52 Games Challenge 2026!!!

[bikingjahuty]

14. Tobal 2 (PS1)

Tobal 2 has been a backlog game for a very long time for me. The reason it's taken this long to play it is because it was never released outside Japan, and well, my backlog is an enormous, never ending monster. But this evening I finally loaded this game up on my modded PS1 and decided to see if it lived up to or even surpassed the first game in the series, Tobal No. 1. The first Tobal game is an incredibly sentimental game for me. I remember longing for this game after reading about it and seeing pictures of it in an old Game Informer I got in the mail one time. It wouldn't be until the early 2000s that I finally got a PS1, and a used copy of Tobal No. 1 from a local rental store was one of the first games I owned for it. While the game is undeniably not as good, polished, or attractive as some of its more well known 3D game counterparts, there has always been something very special about the first Tobal. It's a game that really represents an era where so many studios, including Squaresoft, were experimenting with all sorts of new genres and tech, and as a result we got some very interesting games out of it. The Tobal series is one of them, and Tobal 2 is no different in this regard.


In fact, Tobal No. 1 and Tobal 2 are very similar games. For one, they practically play the same and have pretty much the same game modes. One of those modes, which Tobal No. 1 was famous for was its adventure mode where you controlled one of the characters in a full 3D environment and fought various enemies, dealt with a variety of obstacles, and had to explore pretty thoroughly to get through to a new area. This mode definitely worked better in theory than in practice give the Tobal No. 1 was a fighting game at its core, so making a 3D adventure game out of that was definitely very ambitious for a game in 1996. Tobal 2's adventure mode is definitely more polished and is also more story rich, but unfortunately it is plagued by many of the same shortcomings that the adventure mode in Tobal 1 had. On top of that, your mileage will vary quite a bit depending on whether you speak Japanese since Tobal 2 was never released outside Japan.


Even if you opt to ignore Tobal 2's adventure mode and just play this game as another 3D fighting game it does a decent job at being pretty enjoyable to play. While Tobal 2 is not going to blow anyone's find or pretend to be some crazy deep fighter like Tekken 3 or Virtua Fighter 2, it's still a pretty fun fighting game. My main complaint with Tobal 2's gameplay is how stiff it can feel and also how the low, medium, and high attack system feels a bit on the unpolished side. Still, Square did a great job at making Tobal 2 at least competent and when combined with the game's other qualities, it actually makes for a decent time.


The visuals in Tobal 2 are an undeniable upgrade in some aspects compared to the first game. For one backgrounds are noticeably cleaner and more polished, as are the character models, which were for more blocky in Tobal 1. Still, there was a strange charm to the first Tobal's graphics and visuals that has seemingly been lost in Tobal 2. Still, the game's upgraded visuals are certainly worth giving some credit to even if the game's graphics come across as fairly average, if not a tiny bit above average compared to many other 3D consoles games of the mid to late 90s.


Probably my favorite thing about Tobal 2 is its soundtrack. Tobal 2 has an excellent rock/jazz soundtrack, that is just so smooth and enjoyable to listen to. Especially when combined with the visuals, Tobal 2 definitely tickled that nostalgia part of my brain that made me yearn for the late 90s, even though here I am in the mid 2020s playing this game for the first time. The audio just really captures that mid to late 90s Playstation feel and sound, which made the sort of undercooked gameplay and average visuals far more palatable. There is some voice acting in Tobal 2 from the various characters, but like most fighting games, it's all fairly inconsequential to not only the overall sound design, but the game in general.


Tobal 2 is far from a masterpiece, nor is it a huge leap forward compared to its predecessor. Still, there are certainly improvements in Tobal 2, and while I did appreciate those, the game still isn't anything remarkable. And if I'm being completely honest, I still prefer the first Tobal simply due to my personal connection with that game and the fact that it just has a bit more charm, despite looking a little more rough visually. Tobal 2 is certainly not going to light the fighting game world on fire, not back in 1997, nor today. It's not hard to see why the Tobal series was lost to time and you're now more likely to find someone who knows the atomic weight of Cobalt off the top of their head than you are to meet anyone that remembers this series. Still, I'd recommend anyone looking for a mostly enjoyable, quirky, and unique PS1 era game try this game out. It's at least worth a single play through, if not more given the content it provides. (2/8/26) [32/50]

[droaa]

I'm not big on writing long reviews but figure I should make a blurb or two of what I have beaten so far.

1. Donkey Kong Country 2 -  Aside from some annoying levels which is the standard from 2D platformers at the time, this was really fun. It took me ages to finally get to a point in the game that I have not reached because I tend to play game for a bit and just stop and never come back. This game felt into that category and trust me, its not the only one. It is very close to being my favorite from the first. I love Dixie coming in clutch with here glide move even though I have someone beaten the majority of levels with Diddie. I haven't played through the Klubba levels as I only managed to unlock 1 but maybe someday.

2. Fallout 4 - This was another game that took me years to finally playthrough for real this time and I liked it. Not as much as Fallout 3 and New Vegas but it was fun nonetheless. Story was fine, not the best. Being able to build settlements was cool even thought I didnt build much cuz my lack of creativity but its nice that it is there. I was getting annoying near the end due to the game crashing on me about 6 different times within 1 day of playing over the weekend which unfortunate but sadly expected given Bethesda's questionable quality control. Yeah their games are great but it's not secret that their games seem to hang on by duct tape from time to time.

[bikingjahuty]

15. Pepsiman (PS1)

Throw this one into the "How the hell did I end up playing THIS!?" category of games. Truth be told, I've known about Pepsiman for quite some time, definitely well before the famous AVGN review. Still, the game has been nothing more than strange curiosity that I figured I may or may not play one day. This evening I was going through a ton of import PS1 ISOs and realized I had this in my catalog. I figured, "what the hell" and fired Pepsiman up on my Xstation. The experience was...umm, amusing to say the least.


There isn't a single ounce of Pepsiman that takes itself seriously. Everything about this game is quirky and weird as hell. You play as the Japanese-centric Pespiman mascot, a strange metallic looking man with no face who essentially looks like scientists cross bred a can of Pepsi and a human. The commercials that featured Pepsiman were only aired in Japan, and if this game is anything to go by, only the Japanese would get a mascot and advertising like this. Still, as an American, I found this game thoroughly amusing. Everything from the fact that all the world's problems seemed to be caused and resolved by Pepsi, the strange levels and settings, the TV Game guy (aka Mike Butter) acting like a Pepsi addicted slob between stages, and just how over the top all the voice acting is in this game make it impossible not to find entertaining. Still, this is a video game at the end of the day, and like all games, it lives or dies based on how enjoyable it is to play. In this regard, Pepsiman sort of craps the bed.


Pepsiman is not a well made game. Controls feel delayed and clumsy, level design is mostly trash, and the perspective in this game is functional, but poorly implemented. Being a weird racing/platforming game of sorts, you're taking control of the character the game is named after and running through a variety of settings that make up the game's levels. You're given some weird objective at the beginning of each stage, which each consist of two levels and a...I guess, boss fight at the end? Regardless of why you're running through a sewer, suburban neighborhood, or through a city that looks like it's experiencing the apocalypse (because of Pepsi...or a lack thereof), the objective is simple; collect as many cans of Pepsi as possible. Each level has 100 cans of Pepsi to collect as you steer Pepsiman, trying to keep him from hitting a plethora of obstacles while you're at it. You can also jump, slide, run faster, and slow down as well. While all this is well and good, none of these controls work particularly well and each stages obstacles seen to operate on different definitions of hit detection, making for a pretty frustrating experience overall. You're given a time limit to clear each level while collecting Pepsi cans. At the very least, each level has two or three checkpoints which allow you to start back at the last checkpoint versus having to repeat the stage all over again.


Then there are the boss levels at the end of each stage which are, umm, oh boy...


These boss stages all consist of Pepsiman running towards the screen as objects pop in, giving you next to no time to react to them. Meanwhile, Pepsiman is being chased by a giant Pepsi can, an out of control semi truck, or a bundle of logs, depending on which level you're playing. More or less, beating these bosses consists more of repeated trial and error, and memorizing when and where certain obstacles will pop in, more than your reflexed and relying on the controls to get you through the encounter. These boss fights are the worst part of playing Pepsiman, and the last fight in particularly drove me insane until I somehow beat it through sheer luck.


Almost as bad as the gameplay is Pepsiman's audio. More or less, every song in this game is a remix of the Pepsiman theme which plays over and over, and over again throughout the entire game. Not to mention, there are some incredibly obnoxious sound effects that repeat constantly. It will honestly try your patience to the point of nullifying all the goofy entertaining bits I mentioned earlier. Luckily, it's those goofy entertaining bits within the audio that save it from being complete ass, mainly from the NPC characters that tell you why you're collecting a ton of Pepsi for this time and that lovable TV Games guy.


In terms of Pepsiman's visuals, there actually pretty decent and definitely contribute to the ridiculous, over the top humor that defines this game. Each stage looks very different from the next, making them all feel memorable for the most part. There are also a lot of different obstacles you'll encounter, some of which repeat maybe a little too often within a specific stage, but overall it all helps define each level and set it apart from any of the others.


Despite Pespiman's blaring faults, I simply cannot hate this game. Sure, it's a pain in the ass to play and most of its audio is akin to sticking boiling hot sauce in your ears, but there seems to be something there constantly to make up for it. Still, having played and beat Pepsiman, I can't see myself returning to it ever again for any reason. TV Game guy was funny, the levels and stupid humor made me chuckle, and I love how this game is about as silly as they come, but sadly, this game is not fun to play through. You're honestly better off just watching a lets play, laughing at all the crazy shit in this game, and saving yourself from the frustrating and annoyance of actually playing Pepsiman. (2/8/26) [25/50]

[kashell]

15. Resident Evil Village

I didn't play VII, but I was able to hop right into this thanks to the game's introduction and brief rundown of what happened. I got to learn about Ethan and his crazy adventures in the Baker house, and while I admit I am curious to see more, I know I wouldn't be able to play it for long stretches without getting motion sickness. All that to say gamers can happily play VIII without having played VII. This game was a lot of fun, and it feels like a blueprint for the remake for 4. Ethan was an interesting lead. We barely saw his face, which was an odd choice, but I still felt for him. He really came into his own as he acquired more weapons and things to craft. One thing where the game really shined was atmosphere. Every area had a mixture of creepiness and action, which is a hard balance to get nowadays because of the game market being so saturated. As usual, the biggest issue was the camera and the combat. Most boss battles felt like a Souls game in terms of difficulty and action. Funnily enough, the only time I got a game over was when it was an instant kill (Moreau) or when I was just being silly against certain enemies (specifically in the factory area). I'll probably play the Rose DLC next.

[bikingjahuty]

15. Resident Evil Village

I didn't play VII, but I was able to hop right into this thanks to the game's introduction and brief rundown of what happened. I got to learn about Ethan and his crazy adventures in the Baker house, and while I admit I am curious to see more, I know I wouldn't be able to play it for long stretches without getting motion sickness. All that to say gamers can happily play VIII without having played VII. This game was a lot of fun, and it feels like a blueprint for the remake for 4. Ethan was an interesting lead. We barely saw his face, which was an odd choice, but I still felt for him. He really came into his own as he acquired more weapons and things to craft. One thing where the game really shined was atmosphere. Every area had a mixture of creepiness and action, which is a hard balance to get nowadays because of the game market being so saturated. As usual, the biggest issue was the camera and the combat. Most boss battles felt like a Souls game in terms of difficulty and action. Funnily enough, the only time I got a game over was when it was an instant kill (Moreau) or when I was just being silly against certain enemies (specifically in the factory area). I'll probably play the Rose DLC next.

As someone who wasn't head over heals in love with 7, Village was a great surprise given how much I enjoyed it. I loved the village setting, most of the enemies and bosses, and just overall it was a blast. I'll admit it still veers a little too far off the RE lore path, but still does a decent enough job tying everything back into it to make it feel like it belongs.

[marvelvscapcom2]

6. Jeopardy [PS1] - Finished Feb 10th, 2026






This game is a knockout! It fulfills every itch an old school, 90s, nostalgia, mustached Alex, Jeopardy fanatic could want.  The story of how this game came to be so personal to me, is a trip me and my mother took downtown to a vintage electronic shop.  My mom loved Jeopardy when I was little and she got this game for herself which was rare. There were maybe only a few games she played and I remember exactly how it played with the drawing your name.  What I wasn't aware of is that The game has 3500 individual questions.  Each game has about 72 questions asked. So that means you can play a good amount of games without repeats. 


Alex Trebek voices every question himself which is really ambitious for the time.  I half expected it to be a read along type of game with Alex voiceovers for only introductions. But nope. He reads every question.  (Not answers)  And each question is vibrant, accurate to the type of questions they ask on the tv.  I considered beating this game as beating the NPC in a game. And trust me it's no small task.  The NPC cpu you play against are some form of librarian literary nerds who know everything about the old testament.  It is a hill climb trying to out "Hariett Beacher Stowe" the Jeopardy contestants. And in that sense it is almost a good simulator for the real thing. It requires patience. Knowledge and the puzzle element of knowing when to risk and how much.  It's brilliant as anyone who has watched the tv game knows. And truthfully it took me to a simpler time.  A time when a 12 inch crt on a kitchen counter with aluminum foil wrapped around the antenna picking up I Love Lucy reruns and jeopardy at 7pm was just enough.  It was consuming media. Not being consumed by it.  Everything was so tactile and analogue.  I just love thinking of those times.  I am still very close to my mom. But this is a little easter egg of my childhood. A phantom bus ride, a simple ps1 classic.  And a legendary tv game come to life on old hardware.  It simply works.  It is so far ahead of it's time to me and it's an excellent console version of the jeopardy game. 

It's also cheap as chips so I can't reccomend it enough.  I have played at home versions of jeopardy on PC, buzzfeed, self created.  This feels more genuine to me. It feels like i'm back there.  Letterman on the tube.  Pre 9/11.  1 dollar nacho bell grandes.  Surge sodas and rug rats.  This is really really cool. And I will be playing it more.

[bikingjahuty]

16. Omega Boost (PS1)

Another long time backlog game for me was 1999's Omega Boost. Despite seeing commercials for this game and it also being mentioned alongside Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, and Resident Evil in the Eiffel 65 song "My Console" (listen to it if you haven't), it took me 27 years to play this game. What's even stranger is it's a game about mechs which for many years was all I needed to know to immediately drop what I was doing and seek a game out. Unfortunately after playing Omega Boost, I can't say it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as those other games from the Eiffel 65 their euro pop classic.


Omega Boost is a great example of a game that is easy to see just how much better it could have been. Being made by the same studio that makes the Gran Turismo games, the ability for Polyphony Digital Studios to make a well made, amazing looking game is not outside their grasp. Unfortunately, Omega Boost proves they know cars way better than they do futuristic mechs fighting in space. The ultimate flaw in Omega Boost is its gameplay, which just feels poorly implemented and balanced with controls that don't feel up to the task being asked of you half the time. There are some bosses and section in this game that are downright demoralizing, and not because they were designed that way. Rather, it's so easy for you to lose track of what you're fighting given how the camera just goes wherever the hell it wants. There is a camera recentering button that focuses you back in the closest enemy or enemies, but it's still annoying having to press it over and over again throughout this game. What makes this even more frustrating is one of your primary weapons and the one you'll likely be using the most is a homing laser attack which requires you to lock onto those enemies before using. You also have a standard plaster as well that fires where you're mech's reticle happens to be. But the act of aiming, managing the camera, and then dealing with stages that are constrained or disorienting make for a mostly frustrating time.


Still, Omega Boost's gameplay does have its moments. Being essentially a rail shooter with the illusion of being a third person open air mech combat simulator, you'll be doing barrel rolls, dodging lasers, and going toe to toe with a pretty creative plethora of enemies and bosses. While I'd say at least half these bosses are more annoying than not to fight, there are several which are actually really fun. In fact, the line that separates the good boss encounter from the bad ones is fairly faint. This is what I meant by this game having the potential to be a lot better than it actually is. When this game works, it is really enjoyable and just cool as hell. I just wish the gameplay and game design had been given more time to incubate. I'm a firm believe that if it had, this game may have launched a franchise and been Polyphony's other AAA series.


Not perfect, but certainly an improvement over Omega Boost's gameplay is its audio. The soundtrack is really a mixed bag with some songs and tracks being excellent and fully complementing the fast paced, space battle gameplay, while other tracks are just downright obnoxious. There was one stage, I believe stage 5 that I had to replay several times and every time the sound playing annoyed me far more than the actual annoying, poorly designed boss battle that kept on killing me. Luckily, there are only a few tracks that really grated on my nerves and everything else was decent to pretty good. There are even a few licensed songs, one being from one of my favorite rock groups of the late 90s, Static X. Other than the soundtrack, the sound effects and limited voice acting all fit pretty well and definitely add the the cool sci-fi theme the game is going for.


By far Omega Boost's best quality is its visuals and overall artistic presentation. It is almost unreal that this game was able to look as good as it did and run as well as it does on the PS1. Part of what it is able to do this has a lot to do with one of the game's only visuals flaws. Most stages and areas in Omega Boost are definitely pretty dark. Some of this is because the battles take place in the depths of space, while other times it feels like you're fighting inside a dimly lit cave. There are some more interesting and vibrant backgrounds, but most stages definitely posses this darkness. Still, darkness or not, levels all are fairly memorable and cool, but the real showstopper when it comes to the visuals is the mechs and enemies you'll encounter. The art direction in this game is excellent and there are some amazing looking bosses in this game, with there being virtually none that I would say even look just okay. Likewise, the effects of weapons being used all looks great against the mostly dark backdrops of each stage. There are also some really great damage effects on bosses which show their armor or overall structure becoming more and more damaged as you drain their health closer to zero. From the studio that made the Gran Turismo games, I'd expect nothing less visually, and in this regard, Omega Boost does not disappoint in the slightest.


Even though Omega Boost's gameplay had me on the brink of rage quitting more times than I'd like to admit, I still enjoyed this game far more than I would have normally for a game this poorly designed. The visual spectacle, the cheesy late 90s FMV cutscenes, the smooth, high FPS space battles, and the rad as hell bosses were all just too intoxicating for me to abandon this game. Still, those frustrations and annoyances were also a large part of my experience with Omega Boost, and had me lamenting the fact this game wasn't just a little but better designed. Having played Omega Boost now, I feel like Konami's Zone of the Enders was partially inspired by this game, both in aesthetic and gameplay, but fortunately that game ended up being way more fun, balanced, and designed than Omega Boost, by a fairly wide margin if I'm being completely frank. Still, this is a cool, somewhat obscure title that I'd recommend to mech video game fans, or just people wanting to see how goo a PS1 game can look. (2/10/26) [33/50]

[kamikazekeeg]

7 - That's Not My Neighbor (PC 2025) - BEAT - I got a soft spot for the "Find the thing that's wrong or out of place" sorta games, and this one I had been meaning to check out mostly because a Youtuber I like did a great themed song of the game.  I like the gimmick, try to figure out if a resident is the actual resident or not, sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's not.  I ran through the campaign twice which is short, and the nightmare mode once, and it's all fine and entertaining.  Any real complaints I'd have with wanting more content and variety, more characters, is mostly ignored for being a 3 dollar game lol

Overall, decent time, I might play it abit more, wanted to get at least one S Rank day, but there's always a thing or two I'm unsure of how to report and that usually gets my score dinged slightly.