecting, but there is still a lot of great discussion around playing games, nw game announcements and releases, and general game discussion. Hopefully you'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

Thanks. Yeah I feel the problem with a lot of the collecting community on the mainstream platforms is everyone starts to compete to see who can be the biggest consumer, rather than a place for collectors to discuss games. At least once a week I'll see a post like "My collection after 2 years" and it's bigger than my collection ever was. And they never actually play any games, cause they spend all their time looking to buy games. They are just in a completely different place in the hobby compared to me, as I don't really care how big your collection is I just want to discuss games lol What are people playing, hidden gems, what you would buy if you had $100 right now. Those kind of topics.

Also, as you said, when they get that big you tend to have more tourists, bots and trolls which makes discussions even more difficult. Had a "discussion" with someone who was trying to tell me that "real gamers" don't play Nintendo... like what? lol

I think collecting and not playing is pretty silly, but I also recognize that people are in this hobby for different reasons. Back in the early to mid 2010s, I was absolutely way more of a collector than a gamer. Although, everything I bought I had the intention of someday playing, even if I was fooling myself at times in thinking I'd ever play a good chunk of the games I bought back then. They were just so cheap at the time, I kinda just went for it as long as I had even a mild interest in the game. I think a lot of collector first people are at a similar stage in collecting that I was back then, although being able to grab quality PS1 or Gamecube games for a few bucks each are a distant memory now. Essentially, when someone posts their PS1 JRPG pickup, you know they paid out the nose for it. I think this is where some of the clout chasing on social media comes from; people wanting to flex how much money they have by having bigger collections, more expensive pickups, you know?


But yeah, there are some dumbass opinions online for sure. One of the first gaming forums I used to regularly post on was Gamespot back in the mid 2000s, and "Real Gamers don't play Nintendo" sounds exactly like the kinda of nonsense I used to see all the time back then. Rest assured, no one who regularly posts on here is that freakin stupid lol.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 12, 2026, 02:14:05 pm »

24. The Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast)

The House of the Dead series, specifically the first two games are among my favorite and most special arcade games from the 90s. While the first House of the Dead game was a treat I really only ever got to experience in arcades, I would eventually get the arcade perfect port of House of the Dead 2 on the Dreamcast shortly after I got one back in late 1999. I've probably played through and beat House of the Dead 2 over a hundred times in my life and it remains possibly my favorite lighten shooter of all time. So yeah, when Sega took House of the Dead 2, replaced the guns with keyboards, and had you typing zombies and monsters to death, my initial reaction was likely WTF...


It's been many years since I first played Typing of the Dead and it's been the sole reason I still own an official Dreamcast keyboard. I decided to play through the game once again and what's crazy is it's just as charming and fun as the game its based on. And this is despite the fact that I'm not a very good typist. In addition to carrying over all the visual and auditory charm that made House of the Dead 2 so memorable and fun, Typing of the Dead is more than just type words and sentences that appear on the screen. First off, the things the game will have you type are distractingly hilarious at times. Phrases like "cat toilet", "stinky finger", and other ridiculous phrases commonly appear on screen and will often made it hard to type while you're laughing at what you're trying to type. Likewise, there are certain sections and bosses that will have you typing out the answers to questions or completing spoofs on nursery rhymes that had me audibly laughing out loud. Keep in mind all this is happening while James, Harry, and Amy have Dreamcast consoles strapped to their backs while a keyboard is propped up in front of them as they're walking. This game has an amazing sense of humor and I commend Sega for going that extra mile and adding silly stuff like this to make this game even more memorable. Still, covering inputs from a lighten pointed at a screen to rapidly typing words, phrases, and sentences with a keyboard was not a seamless transition.


There are parts in Typing of the Dead that make the use of the keyboard a bit frustrating. For one, once you start typing a specific word or phrase to kill a specific zombie, you're locked into it. That means if a projectile is heading towards you, typing the proper letter or word to "type" it out of the air won't be possible until you finish the word or phrase you started on. This situation is where I took the most damage in this game and made certain parts fairly frustrating. Likewise, the game is particular about you using punctuation and special characters when prompted, but it doesn't care about the spaces between words? It's a bit strange and inconsistent, but aside from some frustration, it wasn't a huge deal in the grand scheme of this game.


I dare say that Typing of the Dead is just as good as House of the Dead 2, maybe even arguably a bit better due to its unique, unconventional gameplay. Had Typing of the Dead been around when I was learning to type on a keyboard in elementary school, I might have actually been motivated to correctly type instead of the weird T-rex style I've adopted sine I was a kid. This game is such a hilarious, and unique game and is worth tracking down a Dreamcast keyboard (and I suppose even a Dreamcast console too) just for the pleasure of playing it. If it hasn't been already, this game is begging to be ported to modern PCs, which would not only make it more accessible, but also not having to cross my legs to use as a makeshift desk for my Dreamcast keyboard would have been nice. Regardless, this game is awesome. (3/12/26) [37/50]

12

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 12, 2026, 12:34:13 am »

23. Ready 2 Rumble Boxing (Dreamcast)

Ready 2 Rumble Boxing is one of those games that is forever seared into my memories of the early days of the Dreamcast. Between seeing this game all over various gaming magazines, its heavy representation in Sega's "It's Thinking" Dreamcast commercials, and also its inclusion on the pack in demo disk that came with brand new Dreamcasts back in 1999, it's impossible for me not to associate Ready 2 Rumble with my favorite console of all time. I do remember trying Ready 2 Rumble out via that demo disc back in the day, but can't say it really left any sort of impression on me or made me want to go out and get the full game. Decades later, here I am in possession of the full game and its sequel for the better part of two decades, and tonight was the first night I ever sank any serious play time into this game. Unfortunately my underwhelming response to the demo back in 1999 should have been a warning sign of things to come when it came to experiencing the full game of Ready 2 Rumble Boxing.


Ready 2 Rumble is one of the most awfully designed games I've played on the Dreamcast to date. The game essentially has zero depth, strategy, or really anything beyond mashing buttons and hoping you block or dodge enough attacks while simultaneously landing as many punches as possible to KO your opponent before they KO you. There is literally no strategy, no tells or indicators of where your opponent is about to strike. It's just luck of the draw with every button press. As you can imagine, this makes for an incredibly tedious and boring experience. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't the only thing working to starve you of fun.


For a game with such over the top characters and a fairly silly, cartoonish aesthetic, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing takes itself so seriously that it can't even be bothered to have music playing during your matches. There are only a handful of tracks in the entire game and they all play during the intro, menus, and credits...that's it. The only saving grace to the audio are the limited lines of the ridiculous roster of characters, but more importantly Michael Buffer (aka, the Let's get Ready to RUUUUMBLLLLEEE! guy) lends his voice to the game. Beyond saying is trademark phrase before every match, he also introduces all the fighters as well. Sound effects are fairly limited and uninspired, so yeah, it's pretty much just Michael Buffer making the audio worth anything for the most part.


Undoubtedly, Ready 2 Rumble's best quality is its visual presentation. While certainly far from perfect, the character design and graphics all work together pretty well to create a fairly silly game. Characters are all fairly charming and unique. On top of that, fighters show off an impressive level of damage during the course of each fight. This is shown in the form of bruises, black eyes, and sweat. It's all pretty cool and definitely adds to the entertainment value in Ready 2 Rumble, which let's be honest, desperately needs something to keep you from wanting to just turn it off. Unfortunately, the is a major lack of variety in the rings you'll be fighting in, audience members are 2D cutouts of actual people, and yeah, beyond those cool looking characters, nothing else is all that noteworthy or even good looking in this game.


Luckily, you can get through a full game of Ready 2 Rumble boxing pretty quickly despite constantly having to use continues due to the absolute travesty this game calls gameplay. With how negative I've been on this game, I'm almost too embarrassed to say that I don't completely hate it. It reminds me of the simpler times of the late 90s and how adolescent me was head over heels in love with the Dreamcast back then (I still am, but I mean, I was OBSESSED with the Dreamcast when Sega was still supporting it). Still, my sentimental nostalgia for Ready 2 Rumble is nowhere near strong enough for me to recommend this game to anyone. In fact, I'd strongly recommend avoiding it entirely and just playing the vast array of actual good games on the Dreamcast. (3/11/26) [20/50]

13

General / Re: Intro thread

« on: March 11, 2026, 01:40:46 pm »

Heyo, names Niko. Have been coming to the realization that I actively hate Reddit and what it has done to fandoms/hobby communities, and trying to branch off from using it so much. I already have a few other sites I've been using since forever, but it never hurts to join more. Especially since most forums are pretty slow moving these days, so just having more people to talk with never hurts.

I've been collecting games (as in actively building a collection, not just getting games as a kid) since 2012 or thereabouts. I mostly collect Japanese GBC and GBA right now, but I'm a modern gamer too and play new games on Switch 2 and PS5 mostly.

Anyways nice to meet you all. Even if its a pretty small community at least I know you're all (likely) human and not some bot lol

Fellow Reddit hater here lol! I generally don't like using mainstream social media in general to discuss my hobbies. The bigger the platform, the more idiots, bots, tourists, and trolls use it too. While I wish there would be slightly more activity on small forums like this, the sense of community can't be beat and I'd rather see a few posts every few days than dozens or hundreds of low quality posts in some place like Facebook or Reddit.


I feel like many of the regulars here have significantly slowed down when it comes to collecting, but there is still a lot of great discussion around playing games, nw game announcements and releases, and general game discussion. Hopefully you'll enjoy it here. Welcome!

14

General / Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?

« on: March 11, 2026, 01:33:25 pm »

For me it's entirely up to how you define "backlog" I guess.

If it's just games I've bought and haven't played, I could realistically do it in a couple years. It's somewhere between 100-200 games and I generally play between 30-50 games a year (depending on the games I play. If it's lots of RPG's that number is closer to 30). My collection is actually not as massive as it once was cause I purged a good 50% of it like 7 or 8 years ago. I went from just collecting everything that looked interesting and putting it on my shelf to creating a highly curated collection featuring only my top 50 games on each system. So I've actually beaten a good 90% of the games in my collection, with most of the unfinished ones being games I picked up in bundles on Steam.

But if you broaden the definition to just "any game I want to play but haven't", it will take much, much longer. I am constantly looking for new games to add to my collection. It's really fun for me to find a game that makes me rethink my collection. Like "if I add this to my collection, what will I take out". On top of that there are systems I haven't really collected at all yet like the Famicom and Super Famicom, So I'll probably have to play through 100+ games before I can settle on my top 50 I actually add to my collection.

I definitely subscribe the the more broad definition of a backlog. I also did a huge downsize several years back and am continuing to downsize still, albeit at a much less aggressive pace. Any game that's in my collection currently will be played at some point. If I ever come to the realization that I won't play that game ever, to eBay it goes. Also, if I play a game, don't like it or I can't see myself ever wanting to play it again, it also gets sold off. Still, there are a ton of games I don't own that I plan on playing eventually too. Essentially my backlog is never ending and I'll never truly complete it, even if I live to be 100.


On a side note, you should participate in the 52 games challenge we do on here. Pretty much it's users trying to beat at least 52 games in their backlog a year. It's a fun thread and I always enjoy seeing what others are currently playing. Would love to see someone else participate in it. The more, the merrier lol.

15

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: March 10, 2026, 02:53:03 am »

22. Freedom Planet 2 (Switch)

One of my biggest gaming surprises of 2025 was beating the first Freedom Planet game and falling completely in love with it. As a Sega kid back in the 90s and a lifelong fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, particularly Sonic's 2D platformers, I'm genuinely surprised Freedom Planet didn't pop up on my radar sooner. For what it's worth, Freedom Planet was one of my favorite games I beat last year and I've been dying to try out its sequel. After my wonderful wife gifted me Freedom Planet 2 on the Switch for our recent anniversary, I was ready to see if the second game in the series was as fun, memorable, and passionately crafted as the first game. In many ways, yes, it is just as good. In other ways it's even better than Freedom Planet, and in some ways it's actually a decent amount worse.


Let's start off with Freedom Planet 2's best quality, it's visual presentation. If Freedom Planet 2 doesn't have the best sprite work in a game I've ever seen, it absolutely deserves to be placed in the top 5 when it comes to its 2D visuals. This game's visuals were crafted by masters of 2D pixel art and it lovingly shows in absolutely every inch of the screen. Whether it's the amazing character animations, gorgeous stage backgrounds and set pieces, extremely memorable bosses, or pretty much just anything you experience with your eyeballs, everything in Freedom Planet is gorgeous. While I have a soft spot for the exceptional, but undeniably less refined look of the first game, Freedom Planet 2 is undeniably more polished and better looking than its predecessor. There are also 3D elements thrown in sparingly and these arguably look just as good as the 2D artwork on display. While Freedom Planet 2's visuals are an improvement, I can't necessarily say the same for the game's story.


Freedom Planet 2 takes place 3 years after the events of the first game. A new threat has emerged and like last time, it's up to Lilac, Carol, Milla, and now playable newcomer Neera to stop their new foe, Merga. Along the way, the four heroes will encounter new friends, enemies, twists and turns, and everything else in between. It's an undeniably entertaining story and plot that is complemented by the game's incredible visuals, as well as very well done character animations. These animations allow for a huge range of emotions and expressions that had me caring about the characters, as well as making me laugh at various points too. Where Freedom Planet 2 falls short compared to the first game's story is in its writing. Some of the plot as well as certain character motivations seem very poorly developed and weak. And it's not like the first game was a story telling masterpiece by any means, but I found my interest in Freedom Planet 2's story to be lacking compared to the first game.


Just like the amazing visuals of Freedom Planet 2 enhance the overall experience of playing through this game, so does the game's audio. Freedom Planet 2's OST is nearly as good as the first games. A mix of high energy tracks that would fit perfectly into some of the better Sonic games is combined with more chill, almost atmospheric retro tunes which fit in very well with the action going on as you play through the game. However, what arguably steals the show in the audio department is Freedom Planet 2's incredibly talented voice cast. Virtually all the voice actors from the first game return to reprise their respective rolls. There are also a decent amount of new characters and new actors to give them life, all of which do just as good of a job as those veteran voice actors. Speaking of veteran voice actors, some of the new characters are voiced by well know anime voice actors which I found to be a pleasant surprise. Other than the voice acting, sound effects and other auditory flourishes all sound great as well.


Much like the first game, Freedom Planet 2's weakest quality is its gameplay. By no means is Freedom Planet 2 an unpleasant game to play, nor is it a complete mess from a design or control standpoint. Maybe Freedom Planet 2's greatest gameplay sin is putting quantity over quality throughout much of the game. There are A TON of stages in Freedom Planet 2, over 30 to be more specific. Between the story cutscenes and the exploring hub levels, this is a 10 hour platformer, which for a 3D example of the genre is a long ass game. While this does somewhat impact the pacing negatively, the biggest issue is actually with the inconsistent quality of stages and boss battles. Most stages in Freedom Planet 2 are great, some even better than any stages found in the first game. A noticeable chunk are okay, and then another junk are borderline bad. This is also true of the boss battles too. I found some boss battles to be excellent while others were just terrible. Luckily the good ones outnumbered the bad ones by about 4 to 1, but I couldn't help but think maybe the devs should have focused on making fewer really, really good stages and bosses instead of just throwing everything plus the kitchen sink at this game.


Aside from the Sonic-esq stages you'll be dashing through as one of the four characters, there are also things like shops, mini games, and other distractions you can engage with throughout Freedom Planet 2. I found these added extras to be of limited value, including the ability to buy special items that are supposed to help make the game easier, but they mostly seemed irrelevant when deciding whether or not I succeeded or failed at a specific stage or boss encounter. There is also an overworld that you get to explore in this game, but other than showing a form of progression throughout the game, its inclusion seemed a bit unnecessary.


The four playable characters all control and handle differently. I played through the game as the game's main protagonist, Lilac, but I did play about an hour as Milla and Carol just to see how different the game was from a gameplay perspective. Undoubtedly, your experience with each character is going to make Freedom Planet feel noticeable different depending on what character you choose, and this extends beyond just how they play and control. There are certain parts of Freedom Planet 2's story that are exclusive to specific characters. In other words, to get the entire story experience of Freedom Planet 2, you will have to beat it with all four characters. While I really enjoyed Freedom Planet 2, I just don't have it in me to beat it three more times to see every inch of the game's story. Given the story isn't amazing as mentioned earlier, this doesn't really motive me to go back in with the other three characters and do it all over again, at least not so soon.


While I know it's contrary to the popular opinion, I actually prefer the first Freedom Planet slightly more than its sequel. I get why Freedom Planet 2 is often considered the superior game; it's hard not to be bewitched by how amazing this game looks and sounds. However, the tendency for Freedom Planet 2 to feel a bit bloated, sometimes at the expense of having fun with the game keeps it from being as enjoyable as the first game. Still, Freedom Planet 2 is an outstanding retro inspired platformer that is still better than most of Sonic the Hedgehog's 2D adventures, which is saying a lot considering we wouldn't have Freedom Planet 1 or 2 without Sega's flagship platforming mascot. So yeah, go play Freedom Planet 2 if you're a fan of 2D Sonic games, it's so incredibly good! (3/9/26) [40/50]