Author Topic: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!  (Read 31030 times)

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2022, 12:53:13 pm »
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Quote from: Legend
bold games are games that have been beaten, previously beaten, or are unbeatable.
italicized games are in progress.
standard games are games I am not currently trying to beat.
strikethrough games are games that have been abandoned.

28. Batman: The Video Game (GEN)
This game is an action platformer, but it has the problem, to me, that batman moves just too damned slow and there is no way to run for some of the sections that really have precise timing for the jumps, running would've made it easier.  Combat in the game feels less than inspired and the game has the shmup sections like all the other games.  Thinking about all these shmup sections has me kind of yearning to play the Arkham games again, kind of can't wait because those games are my kinda game.  I do recall the beginning of the game getting stuck and having to learn about the grappling hook, which I'd call frustrating, but I hadn't played Batman Forever yet at this point lol.  Never a fan of the refighting all earlier boss fight trope and unfortunately this game has it.  Frustrating platforming at the end like all platformers.  Overall a pretty weak entry in the series.
Rating: Hard pass

29. Batman: Return of the Joker (NES)
Something I'll note, other than the Game Boy version of this game, both the Genesis and SNES (Revenge) versions of this game are pretty spot on with this version of the game... so much so to the point that I would recommend not playing the Genesis or SNES (It's unreleased) versions of the game at all because the NES version is the best way to play this game.  That said, all three versions of this game suck in general, but this one sucks the least.  The boss fights in this game have you and the boss sitting with like 80,000 HP and you deal between 100-1000 damage per hit depending on the version, with the genesis version being the worst, but I'll talk more about that there.  I'll reiterate that it's disappointing that the NES version of the game is the best playing and looking version of this game given that it's the oldest version of the game, albeit only by like a year.
Rating: Hard pass

30. Batman: Revenge of the Joker (GEN)
A pretty spot on recreation of the NES game, graphically the game look pretty good, but that is literally all it's got going for it.  Even that isn't that great because the colors are darker overall which makes a lot of things harder to see and they did change up some stuff that makes some of the more frustrating aspects even more frustrating.  Like the beginning of the game with the spike balls, you can't even see that they are there because they are hidden, it's kind of bullshit.  This game, you do so much less damage in the boss fights that the boss fights take forever to finish.  You deal less than 1k damage (sometimes as little as 200 dmg) and the boss has around 100k health, so it takes over 100 hits to finish off the boss.  That honestly has to be the biggest complaint about this game, because some of the boss fights take like 10 minutes and that just isn't reasonable for these old precision unforgiving games, maybe I can pause, but geez am I going to get tired of this BS real fast.
Rating: Hard pass

31. Batman Returns (NES)
The first beat em up entry in the franchise, in my youth I had played the SNES version like crazy, so I see some resemblance in this game, but I can definitely see how things had to be changed it being NES and all. One of the things that threw me in this game was the one of the levels will loop endlessly until you go into the buildings and find the right building or go into all of the buildings, I only looped one extra time I think, but I thought that was real interesting.  Don't know that I've ever seen that applied in a beat em up game before.  Of course the game has the obligatory shmup sections too, can't forget that!  I had some frustrations I think with the duck tank machine boss fight that I didn't see the person on youtube have the same problem interestingly enough, but maybe I was playing the fight all wrong.
Rating: Hard pass

32. Batman Returns (GG)
This is where I mention that I'm playing these games linked to Retro Achievements which means if a game doesn't have achievements yet I'm trying my best to put off playing the game yet because I'd much rather earn the achievements for the game rather than beat it and achievements show up 6 months later.  That said achievements are kind of community driven, so if no one has the interest and going and developing achievements then it may never get done.  I thought about developing achievements but then I thought about how that is kind of cheating me developing the achievements and I don't personally know how I'd point the achievements and what achievements to implement, so I'm just like, it's fine.  Plus in order to generate the achievements I'd have to play the game quite a bit to get all of the info necessary and I'm kind of just not about that for games that I know I'm not going to enjoy.  Anyway, back to the review.  So, first off, I'll state that I actually played through this game twice, I didn't count it twice, but truly I should.  I played through once on route 1 and again on route 2, because the achievements for this game existed to have you play both, which required two playthroughs.  The game plays more like the Batman Movie games where it's not a beat em up, but an action platformer.  Route 2 really relies on using the grappling hook to get past obstacles and gaps whereas route 1 is a more standard experience, so I'd consider it essentially the game's built in difficulty system.  Levels are largely similar, just route 2 has more traps and such.  If this game has a general theme it sticks to in its design, it's the use of the grappling hook.  As always the platforming sections towards the end are brutal and frustrating and surprisingly no shmup sections.  I'm going to think about splitting this because I really did beat the game start to finish twice.
Rating: Hard pass

33. Batman Returns (SNES)
Ah, yes, one of the staples of my childhood.  I played this game like crazy and now as an adult I see lots of comparisons to the LJN Spider-man/Venom games, even though this isn't LJN, it's Konami.  That said I really enjoyed the LJN Spider-man Venom games even though apparently they aren't well remembered by most folks.  Despite both being made by the same company, the NES and SNES games are just so crazy different graphically at least.  No shmup section, but it's got a wild driving section.  This game had one of my favorite things, which was being able to easily walk up and grab and enemy and throw them at the background environment, sometimes destroying some of the background.  I'm a bit fried after writing like 10 of these reviews back to back, I may need to take a break and write more later.
Rating: Soft pass

34. Batman: The Video Game (ARC)
Good lord this game was pretty terrible.  I get it's an arcade game and designed to make you pump in those quarters, but good golly this game is pretty bad.  The driving section is essentially a light gun game, but in the arcade you know it wasn't a light gun, so it's like playing those console light gun games with a controller. ::) A lot of sections in the game are just absolutely BS in how they throw enemies at you and how some of the enemies will throw stuff the frame they are spawned on screen so you have to know they are going to spawn before they spawn to prevent getting hit and there is a lot of bs where they throw tons of enemies from both directions who shoot guns or throw bombs, it's just a lot of BS.  On top of that the platforming and combat also suck.  Just really a no good game.
Rating: Hard pass

35. Batman: The Video Games (PCE)
LMAO this game, out of nowhere you get a bomberman-esque Batman game.  You got mazes with enemies and you throw your batarang to stun them and just walk into them to knock them off the map.  The premise of every level is to stand in x# specific spots to complete the level, this might be collecting items, it might be cleaning up graffiti, it's wack... but honestly, this game is kinda fun, it's dumb fun and almost has no place being a batman game, but I enjoyed my time with this game.  Until I reached the levels where you have to do the warping around, there was one level in particular that I spent nearly 10 minutes on, if not longer, because I couldn't figure out which of like 12 warps would get me where I wanted to go.  Other than that, the game was quite enjoyable on its own.
Rating: Soft pass

36. Batman: The Animated Series (GB)
This game started off confusing, it made it sound like you needed to find all of the teddy bear bombs, but I kinda just rushed right (direction) through the level, thought I was stuck and had to find the bears, back tracked, realized later that I wasn't stuck and I just needed to grapple hook... so another grapple hook heavy batman game ::).  Platforming is very solid in this game, towards the end it has a timed section that I had some trouble with because it just didn't give you any time to screw around with, you had to be pretty precise to get through it on time.  I think somewhere towards the end they started throwing spikes and wall spikes at you so you had to be pretty precise with your platforming which got frustrating.  One of the last areas had warps around which I thought were linear, but I found myself having to backtrack and find the right route a bunch of times so that was interesting if not also frustrating.  Early game is good, but as the game progressed the game got more and more frustrating.
Rating: Hard pass

37. Batman: Return of the Joker (GB)
This is one I skipped because it didn't have achievements on RetroAchievements, but the achievements popped up on the site and I was like oh yes, I'll go play this now.  But wound up happening was me sitting there and troubleshooting a couple of achievements that weren't popping right with the developers of the achievements.  So I'd get to a point where an achievement was supposed to pop, it wouldn't pop, and I would basically just stop playing until the devs got back to me or fixed it.  I managed to get it all done inside a day I think, but there was a lot of ok, guess I'll wait.  This game is completely different from the console counterparts, same kind of game, but just completely different.  That said lots of frustrating things in this one, like the first level has weird water rising and lowering stuff that damages you just being touched by it.  Lots of false platform stuff that on harder difficulties disappears within a frame or two of you landing, so you've got next to no time to jump away.  This is the game that taught me more about how achievements work for retro games and that achievements are made specifically with hardcore mode in mind and that the official stance is that if an achievement doesn't work in softcore mode, it's kind of on you for playing with save states and such.  My first ticket I submitted, the dev kind of sounded like they were like sucks to be you, but they made a change to see if it fixed it and it did.  Not sure what softcore mode was messing with there, but it happened.
Rating: Hard pass

38. The Adventures of Batman & Robin (SNES)
Every set of levels corelates to an "episode" of the show, I've never seen the show so I don't know if it actually follows an episode or something, but I get what's going on, specific bosses, specific "episode".  I don't know, game was fine if not pretty basic.  The museum level was pretty good in having to find all the folks to get the code to get into the vault.  The racing level was absolute BS because they didn't really give you enough time to get through it, like I had to redo it so many times because I wasn't absolutely perfect, I wound up running it perfectly and still only had a second or two to spare, absolutely brutal.  I enjoyed the dungeon crawling of the Riddler episode, but even that was a bit annoying.  Changing up the mechanics per episode was novel, but also the game seems to do the same trope of refight all of the previous boss stuff.
Rating: Hard pass

39. The Adventures of Batman & Robin (GEN)
Another same game different dev, this one is more of a beat em up game, but it's practically 2D instead of 2.5D like most beat em ups.  And of course it adds in shmup levels which I hate.  I mean considering how you fight, even the "beat em up" sections are essentially shmup style since you don't really fight so much as just throw batarangs.  Really just didn't enjoy this game.
Rating: Hard pass

40. Batman Forever (SNES)
Oh boy, this game is absolutely terrible, luckily it looks like it's the same on all platforms so I don't need to play it more than once.  The digitized graphics are interesting and gives it a very Mortal Kombat feel, even kind of plays very fighter style, which is probably why we got the Arcade fighter game, haven't played that yet, so no comment.  This game seems to also heavily rely on grapple hook stuff but it just doesn't work well, it's absolutely wonky in execution.  Doesn't matter what platform this game is totally not worth playing and should've been unreleased, but unfortunately it did release.  I pretty much had to follow a video walkthrough to get through this game because everything was just so obtuse.
Rating: Hard pass

41. Batman: The Video Game (ZX)
This game could've honestly been ported to like Game Boy or something, it's not great, kind of sucks actually.  I had to look up how to progress early on, but once I did that twice for learning about the grapple hook, I managed to get through the rest of the game with little to no issue.  The game does have the problem of enemies firing the frame they appear on screen, so you have to time things well even though it's really hard to know when an enemy will render.  Tries to follow the plot of the film like the other games.
Rating: Hard pass

42. Batman (ZX)
The first Batman game ever released, presumably based on the Adam West TV Series.  Robin's been kidnapped (Because he's a kid) and before you can go even think about saving Robin (Probably why Joker killed him) you need to reassemble the batmobile... so this entire game is you running around the batcave trying to find all of the pieces of the batmobile so you can go save Robin... but for some reason there are monsters all over the batcave.  Isometric action platformer, can't really defend yourself so just dodge enemies through out.  I basically had to follow a video walkthrough step by step... to the point that I had my phone propped up so I could pause/unpause the video on the fly without leaving the game.  I think this game would've been pretty brutal back in the day, it seems to save your progress after you collect each batmobile part, so it's got that going for it, but it's still pretty brutal, and I don't know that I would've been able to figure out a lot of the little intricacies with this game without the video guiding me... and I definitely would've gotten lost a ton because the batcave is pretty fricken expanse.
Rating: Hard pass.

43. Batman (SNES)
This is essentially an unreleased demo of the Software Creations version of Batman.  It's a not very good beat em up game with only 2 levels and it just loops endlessly.  I only even found out this exists because I was looking into the SNES unreleased version of Revenge of the Joker.  It's a really not good game with no real plot and obviously adds nothing to the franchise as a whole.
Rating: Hard pass

44. Batman: Revenge of the Joker (SNES)
This is the unreleased SNES version of the Genesis remake of the NES Return of the Joker.  Follows the Genesis/NES versions pretty exactly, but has its own set of problems.  Boss fights are different from the SNES version and are just as frustrating as the Genesis version if not moreso... The difference maybe being that the boss fights aren't as long as the genesis counterpart, but more frustrating in design.  Game obviously has its bugs and isn't fully refined so there are a lot of issues with platforming in general, especially on the snow stage.  Obligatory shmup sections just like the other console counterparts.  Final boss part though, is like a 5-10 minute fight, which isn't an exaggeration, so while all of the Genesis fights feel long, the actual final SNES boss really is long.
Rating: Hard pass

45. Goldeneye 64 (N64)
I was looking at Retro Achievements and saw the massive achievement set for this game and decided that I wouldn't mind replaying Goldeneye 64 again and earning all of the achievements, so I did.  Not much really to talk about except to emphasize that the X1/XS port of the game does such a great job of fixing the issues that were caused by the C buttons on the N64 controller, because trying to play the original N64 game via an emulator using a modern controller, is still pretty crap.  You can't properly swap the stick functionalities around, and even if you swap them improperly, you've messed up the ability to move through menus seamlessly.  Up and down on left stick, right and left on the right stick... otherwise you stick with defaults which is move forward/backward left stick, strafing right stick, turning left stick, looking up/down right stick.  It's messed up no matter what.  I stuck with default controls so I wouldn't get confused in menus.  Given modern ports exist, there is no reason to go back and play the original N64 version.
Rating: Soft recommendation

46. Goldfinger 64 (N64)
I've been wanting to play this rom hack for so long, but unfortunately the developer for this rom hack did such a shit job on the very first level, I always gave up real quick.  The framerate is terrible and the lighting is too dark on the first level that it's really hard to play.  I struggled through and continued and one of the things I noticed was that the developer really didn't do a good job of designing the levels to run properly on the N64, it really needed to be much more closed in environments so it's not having to try to render things so far away or too many things in general.  I personally had the issue that regardless of difficulty that enemies would see me and start shooting before the game even rendered the enemies on screen, so I'm having to blindly fire in a general direction hoping I down the enemy while running in their direction.  Some of the levels are much better framerate wise, but still design is still pretty poor overall.  I managed to get all of the achievements for this game as well, a big part of what pushed me to keep playing because I wanted to earn all of the achievements.  At some point I'll play the Tomorrow Never Dies and The Spy Who Loved Me rom hack demos too since they also have achievements.  While overall my experience with this rom hack was pretty good after pushing through the bad, I still honestly couldn't really recommend it because it's just not that good in general and is plagued with issues.
Rating: Soft pass

Next List
« Last Edit: March 14, 2023, 01:08:53 pm by ignition365 »


galaxygamer102

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #16 on: December 27, 2022, 04:02:20 pm »
I think I'll start this Challenge, it'll probably be fun
Knowing myself, I'll do like most of the challenge in the 1st month of summer instead of keeping a week average
Due to School n stuff I'll be doing a good amount of Games on the trusty unblocked GBA Emulator
Maybe I'll even pick up some of my random Licensed DS Games that I found in the garage one time

1. Touhou Youyomu ~ Perfect Cherry Blossom (Touhou 7) / January 2nd
2.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2023, 10:50:57 am by galaxygamer102 »

undertakerprime

PRO Supporter

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #17 on: December 27, 2022, 11:06:10 pm »
Didn’t come close to finishing 52 games last year, but a big part of that was the last few months I started playing a number of long games like Skyrim Anniversary Edition and didn’t complete any of them, adding to my enormous backlog. Anyway, it’s fun just to keep track of what I’ve finished so I’m reserving this space and maybe I’ll actually get to 52 this year :)

Current backlog:
Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Horizon Forbidden West
Persona 5
Tales of Arise
TMNT Cowabunga Collection
Blasphemous (Wounds of Eventide DLC)
Timespinner
Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster
Momodora (ABANDONED)
Monster Hunter World (ABANDONED)
Panzer Dragoon Remake
Sonic Mania
Shining Force
Everything on the Genesis Mini 2
And more…

1. Horizon Forbidden West (PS4) 2/17/23
2. TMNT (Arcade, via PS4 Cowabunga Collection) 2/21/23
3. Stray (PS4) 2/27/23
4. TMNT Hyperstone Heist (Genesis, via PS4 Cowabunga Collection) 2/27/23
5. Final Fantasy X Remaster (PS4) 3/5/23
6. TMNT III: The Manhattan Project (NES, via PS4 Cowabunga Collection) 3/9/23
7. Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 3/11/23
8. Hyper Street Fighter II (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 3/11/23
9. Vampire Savior 2 (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 3/16/23
10. Night Warriors: Darkstalkers Revenge (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 3/26/23
11. Contra (NES, via PS4 Contra Anniversary Collection) 4/2/23
12. Super C (NES, via PS4 Contra Anniversary Collection) 4/4/23
13. Operation C (GB, via PS4 Contra Anniversary Collection) 4/8/23
14. Vampire Savior (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 4/9/23
15. Vampire Hunter 2 (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Fighting Collection) 4/10/23
16. Streets of Rage 4 (PS4) 4/16/23
17. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (PS3) 5/3/23
18. Blasphemous: Wounds of Eventide (PS4) 5/15/23
19. Skyrim Anniversary Edition (PS4) 5/21/23
20. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (arcade, via PS4 SF Anniversary Collection) 5/23/23
21. Super Street Fighter 2 (arcade, via PS4 SF Anniversary Collection) 5/30/23
22. Street Fighter Alpha (arcade, via PS4 SF Anniversary Collection) 5/30/23
23. Mega Man 9 (PS4) 6/7/23
24. Mega Man 10 (PS4) 6/10/23
25. Mega Man 7 (SNES, via PS4 Mega Man Legacy Collection 2) 6/12/23
26. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4) 6/13/23
27. Street Fighter II Champion Edition (arcade, via PS4 SF Anniversary Collection) 6/14/23
28. Shadow of the Colossus Remaster (PS4) 6/17/23
29. Mega Man 5 (NES, via PS4 Mega Man Legacy Collection) 6/17/23
30. X-Men (arcade) 6/18/23
31. TMNT II: Back from the Sewers (GB, via PS4 Cowabunga Collection) 6/19/23
32. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (PS4) 6/19/23
33. TMNT II: The Arcade Game (NES, via PS4 Cowabunga Collection) 6/19/23
34. Midnight Resistance (Genesis Mini 2) 6/24/23
35. Shadow Dancer (Genesis Mini 2) 7/9/23
36. Shining Force CD (Genesis Mini 2) 7/9/23
37. Ghost Pilots (Neo Geo, played on PS4) 7/11/23
38. The King of Dragons (arcade, via PS4 Capcom Beat ‘em Up Bundle) 7/12/23
39. The Revenge of Shinobi (Genesis Mini 2) 7/15/23
40. Mega Man 6 (NES, via PS4 Mega Man Legacy Collection) 7/17/23
41. Mega Man 2 (NES, via PS4 Mega Man Legacy Collection) 7/19/23
42. Eschatos (PS4, on Easy) 7/20/23
43. Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis, via PS3 Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection) 7/23/23
44. Sengoku 3 (Neo Geo, played on PS4) 8/4/23
45. Samurai Shodown V Perfect (via PS4 Samurai Shodown Neo Geo Collection) 8/24/23
46. Chrono Cross Radical Dreamers Edition (PS4) 8/27/23
47. Timespinner (PS4) 9/9/23
48. Blazing Lazers (Coregrafx Mini) 9/11/23
49. Samurai Shodown ‘19 (PS4) 9/16/23
50. Hollow Knight (PS4) 9/29/23
51. Soldier Blade (Coregrafx Mini) 9/30/23
52. Cho Aniki (Coregrafx Mini) 10/1/23
53. Gradius (Coregrafx Mini) 10/7/23
54. Lords of Thunder (Coregrafx Mini) 10/7/23
55. Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse (NES, via PS4 Castlevania Collection) 10/8/23
56. Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest (NES, via PS4 Castlevania Collection) 10/12/23
57. Blasphemous II (PS4) 11/19/23
58. Batman: Arkham Origins (PS3) 12/24/23
« Last Edit: December 24, 2023, 11:48:10 pm by undertakerprime »

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #18 on: December 28, 2022, 09:26:44 pm »
I am ready to give this challenge another shot! I sadly did not come close to 52 games in 2022. However, this really helped in motivating me into finishing more games!
Currently Playing: Game & Wario

 

gngtiger

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2022, 02:09:55 pm »
Still haven't finished the 2022 games challenge yet, but have made a pitiful showing thus far (school and all that).

My games I hope to beat in 2023:
Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
Miitopia (Switch)
Mario Kart 64 (I bought the Japanese version, just need to remove those plastic bits on my American 64 cartridge tray and I'm good to go...)
Batman Arkham Asylum (360)
100% LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 (Switch)

If all goes well, my last game of the year should be Rayman 2 (or maybe another "speedrun" of Mario 64)


aliensstudios

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #20 on: December 29, 2022, 10:36:09 pm »
Mario Kart 64 (I bought the Japanese version, just need to remove those plastic bits on my American 64 cartridge tray and I'm good to go...)

You can buy a replacement 3d printed one of those trays on easy for under 10 bucks that has no tabs so you can swap between Japanese and North American carts with ease. It's more trouble than it's worth to remove them manually  unless you have a dremel tool and a steady hand.
"I collect vidya games and vidya game accessories, I tell you what."

shfan

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #21 on: December 30, 2022, 05:06:14 pm »
I've not even been active here for god knows how long, life hasn't been my own, but I'm back for the 52 :D Maybe this will be the year (nahhhhhhhh!). PS Hi guys and gals!

Previous Years

2021 - 18 beaten, 9 tried and discarded
2020 - 33 beaten, 20 tried and discarded
2019 - 45 beaten, 34 tried and discarded
2018 - 44 beaten, 41 tried and discarded
2017 - 37 beaten, 9 tried and discarded
2016 - 21 beaten

Games beaten

01] Black Book (STM, 2021) |6 Jan| First of the year, been thinking about doing the challenge again so long, didn't want to have to wait till March to start.
02] Q-YO Blaster (STM, 2018) |7 Jan| Fun horizontal shoot-em-up, retro-styled, weird too for bonus points. Finished on Easy mode.
03] En-Train (STM, 2021) |17 Jan| Weird little post-apocalyptic shooter game where you're on a train trying to reach a city.
04] Mokoko X (STM, 2022) |17 Jan| Qix with lewds, unexpected bonus beaten game for the day.
05] Undead & Beyond (STM, 2021) |19 Jan| Easily one of my favourite games ever, had bugged out last time I played it, this time I got all the way to the end, fantastic zombie game.
06] Lost Ruin (STM, 2021) |25 Jan| Wanted to play this for more than a year, bought it this morning and finished the game just before midnight, very nice game too!
07] CastleStorm (STM, 2013) |30 Jan| All good.
08] Kill it With Fire (STM, 2020) |3 Feb| Spider squashing fun.
09] Tiny Civilization (STM, 2023) |6 Feb| Civilization meets match 3, tidy little game which I enjoyed.
10] Grunnd (STM, 2023) |14 Feb| Slightly surreal walking sim presented as an adventure game, not a lot else to say.
11] Undead Horde 2: Necropolis (STM, 2023) |10 Mar| Cut-down version of Overlord, brilliant. Starting to slow down already - hurry up!
12] Necrosmith (STM, 2022) |20 Mar| Up to date! Love this one and literally just found out there's a sequel coming, yes!
13] Orwell: Ignorance is Strength (STM, 2018) |21 Mar| Ugh.. narrative thing, why am I buying these? Decent for what it is, but I like games with game in them.
14] Hero's Hour (STM, 2022) |25 Mar| Warlords-style turn-based strategy with real-time combat and a cute 8-bit vibe, very nice.
15] Book of Demons (STM, 2018) |2 Apr| Rogue playthrough, bloody brilliant papercraft Diablo tribute, one of my favourites.
16] Attack It! Devil Legion (STM, 2019) |3 Apr| No comment.
17] Wall World (STM, 2023) |12 Apr| Run up and down a wall in a giant robo-spider then mine for resources and fend off weird creatures, fun and compulsive.
18] Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Dynasties of India (STM, 2022) |13 May| Brilliant DLC, ugh, but now I'm just barely on-track for the challenge.
19] Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Return of Rome (STM, 2023) |19 May| A bit "hmmm" about this one, it's OK, maybe future updates will sort it out better.
20] Boneraiser Minions (STM, 2023) |19 May| Humorous top-down arena type game, several beaten runs down I'm calling it beaten for the purposes of this.
21] Loplight (STM, 2022) |20 May| Short, quirky and unsettling pixel game cross between the twin-stick shooter and LoZ. Unusual but good!
22] Luna's Fishing Garden (STM, 2021) |20 May| Yeah.. colourful relaxing thing. Not a lot else to say.
23] Harmony's Odyssey (STM, 2021) |31 May| Beautiful family-friendly sliding-puzzle game, a real pleasure to play.
24] Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - Lords of the West (STM, 2021) |3 Jun| Loved it, particularly the new civs, very fun campaigns.
25] Bulb Boy (STM, 2015) |10 Jun| Delightfully gross adventure, can't wait for the sequel.
26] Internet Generation (STM, 2022) |26 Jun| Weird and wonderful beat 'em up set on an internet server full of internet users personified as monster girls.
27] Exolotl: Zian (STM, 2023) |27 Jul| Short platform game, too long for a game to be beaten - in trouble now!
28] Pikmin 4 (NSW, 2023) |13 Aug| A pleasure from start to finish, bravo Ninty!
29] Cornucopia (STM, 2023) |26 Aug| Retro-pixel Harvest Moon type game on Steam early access, thoroughly enjoyed the main quest and the hours spent farming.
30] Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (STM, 2021) |10 Sep| Short, cute, slightly naughty Link to the Past clone.
31] Stasis (STM, 2015) |12 Sep| Horror point and click, good story but a mediocre game.
32] Stubbs the Zombie (STM, 2005) |20 Sep| So that's what it's like. Took forever for me to finally play but that was a lot of fun.
33] Jars (STM, 2021) |26 Sep| Ace little strategy game that looks like a cross between a Tim Burton movie and a kids comic.
34] Terror of Hemasaurus (STM, 2022) |28 Sep| Fun Rampage clone, had a blast.
35] Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition - The Mountain Royals (STM, 2023) |8 Nov| Liked it! Not liking my iceberg-speed progress :(
36] Idle Catfarmia (STM, 2023) |10 Dec| Bizarre idle game where cat fairies grow crops which their slime friends pick, while mice with bows see off thieves.
37] Kirby and the Forgotten Land (NSW, 2022) |26 Dec| Started off "meh", quickly accelerated, now one of my favourite 3D platformers ever, masterwork.

Games Tried/Disliked/Got Rid Of

01] Library of Ruina (STM, 2021) |6 Jan| Wanted to play this for ages, but the reviews had me worried and once I started playing the whole thing seemed a badly designed, clicky mess. Refunded.
02] Everhood (STM, 2021) |24 Jan| Seemingly a cult classic RPG-skinned rhythm action game, loved what I saw (and heard) but it's just too tough for me to get anywhere with.
03] Panzer Paladin (STM, 2020) |31 Jan| Lovely presentation and plays great, getting into it then BAM, missed a jump, landed on spikes, sent back to the start of the level. Nope, there's old skool and there's outdated, no thanks.
04] Impossible Creatures (STM, 2003) |31 Jan| Have good memories of this but real problems with compatibility with modern PCs, can't be chewed, deleted.
05] Dragon Quest Treasures (NSW, 2022) |7 Feb| 'Open World' = empty world, very little content in this game and certainly not enough to carry it to its conclusion.
06] Grunnd (STM, 2023) |14 Feb| Beaten, but I'm not going to trudge through this again, hate it when non-games are misrepresented as adventures etc.
07] Axiom Verge (NSW, 2017) |9 Mar| Very decent metroidvania in the classic Metroid mold, just not quite interesting enough to keep me hooked all the way through.
08] Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel (STM, 2022) |16 Mar| It's one part decent survival horror, one part clicky/squinty mess, just not quite 'there'.
09] Cute Invaders (STM, 2022) |17 Mar| Fun for awhile but relies on an eye-watering difficulty curve to artificially prolong gamelife, can't be chewed.
10] The Spiral Scouts (STM, 2018) |29 Mar| Cute, funny and vile puzzle adventure, was really enjoying it till the 'controlled substances' world, sorry, partial to lewds and gore but injecting etc. is a massive no-no for me. Bummer.
09] Forgive Me Father (STM, 2022) |14 Apr| Loved the gameplay of this retro-styled FPS game with bonus Cthulu, restart points are too punishing however and I lost too much progress to keep banging my head against the wall. Pity.
10] Rogue Lords (STM, 2021) |16 Apr| I'm just not a lover of games which constantly reset you to zero all the time, I like at least some sense of progression (usually), this one just didn't hit the spot.
11] Bartlow's Dread Machine (STM, 2020) |17 Apr| Shooter from the makers of Voodoo Vince, unfortunately it's a polished train wreck of a game :( sad.
12] Wonder Boy Collection (NSW, 2022) |27 Apr| Incomplete collection, arcade versions (so WBiML is damned impossible), disappointing.
13] Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (NSW, 2022) |27 Apr| After wanting to play this for decades I hate to admit it, but it's not as good as its predecessors and is nowhere near as good as games being churned out on Steam.
14] Atomic Heart (PS4, 2023) |18 Jul| Gutted. Been waiting on this for years. After trudging through the tiresome opening sequences I was sick of it within 30 minutes of playing the actual game. Looks lovely, but the controls are clunky, basic enemies are overpowered and it's incredibly easy to get snared on something and pummeled, only to have to wait through the overlong re-load. Irritated on a number of levels. Atomic Arse, in short.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2023, 09:38:37 am by shfan »

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2023, 01:48:17 pm »
1. Gigawing (Dreamcast)

First game of the year down! It's been several years since i last played Gigawing, and while I certainly don't hate this game I really didn't care for it the first few times I played through it. While I still mostly feel this way, I found it to be more enjoyable than I remembered it being. The biggest issues with this game is its balancing as well as the input delay for one of its main gameplay mechanics, a reflector shot which is necessary if you're going to survive some of the crazier sections of the game. There is about a 1 second delay between when you press the button for this attack and when it actually registers, which is easily the difference between life or death in a game like this. So I found roughly half the times I died were when I was waiting for this attach to start after pressing the button for it. Other than that the audio and visuals are nothing special, although they do have some charm to them. I would find it hard to recommend this game, especially given what it goes for now, but at the very least if you can try it out without buying it I guess give it a go. (1/1/23) [28/50]

kashell

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2023, 02:26:10 pm »
I finished 67 games last year. Let's see how things go this year!

On that note:

1. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

I'm starting this year off correct. My first platinum for 2023, I can't think of a better game for this feat. Valkyrie Profile has always been a top three game, so getting able to finish it at the start of the new year gives me good vibes for the upcoming months.

kashell

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #24 on: January 01, 2023, 06:16:37 pm »
2. Final Fantasy IV (DS Version)

I was playing this during November and December. I got up to the very, very end to play other things. I decided to beat it today to keep the momentum going. This was the first time I got Rydia up to level 80 so she could learn Meteor. Even with all of that leveling, Zeromus' Big Bang was still a lethal, bordering on cheap OHKO. Luckily, I had a guide with me this time and learned the best way to distribute Augments. Rosa was able to cast two spells in a row AND thanks Omnicast she could have them effect everyone. Kain had Cry and Phoenix. Edge had Bless and Reach. Cecil had Counter, Focus, and Draw Attack. Finally, Rydia had MP +50% and Fast Talker. As always, it was an enjoyable game. It's still my favorite FF of all time.

telekill

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #25 on: January 01, 2023, 06:20:10 pm »
I'll attempt this year just to participate. I highly doubt I'll hit anywhere near 50.

Completed: 27
Sonic Origins Plus (PS5)
 - Sonic 1 (Genesis)
 - Sonic 2 (Genesis)
 - Sonic CD (Sega CD)
 - Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Genesis) [Counting as 2 games]
 - Sonic 1 (Game Gear)
 - Sonic 2 (Game Gear)
 - Sonic Chaos (Game Gear)
 - Sonic Triple Trouble (Game Gear)
 - Sonic Spinball (Game Gear)
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate (PS5)
TMNT Cowabunga Collection (PS4)
 - TMNT 2 (NES)
 - TMNT 3 (NES)
 - TMNT 4 (SNES)
 - TMNT HH (Genesis)
 - TMNT (Arcade)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS5) -- [Counting as 2]
 - Main Game
 - Hearts of Stone
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS5)
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
Texas ChainSaw Massacre (PS5)
Tomb Raider 2013 DE (PS4)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (PS4)
Jurassic Park (Game Gear)
Carrion (PS5)
Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Collection (PS5)
 - Jurassic Park (Genesis) - Grant
 - Jurassic Park (Genesis) - Raptor
Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5)

Playing:
Outriders Worldslayer (PS5)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS5)
 - Blood and Wine
Aliens Fireteam (PS5)

Planning to Play:
Tomb Raider Underworld (PS2)
Resident Evil 5 (PS4)
ICO (PS2)
Uncharted 2 (PS4)
« Last Edit: December 19, 2023, 06:09:28 pm by telekill »

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #26 on: January 02, 2023, 12:57:43 am »
2. Street Fighter Alpha 2 (PS4)

As I kid I didn't know what to make of the Street Fighter Alpha series. For whatever reason the entire series just flew under my radar and for reasons unknown to me now I somehow viewed it as some sort of bargain bin series unworthy of the mainline series (I guess 9-year old brains are funny that way). But it wouldn't be until my 20s where I truly began to appreciate the Street Fighter Alpha series and sink some serious time into them, unlike when I was a kid where I'd throw a quarter or two into a machine before walking away to play something else. And of all the Street Fighter Alpha games, 2 was definitely the one I saw and played the most.


Street Fighter Alpha 2 is a major improvement over the first game in many different ways, but most of all in its gameplay. While there are still some lingering balancing issues, the game mostly plays like an absolute dream and the controls are precise enough to where you're able to do whatever it is you're wanting to at almost any given time. The OST is also pretty sweet as are the graphics which look pretty stellar. Funny enough, I now view at least Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3 as some of the best games in the franchise, while many of the mainline games I see as inferior to them. (1/1/23) [36/50]

conduit

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #27 on: January 02, 2023, 02:20:36 pm »
Want to improve my discipline this year. This is a good excuse as any.

Beaten Games (10):
BloodRayne (Steam)
Castlevania (NES)
Rule of Rose (PS2)
Super Metroid (SNES/SFC)
Blazing Chrome (Steam)
Graze Counter (Steam)
Drainus (Steam)
Resident Evil 4 Remake (Steam)
Graze Counter GM (Steam)
Amid Evil (Steam)
Warhammer 40,000:Boltgun (Steam)
« Last Edit: July 16, 2023, 07:05:59 pm by conduit »

telekill

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #28 on: January 02, 2023, 02:32:16 pm »
Beat my first game of the year... Sonic CD from Sonic Origins collection. I guess I'll update my original post...

aliensstudios

Re: 52 Games Challenge 2023!!!
« Reply #29 on: January 02, 2023, 05:28:13 pm »
Beat my first game of the year... Sonic CD from Sonic Origins collection. I guess I'll update my original post...
If you own the original games and the Mega/Gems Collection, is there any reason to buy Origins? I would love to replay 3 & Knuckles in HD but my Apple TV allows me to play 1,2 & CD in HD. I've heard mixed reviews of Origins, but I've been wanting to replay 3 & Knuckles for some time now, but I'm not sure if newer options would eclipse the original game quite like it would with Sonic 1 & 2 (and CD).
"I collect vidya games and vidya game accessories, I tell you what."