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1

General / Re: Why is Xbox not as desirable to collectors?

« on: August 10, 2026, 01:47:08 am »

I never quite understood this either. XBOX was the first console I collected for where I reached a point where I was pretty much like, "yep, I'm done now." And what's crazy is it was pretty easy and pretty inexpensive. I bought the majority of my original XBOX games for under $5 each, and probably the most I spent on any of them was maybe $15 bucks. That's including all the heavy hitters like Operation Genesis too. Even now when I go to usd media stores, there are a ton of quality XBOX titles on the shelf that just linger there. Meanwhile, the PS2 section is pretty much just old sports games and shovelware, and the Gamecube section is literally non-existant 90% of the time. It's always been strange to me, but I guess it just didn't land with most collectors like Nintendo, Sony, and Sega stuff did.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 27, 2026, 10:18:14 pm »

5. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (PS4) - ABANDONED

Maybe I made the mistake of playing Resident Evil Revelations 2 right after completing one of the best games in the franchise and subsiquently one of the best games ever made, Resident Evil 4, but something deep down tells me that's not what made me hate this game so much. No, Revelations 2 feels like an incredibly cheap, incredibly generic  horror game that feels like its poorly immitating the series it supposedly belongs to. Gone are the excellent character designs, enemy designs, intriguing horror settings, and tight gameplay. Instead, you have game that is too dark, too dull, and too ridiculous to even care about. I was only able to make it to the beginning of chapter 2 before I just couldn't take it any longer. Nearly every single part of this game offended my gamer sensibilities and I can't even imagine playing this for another 8 or so hours until this one was beat. Worst yet, this game dares to say its part of the Resident Evil series which while undoubtedly has its turkeys, it has few games that are as annoying and poorly made as Revelations 2. This might be my least favorite game in the series based on what I played, and if it somehow isn't, its certainly towards the very bottom. (ABANDONED)

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 26, 2026, 01:36:47 am »

49. Resident Evil 4 (PS4)

Several years ago, I played and beat the outstanding remake of Resident Evil 4, a game I knew I would like, but just how much I liked it surprised even me. Beyond just how amazing that remake is, it reminded me that it had been far too long since I played the original game it was based on. In fact, it's now been over 20 years since I last beat OG Resident Evil 4, a game I got caught up in the hype of around the time in released in 2005, and proceeded to devour that game over the course of a few weeks in my late teens. Other than reminders of what transpired in that game through playing the remake, I'd mostly forgotten most of what happens in RE4. So yeah, it I was criminally overdue to replay the original RE4.


Like many people, I was highly skeptical about the bold new direction RE4 took the series and how much of a huge departure it was from the survival horror roots of RE1, RE2, RE3, and Code Veronica. I also hated how they removed the zombies (sort of) and the game was now an over the shoulder action game. As I said though, the acclaim RE4 received when it first came out was enough to put my reservations about how different this game was aside and try it out. Replaying it again over 20 years later, I'm reminded just how much I loved this game back in 2005, and still love it in 2026.


RE4 is an incredible game. Beyond how important it was for popularizing and in many ways pioneering the over the shoulder action shooter genre, the pacing, cinematics, and overall action in this game was in a league of its own, and still mostly holds up today. This game throws a lot at you throughout the entire game, however you are rarely ever in a position where you don't have what you need to succeed. There is typically bountiful amounts of ammo and healing items, allowing you to face the many waves of enemies, crazy bosses, and other challenges RE4 throws your way. The core gameplay is hard to fault outside a few somewhat annoying sections throughout the game's six chapters. The only parts of RE4's gameplay I found less than ideal, if not completely annoying were other aspects of the gameplay you're forced to engage with.


Probably the one I had the biggest issue with has to do with escorting one of the main characters, Ashley, throughout large portions of the game. While most of the time, these escort sections aren't too bad, it's far too easy for Ashley, who is completely helpless by the way, to take damage, accidentally get killed, or get carried off while you're busy with crowd control. The game does throw you a bone in the form of being able to give Ashley healing herbs, but the issues I mentioned still stand. Escort missions and gameplay mechanics are hard not to screw up, and while Capcom did better than most in RE4, it's still not great and leads to the game's most frustrating sections.


Another somewhat, albeit less annoying gameplay part is the parts of the game you're forced to do quick time events (QTEs). While QTEs have a better track record than escort missions, they are still very easy to screw up and RE4 has some of the least forgiving QTEs I've come across in a game from this era. Luckily the HD version of RE4 I played on the PS4 did improve the original 6th console generation versions QTE mechanics by essentially limiting them to either or both shoulder buttons or pressing the square and X button on the PS4 simultaneously. This made QTEs in RE4 far less of an annoyance and more of just a mundane task to avoid an attack from a boss or getting through an interactive cutscene. Still, I can't help but feel like RE4 would have been better without them.


There are a few fairly minor gripes I had with specific bosses, certain sections of specific chapters, but honestly these other complaints are so minor is the grand scheme of what is otherwise a classic game if there ever was one. The arsenal in RE4 is fun as hell to use, the dynamic gameplay of uses different weapons or techniques to get through the same area offer a lot of replayability, and just overall the combat in RE4 is great. It does kind of suck that you can't move and aim at the same time, a feature that would eventually become available in future RE games, but you learn to work around this limitation of early third person shooter gameplay, and you're left if a very fun experience overall.


Visuals in RE4 are practically perfect. The fact that a game originally released in 2005 still looks this good and is still this entertaining speaks volumes to RE4's graphical and presentation quality. Cutscenes are highly cinematic, environments mostly feel unique and fresh throughout the game, and once again, the pacing in RE4 is among the best in the series. The story in RE4 is also incredibly original, fun, and interesting too. And of course, this game did more to place Leon Kennedy as practically the poster child of Resident Evil than any other game he appeared in before RE4 and any game he has appeared in since. There are also a wealth of other excellent characters in RE4 too, all contributing to why this game kicks so much ass.


Character models all look highly details and still look great today. Areas and environments are all masterfully crafted and possess levels of detail that some modern games still fall short in achieving. I could literally go on and on, and on about how great RE4 looks. Any minor issues are quickly forgiven by just how amazing 95% of everything else in this game looks.


Audio, while excellent overall, does fall a bit short compared to the visuals. There are quite a few good tracks in RE4. The game is also great at ramping up your anxiety based on certain musical cues that start playing if you've been spotted by an enemy or you're in the middle of a tense combat situation. Voice acting is great as well, although it must be said there is a level of cheese in this game that absolutely dates this game as a mid-2000s action game. And trust me, I mean that in the absolute best way possible. This game absolutely has a unique charm to it that perfectly encapsulates the era of gaming it originally was released in. I guess I wish RE4 maybe had a few other songs I liked more, and maybe some of the voice performances could have been slightly better in terms of dialogue, but really this game sounds great and is hard not to appreciate.


What's truly commendable about the original RE4 is that it's still worth playing 20 years later, and that's 100% true even despite the incredible 2023 remake. The remake and the original, while technically the game plot and story, are so different in terms of tone, feel, gameplay, and other aspects that they are both great in their own way and still absolutely worth their own respective playthroughs. It also has to be said that the original RE4 possesses an almost goofy charm to it that is almost entirely absent from the remake, which by itself makes the original a unique experience worth experiencing.


I have to say, I knew I'd enjoy replaying RE4, but I guess I underestimated just how much I'd love returning to it. I figured time would have exposed from of the cracks in RE4's 20 year old gameplay, but really it didn't. Same with the visuals, story, and audio too. If anything, I'm a bit annoyed with myself for taking this long to have replayed RE4 again. Regardless, I'm beyond happy I have finally tackled this absolute classic again and already look forward to the next time I give this game a whirl. (7/25/26) [42/50]

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

« on: July 20, 2026, 01:01:49 am »

It's been a very long time since I bought anything from an independent game store. I decided to go to one this afternoon and was just planning on browsing. I ended up finding two used games I've been after for a while for a decent price and decided to go for it. Here's what I got:


-Lunar Remastered Collection (Switch)
-Sonic Lost World (Wii U)

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 17, 2026, 12:09:20 am »

48. Mega Man X3 (SNES)

As a fan of SHMUPs and to a lessor extent Run and Gun style games, I'm not one to shy away from a challenge in game. In fact, I like to pride myself in the challenge of beating a hard game. However, with increased difficulty comes increased responsibility from the developer to give you the tools to succeed in a specific game. If the game is programmed horribly, the controls suck, or the mechanics in the game don't lend themselves well to meeting whatever challenge the game throws at you, the difficulty is no longer about allowing the player to extract fun out of the game, but rather the game becomes an exercise in annoyance and frustration. A prime example of this is Mega Man X3.


After playing a decent chunk of the X series at this point, I've become all too aware that it's pretty much a downhill journey after the first game in terms of quality. That's not to say some of the other X games don't have enjoyable aspects to them, they certainly do. However, that first game was so amazingly crafted and fun that no other X game comes close to touching it, at least in my humble opinion. X3 is even further away from X's benchmark of quality than nearly any other X game I've played in recent years (keep in mind I've never played X7 and it's been 25 years since I last played X6). And would you know it, Mega Man X3's greatest flaw is its demoralizing difficulty mostly as a result of some shoddy game design.


X3 isn't an entirely bad game by any means. X and Zero are both fun to control and there are plenty of interesting, cool things to explore and discover in the game. However, every time I found myself thinking this game was actually pretty good, I encountered something that immediately changed my mind. Sometimes it was the frequent use of gotcha traps in stages, or how annoyingly vertical some levels become. Or sometimes it was how poorly designed the majority of boss encounters are and how those encounters felt far less dynamic and enjoyable that the previous two X games. However, Mega Man X3's greatest flaw is how underpowered this game makes you while making virtually every enemy way overpowered.


That's right, your X buster, even when fully upgraded and charged, feels like a glorified pea shooter most of the time. This is particularly true with boss encounters, even when using a sub weapon that boss is weak against. But maybe more egregious than this is how quickly your life bar goes from full to dead. Seriously, there are basic enemies in this game that hit harder than any boss attack, which also hit like a truck. The combo of weak attacks from your weapons while turning attacks from enemies into mini nukes, really amps up how annoying this game is to play most of the time and is what really drained my enjoyment of X3 before I'd even got halfway through.


Fortunately, X3's presentation fairs much better than its gameplay. While certainly a step down from X, and about on par with X2, X3's artwork, level and character design, as well as the inclusion of more cutscenes, definitely make this a very attractive SNES game. The soundtrack is pretty good too, although it lacks the punch of X2's OST, and is noticeably inferior to Mega Man X's OST by a long shot. A few audio tracks caught my ear, but nothing I'd care to listen to outside the game for the most part. More or less, this game looks and sound about as good as youd expect a mid 90s 16-bit Capcom game to be, which is a pretty high bar as most of us know.


Sadly, I'm starting to tink more and more that the X series might end up being one legendary game, a few good games, and a lot of mediocre and even some bad games. I'd say X definitely straddles that line of mediocrity, not quite being offensive enough to say this game is more bad than good, but also not necessarily being a good game other. I'd say maybe by a tiny, tiny amount it's a slightly better game than it is a bad one, but its broken difficulty and game design don't do it any favors to make it any better than that. (7/16/26) [30/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 15, 2026, 01:01:54 am »

47. Once Upon a Katamari (Switch)

It kinda blows my mind how long I've been playing Katamari games. Rewind to sometime in 2005, two coworkers of mine and I hung out one evening after work at one of their apartments. When we arrived, the coworker whose apartment we were at asks, "have you ever played Katamari before?" At the time, I had no freakin clue what the hell a Katamari was or that it was even a video game. My evening changed dramatically when we sat down in front of his TV and PS2 and he popped in the disc for We Love Katamari. The three of us literally stayed up all night playing it while listening to JPOP and Dir En Gray. It was an amazing night, but most of all, I knew where my next $50 was going.


I bought my own copy of We Love Katamari on the PS2 and since then I've played and beat nearly ever Katamari game ever released. While I love this quirky series about rolling everything and anything up, one criticism I will level on it is how many of the games over the years have kinda blended together a bit. Sure, the series has benefited from better graphics on more powerful systems, new levels and objectives, a new UI, and some new features, but overall the game's assets, levels, and pretty much most of what makes a Katamari game...well, a Katamari game has been roughly the same, or at least very similar. Going into the newest entry in the franchise, Once Upon a Katamari, I expected this trend to continue despite it being the first game in the series in over a decade. Not only was I completely wrong and thoroughly surprised, but I found what ended up being my favorite Katamari game  ever made.


Once upon a Katamari is an extensive and meaningful update over any previous Katamari game by far! At the same time, all the core components of what make these games so fun and memorable was completely in tact, for better or worse. Once Upon a Katamari is broken up into levels, called eras in the game, that contain multiple stages, all themed around the setting of the specific era. For example, there is an era for ancient Egypt, the Jurassic period, Edo period Japan, and various other distinct eras. The things you will roll up and the basis of the missions you'll need to complete align with these era themes which is a fun, creative way of making them all feel memorable and fun...well, most of them at least. However, it's within these specialized stage objectives where I found some of my favorite challenges in the entire Katamari franchise, but also some of the worst ones I've played in the series too.


Like all Katamari games, this game at its core is about rolling progressively larger and larger items up into your Katamari ball, resulting in the Katamari growing more and more. The series has long evolved past simply rolling up as much stuff as possible in a set amount of time, and often requires you to complete specific objectives like roll up only certain types of objects, avoid water when you're attempting to light something ablaze with your burning Katamari, or get your Katamari to a specific place before time runs out. Most of Once Upon a Katamari's levels embrace this formula and will have you doing things like making a giant Katamari out of roses to impress a woman for some guy or recharging your Katamari with water while you create a desert oasis. Yeah, this game is weird, but that's 100% part of its charm. Most of these specialized levels are fine, however I found a handful of them to be some of the most annoying, poorly designed and tedious levels in the entire series. Luckily, most of the mission objectives and levels in Once Upon a Katamari are fun to play, some of them being the msot fun I've experienced in the franchise, but like any game, you have to the good with the bad when evaluating a game's quality.


Fret not though; Once Upon a Katamari still has plenty of levels that only require you to go crazy and make your Katamari as big as possible, and often levels that embrace this tried and true formula shone just as brightly as they did in previous entries. However, definitely expect there to be a lot of specialized levels that are themed around the era stage they are located in.


The visuals in Once Upon a Katamari are a crowning achievement for the series as a whole. With how radically difference this game is from any other Katamari game, the diverse eras and their themes, the huge variety of things to roll up, and various other quirky aspects of Once Upon a Katamari elevate it to a nearly flawless level. The art style and graphics have a simplistic charm to them which compliments the weirdness these games deliberately go for, but also look surprisingly vibrant and beautiful at the same time. Every level regardless of theme is fun, colorful, and full of personality and charm. My only real criticism of the visuals is there are a lot of reused assets across stages like in previous games, but Once Upon a Katamari is definitely the least guilty of this. This game's visual presentation is definitely its best quality, which is certainly saying something since this whole game is pretty excellent.


Once Upon a Katamari's audio is nearly as good as its visuals. Overall, Once Upon a Katamari's soundtrack is probably my favorite in the series. There are so many catchy, upbeat, and sometimes even surprisingly relaxing tracks in here to where I've been listening to some of them outside of playing the game. This game also has all the familiar, highly satisfying sound effects of the previous games, including the bleeps and bloops of picking specific objects up. That unmistakable Katamari DNA is absolutely present in its newest entry, but it's also fresh and new enough to where it'll give even long time fans something to fawn over when taking it all in with their ears.


I knew I would like this game, but even I'm surprised by how much I thoroughly enjoyed Once Upon a Katamari. If someone asked me what the best game to start with was, I'd actually say this game despite it being the newest. I feel like it has the best representation of what the series is all about and what it does best. And that's despite the fact that it has about half a dozen crap levels in it. There is just so much new, meaningful content in Once Upon a Katamari that I feel like it's impossible for me not to recommend it from strictly even an entertainment standpoint. Namco really nailed it with this game and I can only hope we've entered an era where new, fresh Katamari games will once again see regular releases on modern consoles. (7/14/26) [40/50]

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 11, 2026, 07:25:46 pm »

46. Doom: The Dark Ages (PS5)

Unlike Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal, I had very little hype leading up to the release of Doom: The Dark Ages. Dark Ages looked fine I suppose, however I couldn't help but feel like the game just didn't look or feel like a Doom game really. In fact, it reminded me more of a game like Hexen with its heavy emphasis on melee combat and dark fantasy setting. Sadly, I sat out the Dark Ages for pretty much a year until the price of the game dropped to around $30, which was cheap enough for me to take a chance on it. And wow...let me tell you, I feel like I just pulled a Royal Flush after beating Doom: The Dark Ages.


Doom: The Dark Ages is one of the most unique, refreshing, and just insanely good FPS games I've played in a very long time. While the focus on parring and melee attacks was initially something that turned me off to wanting to try Dark Ages sooner, it quickly became a mechanic I was addicted to and simply could not get enough of. The parry mechanic in Dark Ages is implemented excellently, with a pretty generous window to block projectiles and attacks from enemies which are advertised as a greenish aura or energy projectile. Like other Doom games, Dark Ages puts in in a variety of arena-like settings which are integrated very well into 22 large stages. You'll find yourself getting surrounded and throw against hoards of demons and monsters in these stage arenas, and it's during these parts that the game comes alive. This game becomes pure freakin chaos on a regular basis where you're consantly dodging attacks, parrying incoming attacks, and cycling through weapons to deal with a pretty impressive array of enemies. Somehow, this game tickles the same part of my brain that SHMUPs do, which is about one of the best complements I can give to a non-SHMUP, action oriented game.


To say Doom: The Dark Ages is an intense experience would be putting it lightly. I often had to take breaks every 2 or 3 levels for at least several hours due to how much this game amps you up and also how much it demands of you almost constantly. There are some light puzzle and exploration sections which are a nice reprieve from the nearly nonstop action. These exploration sections are admittedly not as enjoyable, but beyond giving you much needed breaks, it's where you'll find many of the secrets and various extras hidden throughout Dark Ages' various stages. There are a crap ton of secrets, unlockables, and items that allow you to upgrade your weapons, melee attacks, shield, and just about everything else Doom Guy uses to kill hoards of enemies. Essentially, there is almost never a dull or poorly paced moment in this game and I found it practically impossible to feel board while playing.


One somewhat minor, but still relevant flaw with Doom: The Dark Ages' gameplay is its tendency to feel a bit more sloppy with it's enemy balancing and layouts compared to both 2016 and Eternal. Sometimes, it just feels like the game is throwing so much at you, you actually lose track of what you're doing, who you're attacking, and even sometimes where you even are. Yeah, this game can be disorienting at times to the point where I found myself falling off ledges on many different occasions. When I said this game is chaotic, I wasn't joking!


Another aspect of Doom: The Dark Ages which often gets brought up, more as a negative than a positive are the dragon riding and mech piloting sections. I personally didn't have an issue with these, especially since you only do them about three times each. Yeah, they're definitely more shallow in terms of gameplay then the core gameplay when you're controlling Doom Guy, but I never found them hard to control or difficult in any way. And as mentioned, they happen so infrequently that they don't outstay their welcome either. If anything, they're a nice little distraction from the main gameplay and another part of why Dark Ages is never boring.


Visually, Dark Ages is flawless. There is a ton of enemy variety, level variety, and enough nuance in what you're looking at during any given section that the game never looks bland or repetitive. One stage will have you in a techno Valhalla style fortress, while the next in a hellish wasteland, and then the next in a swamp area from another dimension. Meanwhile, the game is introducing new enemies and weapons up until the last 80% of the game, giving you plenty of new opportunities to try out your new arsenal or take down the next insane looking foe. Bosses look awesome and often have multiple forms, the effects from your weapons, stage hazards, and kills all are cinematic and great to look at, and to top it off, Doom: The Dark Ages actually has a pretty compelling story. I know, a story in a Doom game, and a pretty good one at that, who'd have thought?


The story is delivered via cutscenes, often between levels and while it can be sometimes a little batshit crazy, it still offers up a compelling prequel to the events of Doom 2016 and the origins of the iconic Doom Slayer. There are a variety of other memorable characters introduced as well which all do a great job at making the story of Dark Ages likely the best one in the franchise. Fortunately for Doom, it's not a series that needs a heavy or deep narrative, but it was a very welcome addition, and even a bit of a surprise in Dark Ages.


Finally, the audio in Doom: The Dark Ages is nearly as excellent as its two predecessors, even with the absence of Mick Gordon's amazing contributions. Dark Ages' OST is hard hitting and extremely metal just like the previous two games. Voice acting is also pretty great for a game like this despite the irony that the taciturn Doom guy utters literally a single word during the entirety of the game. Sound effects are great as well. This game definitely gets you pumped and is a big contributing factor why this game is so high energy from start to finish. In the end, it's just not as good as the previous two Doom games, at least regarding the soundtrack.



I honestly regret not having more faith in ID Software to produce yet another amazing game in their long running Doom franchise. This game would have been worth every penny of $70+tax, so me buying it second hand for $30 almost feels like robbery. Still, better late than never. Here I am, satisfied as hell and on a post playthrough adrenalin rush still which is something I can't say of many games, even ones in my coveted Top 10 Games of All Time list. While Doom: The Dark Ages does crack my top 10, I can confidently say this is the second best Doom game I've ever played, coming only behind the masterpiece that is Doom 2016. Dark Ages is a game I didn't even know I wanted and now that I have played it, all I can think of is how I want more of it. I suppose if ID/Bethesda ever releases an ultimate edition of Doom: The Dark Ages that includes the recently released Revelations DLC on disc, I'll get my wish in that regard. Still, even by itself, Dark Ages is an incredible game that I'm already looking forward to playing again someday. (7/11/26) [44/50]

8

Modern Video Games / Re: It's officially over.

« on: July 11, 2026, 10:38:04 am »

Thanks! Buying the new house is a consequence of me finding out I was getting laid off in late March, getting a new job in another state, having to move, and finally being at the point where I can seriously look at buying my next house. It's been a freakin ride, but I'm hoping things can start to feel normal again after we end up finding something.


My only hesitation about the Switch 2 is whether Nintendo will pull something similar to Sony before the end of the Switch 2's life. The console has only been out a little over a year, so there is still plenty of opportunity for Nintendo to announce no new non-keycard games, which is my primary concern. I'd also be buying one under the assumption the vast majority of first party games would remain non-key card throughout the console's life. I guess given my situation, I have time to think about it, but I'd be lying if I said the threat of the Switch 2's price rising again isn't a motivating factor for me wanting to get one sooner rather than later. AI has really screwed the consumer electronics market and I don't see prices coming down on hardware for a long, long time, if ever.

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Modern Video Games / Re: It's officially over.

« on: July 08, 2026, 08:29:27 pm »

Alright... with Sony doubling down in their silence, it's clear they aren't going to backtrack. It seems one of the other CEOs within Sony is seeing the writing on the wall with their poor decisions and sold half his stock in the company at the bump, giving him more than $4 million in revenue. He knows what's coming and it won't be pretty for them.

As for me, I'm not going to continue with the brand after this generation. PS5 is officially my last Playstation. Oddly, PS3 will be my next Playstation. I'm currently in the market for a 320GB Slim and will be picking one up before the end of the month, and definitely well before they begin to skyrocket in price before next year when the PS3/PSV store is permanently shut down.

I'll continue here on VG Collect as I work to buy back and add too my old PS3 collection. I may also go for Gamecube as well, but some of those games are just over the top expensive anymore.

Same boat with the PS5 being the last Sony console I ever buy. I'm actually thinking about getting.a Switch 2 at some point soon. I'm in the middle of buying a new house so it'll have to wait until then. I'm just hoping Nintendo doesn't copy Sony and pull something similar where all their first party games go key card or digital only.


I want to see Sony burn to the ground for this. They made amazing consoles and games for 30 years, but if this is their idea of being a top platform for gaming, they deserve to fail. I just hope a bunch of people don't bend the knee just like they did with DLC, and incomplete games at launch....and micro transactions. In a lot of ways their customers are just as much to blame for this as Sony themselves.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 08, 2026, 04:37:30 pm »

45. Stunt Race FX (SNES)

It's hard not to view the Super FX tech developed by Nintendo as a highly ambitious, yet very misguided part of their history. Nearly every game "optimized" to take advantage of the chip set's 3D capabilities looked and ran so poorly that it's hard to imagine these games running on the same system that gave us some of the more gorgeous 2D retro games ever made. However, I'm old enough to get why they decided to do it anyways back in the mid-90s. 3D games were all the rage around that time, and there seemed to be an arms race among video game companies to create the next, awe-inspiring 3D hit or convert the next game in some long running franchise into a 3D game. I'll admit, as a young kid I was all about this transition into the third dimension, however I can also say that much of it was a bit misguided and many 3D games from that era did not age well. This is particularly true of Nintendo's 3D Super FX games.


Stunt Race FX was the one and only Super FX game I played back around the time it was new. A friend of mine and I rented it one night while I was spending the night at his dad's house. Other than the 3D graphics, I actually don't remember a ton about this game other than we played it for about an hour before watching some stupid movie afterwards. Over the last 30 years I've been meaning to check Stunt Race FX out again to see if maybe the game was actually a gem, however if my experience playing the original Star Fox last year is any indication, the game was most likely going to be a borderline unplayable 3D mess. Fortnately, my experience with playing Stunt Race FX again landed somewhere in between.


As the name of the game implies, Stunt Race FX is a racing games where you'll take control of one of a few cartoonish polygon vehicles with eyes and play through various modes with them. These modes include a standard race mode, a battle mode, and a stunt mode. While nothing special, the race mode is the most playable, but still nothing special. You're essentially racing around themed 3D tracks at about 10 FPS, which is as jarring today as it was back then, but I'll at least say these tracks are infinitely more playable than the vast majority of Star Fox. There is also a cuteness and charm to these stages despite them not always having the best design when it comes to their layouts or the maneuverability of your vehicles.


Probably the weakest of the modes is the stunt mode, mostly due to how poorly laid out the stunt tracks are. I will give credit to this game in general for having some fairly impressive terrain and gravity physics for a 3D SNES games, but unfortunately these pros are somewhat overshadowed by Stunt Race FX's many other flaws. In all, this game possesses about an hour of entertainment before you're ready to move onto something else, and likely something better.


As for Stunt Race FX's presentation, it's really a mixed bag. It's easy to write this game off as another poorly aged 3D game designed solely to show off the capabilities of an overly ambitious, over priced, and overly gimmicky cartridge chipset, however at this time, this game actually impressed a lot of people with its visuals, myself included. The game does have some other visual charms as well in terms of its art style and the aesthetics of its various stages. Still, despite all this, the slideshow caliber FPS and the plainness of many of its stages and other art assets prevents this game from being considered a good looking game, both today and back in 1994 when Stunt Race FX first came out.


Audio in Stunt Race FX fairs about the same. The OST is sorta catchy and has a very SNES-like quality to it. Still, this was never going to be a game whose soundtrack is remembered fondly for decades. It certainly fits the game well enough, but it's really nothing special for the most part.


I'm at least happy I kinda enjoyed played Stunt Race FX versus wondering how the hell anyone ever managed to play it back in the day like Star Fox. As I said, this game may hold your interest for an hour tops, but even then, there are so, so many other worthwhile games on the SNES to play, including other racing games, that it's hard to recommend Stunt Race FX to anyone these days. The game is affectively a relic of an era when 3D games were seen as cutting edge and futuristic, although to be frank, Nintendo should have just waited to make their 3D debut with the N64 and shelved the 3D SNES games we did end up getting, including Stunt Race FX. (7/8/26) [27/50]

11

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

« on: July 06, 2026, 01:21:26 pm »

With Sony announcing the end of mainstream physical games in 2028 and the looming KIDS Act heading to Senate here in the US (which will usher in an age where you need to verify your ID to do anything on your computer), I decided to start prepping for the looming digital apocalypse while the internet is still free. Yesterday I picked up a Seagate Expansion 6TB HDD for $131, which in today's market is an excellent bargain for storage. This allowed me to unload some "DRM-free digital copies" from my computer's SSD, which only had 17GB left on it. I'm also planning to download backup installers for emulators, privacy browsers, and certain operating systems that are refusing to comply with the new ID verification laws. In my version of the all-digital future, nobody will be able to revoke my digital copies and I will be happy.

I started doing something similar earlier this year. I'm pretty much archiving every game I've ever wanted to play from the 80s all the way up to modern consoles. I don't know how easy it's going to be to preserve games in the near future and I don't want to lose my ability to play many of these games. Shit just feels apocalyptic right now.

12

Modern Video Games / Re: It's officially over.

« on: July 05, 2026, 07:05:21 pm »

I used to dread this moment. It would be the end of new games and I would have had something I hold dear, which has been my main hobby from being a small boy, ripped from my hands. But in recent years a lot has happened with my gaming habits and the way I view the hobby.

A lack of funds forced me to sell most of my collection a few years ago, the same lack of funds ended up pushing me onto Steam for some new games just because I could do so cheaply, discovering Kinguin made that all the easier, then I concentrated on the Switch which has been a dream console to pick up physical games for, like even compared to the PS2. I once owned a PS5 but never took it out of the box (got sold like so much of my gaming stuff). Xbox hasn't been relevant to me since the 360, the PS4 took a back seat to the Switch and never even got back in the race for me. Now Sony want out? Go for it! The Switch keeps getting releases announced and I'm struggling to keep up, discovering VGP is not helping in this matter either!

The thing is, 'the big players' have been wrong in my eyes since the 90s, like the PS1/N64 era being about 3D, because "nobody is interested in 2D any more". Exsqueeze me? That's not just a perspective, it's a laundry list of video game genres you're flushing down the toilet, one that I'm very much not done with. Physical media and video games with game in them, as opposed to kind-of interactive movies or e-books with nice graphics, are other things 'the game industry' has decided it's finished with. But the consoles aren't 'the game industry', they're just the ones with the most visibility and the budgets, but gaming was never theirs exclusively and what Sony or MicroSoft do does not dictate where this enormous juggernaut of a hobby goes.

Let them go. Let them close or fold-in their first-party studios they paid millions for a year or two ago, let them step away from physical. They aren't the hobby. It's bigger than them. Thousands and thousands of games are getting released every year, most of the exciting ones (to me) resemble games from the 16-bit era and are produced by a handful of people or a solo developer, or they're Nintendo games which I'll get on cart (but not those gamecard monstrosities, thank you). We've got Evercade, we're getting the new/old Neo Geo, Sega just might come back and do their own thing.

I've always thought someone could just produce some kind of game-box with a set standard, with a cartridge slot and low specs to run all these fab indie games we're getting these days and the Evercade shows that it could work. Just needs someone to throw down and go for it, physical doesn't have to die at all.

Sorry, a bit rambly, but I'm content to look at alternatives and the more old-skool style of gaming when it comes to future purchases.

I definitely think the landscape of gaming is going to change pretty dramatically as a result of all this. I can see a parallel industry forming from this; one that caters to your more hardcore, enthusiast gamer and one that caters more towards the mainstream. The mainstream one will be entirely digital with everything being subscriptions and online purchases. This will be where AAA game studios release their games and the majority of AA studios as well. Meanwhile, a much more vibrant, diverse indie scene will continue to flourish on two fronts. One being the same mass market digital platforms as the big studios and then also in a more niche physical space. If small startups like PixelFX and Evercade can release consoles to play older games, there's nothing stopping indie devs from developing games for these platforms in addition to their online versions on PSN or Steam.


I pray something like this happens so I can at least look forward to games coming out physically still. I'm also hoping homebrew development for retro consoles get more popular and new Genesis, SNES, and N64 games become more and more common. I don't think this will be the end of gaming for me, but it very well may be the end of me supporting new AAA and AA releases.

13

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

« on: July 04, 2026, 12:34:05 pm »

44. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Switch)

Starting last year and continuing into this year, I've made a solid effort to get caught up on as many Castlevania games as I can. The golden era of Castlevania completely flew under my radar when it was happening. In fact, it wouldn't be until I got heavily into video game collecting in the late 2000s that I even discovered this amazing series even existing. So naturally, instead of playing one of the most beloved games in the series first, I decided my first Castlevania was going to be Lords of Shadow on the PS3. I know that game has a lot of haters, but I remember really enjoying it. Although, I will full-heartedly agree Lords of Shadow 2 was balls, but luckily that didn't kill me interest in this franchise. Fastforward to 2019 when I finally sat down and tackled what is often considered the best game in the franchise, Symphony of the Night.


Not only did I adore Symphony of the Night in pretty much every single way a video game can be loved, but it was so enjoyable that it made its way into my top 10 games of all time. Yes, it was that amazing! Still, it would be a while until I really sunk my teeth into the rest of this beloved series, 2025 to be precise. I played what is often considered the second best Castlevania game, Aria of Sorrow last year, and while I didn't like it as much as Symphony, it was still a blast and certainly had a compelling story with a plot twist I didn't see coming. Naturally, it made me want to eventually play its sequel on the DS, Dawn of Sorrow to see if being on more advanced hardware did the game any favors towards making it better than its predecessor on the GBA. And while the answer to that question is unfortunately no, Dawn of Sorrow is still a top tier Castlevania experience that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.


I will come right out and say that the gameplay in Dawn of Sorrow is better than it is in Aria, but still not perfect. The most immediate thing I noticed about Dawn of Sorrow is how much more balanced and progressive the difficulty was. Aria of Sorrow was fairly challenging about 2/3rds into the game before leveling and gaining relatively access to some incredibly OPed gear makes the game almost a cake walk in the fine 30% of the game. Luckily in Dawn of Sorrow, the difficulty scaling is very balanced; each new area, enemy type, and boss feels appropriately hard while not being controller rage inducing frustrating or laughably easy to the point of being boring. A large part of why this game feels so balanced is the devs really knew how to design gear, enemy types, and boss encounters to where it just makes sense with the abilities you have at any given time. Speaking of abilities.


One of the primary tools in Dawn of Sorrow is the soul drop system, which to be fair has been used in various forms in other Metroidvania style entries, but i feel like one of its better iterations is within this game. Souls are randomly dropped by the various enemy types and they grant the main character, Soma, the ability to use the soul in various ways. Some souls assist with traversing certain types of areas, while others serve as specialized weapons to better deal with a particular boss, enemy type, or section. The soul drop rate, while on occasions stingy, is mostly balanced and you're likely to pick up most souls just by playing and backtracking through the castle in Dawn of Sorrow. I only ever had to grind for a specific soul maybe 3 or 4 times, and each time I was able to get the soul I needed within 10 minutes. So yeah, the system fairly well implemented what what it is.


My main complaints regarding Dawn of Sorrow's gameplay, and I guess in away the soul abilities, has to do with their uses outside of combat. Some souls you will absolutely use heavily throughout the game for one reason or another, meanwhile certain other sections of the castle will require you use a very specific type of soul, however the game isn't always clear on which soul is required. As a result, needing to use some sort of guide or a ton of trial in error is asked of the player, which I found to be a bit annoying. Another aspect of Dawn of Sorrow that relates to this, is this game is probably one of the most "where the hell do I go now" or "what the hell do I do" entries in the franchise I've played so far. I lost count of the amount of times I unnecessarily backtracked to a specific area, only to find I still didn't have the ability needed to get past a specific door or obstacle. Fortunately, Dawn of Sorrow does have warp rooms that do ease some of the backtracking pains, but even with these, the vague indications of where you need to go next or what you need to do kinda hindered the pacing of this game somewhat, which was a shame.


Outside these gripes, however, I found the overall gameplay to be pretty fun, challenging, and interesting. Combat with enemies and bosses feels fluid and precise, the action is appropriately fast paced, and just overall there were few times I felt truly bored or overly annoyed while playing through this game.


Presentationwise, Dawn of Sorrow is mostly excellent, but with a few dings that prevent it from being a perfect visual and auditory masterpiece. For starters, this game does arguably look superior to its predecessor on the GBA. However, the the fact that it doesn't look remarkably better was a bit of a surprise for me. Don't get me wrong, the graphics do look a lot of clear and polished, however that doesn't necessarily make them look way better compared to the SNES-inspired GBA graphics of Aria and its other GBA Castlevania brethren. Both games look awesome, however there were a few things that did hold Dawn of Sorrow back some from being my preferred game when it comes to visuals.


For starters, Dawn heavily reuses assets from previous Castlevania games. This is particularly true of standard enemies. While there are some new, interesting enemy types in Dawn of Sorrow, most of recycled from previous Castlevania entries. I suppose you could say this is more a sin of the series rather than specifically of Dawn of Sorrow's, however this was definitely the first game in the series I've played where it felt like I was replaying a game I'd already beat before despite this being my first time playing Dawn of Sorrow. I suppose there are only so many iterations of werewolves or skeleton warriors you can make, but it just felt like 90% of the enemies were recyled or modestly reskined from other games I've played. Luckily, the bosses were more of a standout, however, I feel like compared to bosses in other games I've played, they too felt a tad on the unimaginative side as well, at least compared to other games in the series I've played.


However, the game's biggest issue is actually it's story and characters. Compared to Aria of Sorrow, Dawn's story is umm..fairly underwhelming. For one, you're essentially after a cult that seeks to channel the dark lord's energy into two of the most doofy Castlevania villiens I've ever seen. One looks and acts like a hot headed Yugioh villian, while the other looks like Konami's interpretation of a 1960's beatnik. Yeah, they're pretty freakin lame. All the while, it just seems like the supporting characters are constantly tellings Soma to just "stay out of my way" the entire story. I admittedly play Castlevania games more for the gameplay, art, and soundtrack, but a lame story is still a lame story, and it does drag this game down, even just a little.


Finally, when it comes to Dawn of Sorrow's audio, it's expectedly good, however, like my other criticisms of this game, it falls short compared to other entries in the franchise. The soundtrack is good, but it didn't really do it for me the same way many of the other games' OSTs have. No specific track really made me go, "wow, I need this on my phone to listen to in the car!" It all just felt fine, but at the same time never bad or jarring at any point. Sound effects, monster noises, and everything else sounds as good as you would expect as well.


While I had a lot of criticisms about various aspects of Dawn of Sorow, I want to be clear when I say, I still really enjoyed this game. In fact, I'd say this game just barely fell short of how much I enjoyed Aria of Sorrow. The gameplay in particular is what really sold me on Dawn and why I ended up having such a great time with it overall. Still, when I think about why this game didn't land for me the way I'd hoped it would, I guess it just never felt like it had a distinct identity beyond just being a direct sequel to one of the most beloved games in the series. It's existence almost feels unecessary rather than something that needed to be made. Again, that's not to say it's not a fun, worthwhile entry in the series, just one that rides the coattails of Aria heavily without really offering a lot of its own memorable experiences on its own. Still, I would absolutely, 100% recommend this game to any Castlevania fan and at the end of the day, this is a worthwhile sequel to what is considered by some to be the best Castlevania game ever made. (7/4/26) [38/50]

14

Modern Video Games / Re: It's officially over.

« on: July 03, 2026, 05:41:52 pm »

I find it humorous that Sony continues to hide from social media. They're hoping this will blow over....but it won't.

As far as I'm concerned, Sony has dropped an absolute nuke on their goodwill from a consumer perspective. At this point, I won't be touching PS6 at all. Before, I wasn't all that hyped because I don't think the current position of modern gaming is in a good spot and was planning to wait a couple years to buy PS6... but now? Unless there are serious changes made (doubtful), I won't be touching PS6 at all.

It doesn't matter how Sony responds (I expect on Monday). If they walk back the end of physical... great. I'm going to still wait a couple years for PS6 at minimum. If they walk back only for the PS5 gen on physical and have PS6 be all digital... fine... I'll finish up the PS5 gen and then go back to retro games. If they double down... fine... I'll finish up the PS5 gen but buy fewer games.

I'm planning to buy a PS3 slim again before the end of the year. That'll be my "next gen".

Even if Sony does a complete 180 and says they aren't actually going to discontinue physical media support on the PS5 (I'm halfway expecting them too considering how much fallout has followed their announcement), I'm done with Playstation as a brand. I'm never going to buy any first party titles from any Sony studios ever again and I'm sure as hell never dropping any money on a new Sony console again. As for the PS6, it's already DOA in my mind. Sony can go fuck themselves after this. I'm through supporting them.


If they do stay the course and actually go through with this, a friend of mine has decided he's going to jailbreak his PS5 and pirate every game he has interest in. He has this firmly held belief that is buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing. If they want to play dirty, two can play at that game...according to him of course.

15

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

« on: July 02, 2026, 11:26:02 pm »

Sony's announcement to go pure digital by 2028 is disheartening, but I think it means I can finally, FINALLY get caught up on my backlog and replay those games I've wanted to replay for years.

https://www.gematsu.com/2026/07/sony-interactive-entertainment-to-end-physical-game-disc-production-in-january-2028

It's looking more and more like the rest of my life is going to be getting caught up with my backlog. I'm fine with that, but a part of me is saddened that I won't be able to get excited for new releases anymore, even if the game looks amazing. If I can't own the game, I'm not buying it.