Beaten in 2014

[Nionel]

1. World Heroes (PS2, 1/7)
2. Ryse: Son of Rome (XBO, 1/8)
3. Mega Man X (PS2, 1/9)
4. Mega Man X2 (PS2, 1/9)
5. Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (Steam, 1/9)
6. Sonic Blast (GG, 1/10)
7. Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball (GG, 1/10)
8. Mega Man X3 (PS2, 1/11)
9. Mega Man X4 (PS2, 1/11)
10. Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins (GB, 1/12)
11. Mega Man X5 (PS2, 1/13)
12. World Heroes 2 (PS2, 1/14)
13. World Heroes 2 Jet (PS2, 1/15)
14. Skylanders: Giant (3DS, 1/16)
15. To the Moon (Steam, 1/17)
16. World Heroes Perfect (PS2, 1/18)
17. The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2, 1/19)

Well, we've reached the end. World Heroes Perfect is easily the best game in the series, which shouldn't be too surprising since it's the final game in the series. The game finally switched to a six button control layout after three games games, which is a very welcome change of pace since it gives the game much better overall control than the previous games in the franchise. Presentation is about on par with the previous game, with the exception of the opening and ending cut scenes, which look great. Sadly, despite it's improvements, the game still couldn't keep up with other games of the time, by the time this game came out in 1995 people had moved on to Street Fighter Alpha, Mortal Kombat 3, King of Fighters, or one of the various other fighting games that were available at the time. While Perfect was an okay game, it was sadly forgotten due to the flood of other fighting games that were available at the item and brought improvements to the series far too late to save it from becoming a relic of its time.

The Simpsons Road Rage, honestly, is not that bad of a game, considering the game's license and all. At its core, Road Rage is little more that Sega's Crazy Taxi with a Simpsons skin thrown on top of it, which honestly isn't a bad thing. The game just has you play as one of that a dozen Simpsons characters, each with their own vehicles, and six different areas you can play in. Outside of the game's mission mode, which features ten different missions, there really isn't a lot of content to the game, however I feel this game will appeal to old school gamers, because once you finish the missions the game just boils down to replaying the levels to beat your high scores and unlock new characters. Ultimately, whether or not you'll like this game depends on the style of gamer you are, if you're okay with replaying levels to top your high scores, then this game is for you, if that doesn't sound like much fun to you, then it's probably best to avoid this game. It's a solid game, the controls are okay and aside from overly long load times, which wasn't too uncommon in early PS2 titles, it's worth getting if you can find it on the cheap.

[AceAerosmith]

1. Assassin's Creed IV:Black Flag (PS4) 01/01/14
2. Hellboy: The Science of Evil (PS3) 01/06/14
3. Dead Space 2 (PS3) 01/14/14
4. Dead Space: Extraction (PS3) 01/19/14

[Nionel]

1. World Heroes (PS2, 1/7)
2. Ryse: Son of Rome (XBO, 1/8)
3. Mega Man X (PS2, 1/9)
4. Mega Man X2 (PS2, 1/9)
5. Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (Steam, 1/9)
6. Sonic Blast (GG, 1/10)
7. Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball (GG, 1/10)
8. Mega Man X3 (PS2, 1/11)
9. Mega Man X4 (PS2, 1/11)
10. Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins (GB, 1/12)
11. Mega Man X5 (PS2, 1/13)
12. World Heroes 2 (PS2, 1/14)
13. World Heroes 2 Jet (PS2, 1/15)
14. Skylanders: Giant (3DS, 1/16)
15. To the Moon (Steam, 1/17)
16. World Heroes Perfect (PS2, 1/18)
17. The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2, 1/19)
18. Mega Man X6 (PS2, 1/21)

Ah, X6, this is one I wasn't really looking forward to getting around to, honestly. Sadly, at this point it's quite obvious that Capcom was just looking to rush out another Mega Man game for the PS1 before moving onto the PS2, and it really shows. Starting off, this game is more difficult that the previous entries in this series, honestly I had more trouble with this game on normal than I did with X5 on Nightmare, and the stage design and overall feel of the game just feels rushed. The only thing I felt didn't feel glossed over in this game was the music, as it sports a better soundtrack than the other Mega Man titles on the system. Overall, I'd say this is the low point for the PS1 entries in this series, of course we aren't at the low point of the MMX series as a while quite yet, but I'm sure we'll get there eventually. For this game, I'd say play it if you're a Mega Man fan, otherwise skip it, there are much better 2D platformers out there for the PS1 that deserve your attention more than this does.

[JSoup]

1. DmC: Devil May Cry
2. Guacamelee!

3. The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith

So, I had done no prior reading about this game before I played it. All I knew is that it was a TellTale adventure game. Didn't know it was part of the Fables series, which I have never read. Turns out this is a prequel or sorts, so nothing to worry about. Didn't care for the main characters voice and the quick time events can do straight to hell, but otherwise good.

[Ro-J]

1. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (Xbox) 1/1
2. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox) 1/3
3. Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS) 1/12
4. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GCN) 1/21

Loved Jungle Beat. Slapping the bongos and clapping your hands to move Donkey Kong along felt strange at first but you quickly get used to the controls and the game becomes immensely enjoyable. Yes, your hands will hurt after a while, and yes, the main game is a little short and a bit too easy, but it's worth it and getting enough crests to unlock the bonus stages will keep you occupied for a while. I just wish more games utilized the bongos.

[Nionel]

1. World Heroes (PS2, 1/7)
2. Ryse: Son of Rome (XBO, 1/8)
3. Mega Man X (PS2, 1/9)
4. Mega Man X2 (PS2, 1/9)
5. Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (Steam, 1/9)
6. Sonic Blast (GG, 1/10)
7. Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball (GG, 1/10)
8. Mega Man X3 (PS2, 1/11)
9. Mega Man X4 (PS2, 1/11)
10. Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins (GB, 1/12)
11. Mega Man X5 (PS2, 1/13)
12. World Heroes 2 (PS2, 1/14)
13. World Heroes 2 Jet (PS2, 1/15)
14. Skylanders: Giant (3DS, 1/16)
15. To the Moon (Steam, 1/17)
16. World Heroes Perfect (PS2, 1/18)
17. The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2, 1/19)
18. Mega Man X6 (PS2, 1/21)
19. Final Fantasy VII (Steam, 1/23)

This one was a nice throwback, it had been more than 15 years since I last played the game through to completion and it was great to revisit it. The Steam version has some nice polish to it, smoothing out those jaggy models from the original PSX release, and of course the game does boast quite the soundtrack as well. While not my favorite game in the series, I can certainly see why people love it so much and it was great to go back and play a game from a bygone era where it was still okay to crank out synthesized tunes, despite the CD format the game was released on, and not have the game feel as linear as most modern JRPGs can feel. I'm certainly glad I gave the old game another spin, and I recommend any fans of the genre do the same.

[Ro-J]

1. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (Xbox) 1/1
2. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox) 1/3
3. Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS) 1/12
4. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GCN) 1/21
5. Kung-Fu Master (Atari 2600) 1/22
6. Kung Fu (NES) 1/23

Before there was Redbox, before there was Blockbuster, before there was Erol's, there were mom and pop video stores, and they were awesome. Kung Fu (NES) was the very first video game I ever rented. The video store I visited only had 4 games to choose from (Kung Fu, Spelunker, and two others I forget) and I remember the lady behind the counter telling me that she was only putting out the games her son became tired with. It cost $3 per week. Anyhow, Kung Fu was one of the very first games I rented, and one of the very first games I ever beat. It holds a special place, and I am feeling nostalgic. I plan to beat all of the games\versions in the Spartan X series....and maybe watch Meals on Wheels and Le Petit Amour while I am at it.

Before revisiting Kung Fu, I decided to start with Kung-Fu Master for the Atari 2600. I've owned the game for years but never beat it previously. It's an impressive release for the 2600, but the poor hit detection, lack of a jump kick (or jumping forward for that matter), and a knife thrower that will occasionally machine gun 4 knives straight into you often left me frustrated. Regardless, if I am going to properly explore this series (if I can call it that) then I might as well start with the hardest version I own. It took a while, it took a long while, but finally, after what could have been my hundredth try, I screamed out loud in triumph, and I am not ashamed. It's been a long time since I've done that.

[Collector_Gaming]

*EDIT*

1. Lego Lord of the Rings 1/11 PC
2. Deadpool 1/25 PC
3. Amnesia A Machine for Pigs

Interesting game. Think Duke Nukem Forever but in a 3rd person beatem up shoot em up hybrid. Alot of profanity and gore and humor all over the place.
It has its annoyances like invisible walls that should be there (like when ever i am low on health and wanna leap over a ledge with a railing to get away from the action to regenerate I can't because a invisible wall holds me there) and sometimes the shooting aspect doesn't work as well as it should IMO.
Its a alright game with good humor. Makes me wonder how they do this with all this sex and profanity and such when Disney owns marvel. Whatever

3/5

Its getting late so i'll make this short and sweet.

Its not as scary as the first game. The visuals are great and the design is amazing in terms of sticking to the era its based on.
The game is fun. And adds some new elements to it like being outside in the world and such. And instead of demonic beings your dealing with something more along the lines of mutants.
Interesting.
Despite not being as scary as the first i'll still say 5/5

[Captain_N77]

1)Pikmin 3(WiiU)
2)Gradius III(SNES)
3)Double Dragon(WiiU VC)
4)Sinistron(TG16)

5)Ninja Spirit(TG16)
6)Double Dragon(SMS)

Ninja Spirit was pretty fun. The last few stages were a bit challenging, but it was really short. The last stage, where you have to fall down a corridor with dozens of ninjas that pretty much kill you with one hit was pretty cheap. I really liked the setting and boss designs in the game.

Double Dragon is still fun. I'd never played it on the SMS before. The hit detection/striking range is a bit off compared to the NES version. The graphics are definitely more colorful and detailed. Overall not as challenging as the NES version, but still a lot of fun.

[AceAerosmith]

1. Assassin's Creed IV:Black Flag (PS4) 01/01/14
2. Hellboy: The Science of Evil (PS3) 01/06/14
3. Dead Space 2 (PS3) 01/14/14
4. Dead Space: Extraction (PS3) 01/19/14
5. Brink (Security campaign) (PS3) 01/27/14

[Ro-J]

1. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (Xbox) 1/1
2. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox) 1/3
3. Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS) 1/12
4. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GCN) 1/21
5. Kung-Fu Master (Atari 2600) 1/22
6. Kung Fu (NES) 1/23
7. Kung-Fu Master (Gameboy) 1/26

Although Kung-Fu Master shares the same name as the original, this Gameboy exclusive is actually a sequel to the arcade game and not a straight port of the Kung-Fu Master we all love. It's still a side scrolling beat-em-up with numerous henchman that must be dispatched before reaching each level's boss. What's different is that there are six levels now, each scrolling from left to right. Locations vary from a warehouse to the top of a train to a factory. Gone is the knife thrower, but in his place is a guy with a whip\chain. The midgets, however, still populate the later levels. Interestingly, bad guys now occasionally drop icons that help you in your fight when picked up. The icons range from a potion that grants you extra health, a heart that replenishes your entire life bar, a trophy that gives you an extra life, and a bomb that can be thrown at your enemies. Also new to the series is the ability to continue (up to 5 times) once you lose all of your lives. You also have the ability to perform a back flip kick in addition to the usually punching and kicking. Unfortunately none of these makes the game better. In fact, it makes the game too easy (even on the hardest difficulty) and ultimately a let down. If you enjoyed the original Kung-Fu Master\Kung Fu\Spartan X then this game is definitely worth a try, but just be aware that you will beat the game the first or second time you turn it on.

[Nionel]

1. World Heroes (PS2, 1/7)
2. Ryse: Son of Rome (XBO, 1/8)
3. Mega Man X (PS2, 1/9)
4. Mega Man X2 (PS2, 1/9)
5. Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 (Steam, 1/9)
6. Sonic Blast (GG, 1/10)
7. Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball (GG, 1/10)
8. Mega Man X3 (PS2, 1/11)
9. Mega Man X4 (PS2, 1/11)
10. Super Mario Land 2: The Six Golden Coins (GB, 1/12)
11. Mega Man X5 (PS2, 1/13)
12. World Heroes 2 (PS2, 1/14)
13. World Heroes 2 Jet (PS2, 1/15)
14. Skylanders: Giant (3DS, 1/16)
15. To the Moon (Steam, 1/17)
16. World Heroes Perfect (PS2, 1/18)
17. The Simpsons: Road Rage (PS2, 1/19)
18. Mega Man X6 (PS2, 1/21)
19. Final Fantasy VII (Steam, 1/23)
20. Digital: A Love Story (PC, 1/28)

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I had only recently heard about Christine Love's games and decided to give them a try starting with her first release. The game is short, and pretty straight forward, but it was a nice story and it certainly has me interested in checking out her other efforts. This was a nice throwback to the text based games of early PC gaming, and its UI is even influenced by the Amiga. It's a free download and worth checking out for anyone who loves those old games, I recommend it.

[gunswordfist]

Around New Year's I was a part of a pass around the controller session in TMNT IV. I never got to the first time travel level before that as a kid. It was a blast.

[JSoup]

1. DmC: Devil May Cry
2. Guacamelee!
3. The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - Faith

4. Broken Age (Episode 1)

Good. I liked it. I agree with the major complains that the game is, thus far, too easy. Still, worth your money. Pay extra for the OST, trust me.

[Ro-J]

1. Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (Xbox) 1/1
2. Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge (Xbox) 1/3
3. Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ (DS) 1/12
4. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GCN) 1/21
5. Kung-Fu Master (Atari 2600) 1/22
6. Kung Fu (NES) 1/23
7. Kung-Fu Master (Gameboy) 1/26
8. Vigilante (SMS) 1/31

Considered a spiritual successor to Kung-Fu Master, Vigilante plays very much like it's inspiration. Five side scrolling stages filled with various henchman that need to be defeated before encountering a level boss. The level bosses are challenging at first, but once you figure out their patterns (or have the nun-chucks) they become fairly easy. Avoiding the huggers\chokers is probably the hardest part of the game as they seemingly walk through your punches\kicks and latch onto you like crazed leeches. If you jump at the right time they'll walk past you, but if you miss your timing they'll drain your energy fast. Vigilante is by no means a good game, and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody, but it was interesting to see the influences Kung-Fu Master had on it.

[Immutable]

Kirby's Adventure (NES)

[Alpha2099]

Finished the SNES port of Wizardry I yesterday -- largely thanks not just to a translated ROM, but one that tweaked the gameplay to make it more manageable. Decent game. It's nice to take a peek into the early days of video game RPGs, and also to see how far the genre has come in 30 years of gaming.

[Captain_N77]

JAN

1)Pikmin 3(WiiU)
2)Gradius III(SNES)
3)Double Dragon(WiiU VC)
4)Sinistron(TG16)
5)Ninja Spirit(TG16)
6)Double Dragon(SMS)

7)Phalanx(SNES)
Phalanx was a game that I never finished as a kid. I remember we rented it and had a good time with it, but aside from the insane/awesome cover art, it just didn't really grab me. I've had it in my collection for probably about 10 years now, but only the other day did I really sit down and apply myself to it. After a few tries I was able to finish it on Easy, but had to finish it on Normal to consider myself actually "beating" it. After a while I was able to get to the 7th stage, then the 8th and final stage before using all my continues. From that point I started to use the level select code, which only let's you go as high as the 5th level. Well, I failed to finish it last night. So today, I had about an hour before my wife and I left for the weekend for a church retreat. I thought, why not give it a go since I actually enjoy the game(as opposed to being somewhat unimpressed with it as a kid). Surprisingly enough I went all the way from the 5th level all the way to the finish without having to continue. I even had 3 lives in reserve when finishing it.

I don't know exactly why I've found the game so engaging this time around, but did not so much as a kid. I think that beyond the very solid controls and hit detection, I'm particularly impressed with the powerup selection and usage. There are about 4 or 5 main weapon powerups, as well as about 3 different missile powerups, as well as satellite and energy refills to be found. Each of the main weapon powerups works really well if you are able to fully upgrade them(3 levels I think). You can store 3 at a time, though when you die you lose the one you had equipped and the remaining one or two will be taken down a level in power. Seems like a nice trade off. Also, there are three levels of speed for your starship that you can easily adjust on the fly with a simple button press. To top it off, the button layout is completely customizable.

There really isn't much story to the game. It's your typical "bad guys are here, go destroy them"-kind of thing. The graphics are pretty subdued, with a lot of earthy tones and enemies that are mixtures of bio/geo/mechanical thingies. Each mission starts out with a simple shot of your pilot(a very cool anime-looking pilot) and the name of the level. My two favorites are level 1 which starts out above the clouds/smog, then descends to above a very dreary, industrial, Courascant-looking city; the other favorite is level 6 or 7, which I think was called Advertise, which surely enough is set in an outerspace asteroid field with neon signs all over the place. The music is a nice touch as well. It has that sort of genric, late 80s/early 90s game music that really takes me back.

It's really hard for me to believe that I enjoyed Phalanx this much, as I had written it off so long ago. I more or less bought it as a time-waster with gnarly cover art. I went back to it to itch the shmup scratch I've been feeling the past year or so. Turns out I had a blast with it.

[Rickstilwell1]

5. Final Fantasy III - NES (English fan translation on repro cartridge)


I finally cleared a legit run of this game. And with this, I have finally gotten my money's worth out of the four repro's I bought from gamereproductions.com. After playing the first two NES Final Fantasy titles then playing this one, I don't understand Kupomogli's prior mention of the game being too slow. In comparison to the first two this is about the same speed as long as you make sure to turn the speed up to 8 instead of down to 1. This game fixed a lot of things that annoyed me about the first two. Especially the introduction of auto re-targeting.

I did run into a funny glitch in Eureka though. I fought a battle with an M. Knight, Karateka, Warlock, and Shaman then tried to use Exit afterward. It said I couldn't teleport from there. When I returned to the map I noticed a different character was in front. After I cycled through I realized my M. Knight was no longer in the party. He had turned into a Conjurer without un-equipping his weapons or armor. He still had a skill level of 35 that the M. Knight had instead of 1. So I saved this glitch in my second slot before changing back and continuing the game in slot 1. When I changed him back to an M. Knight I noticed something else. The M. Knight skill level was back to 1 while the level 35 skill was stuck with the conjurer. The original conjurer had not been used so the skill level had been 1. So I believe what happened was that the stats for the two jobs swapped with each other. Imagine someone who could use both summon magic and katanas. There he is. I don't know if anyone else had this happen before or not. If I can't ever replicate the cause of the glitch, at least I have a save to show for it. In the end I figured it didn't matter for my legit run because I would be changing into a Ninja soon anyway.

[Alpha2099]

Finished a ROM-hack of the GBA version of Final Fantasy V. I wanted to play it because then I could say I'd beaten each of the first seven FF titles. It's a decent game, and the ROM-hack allowed for even more customization than the base game does. The story is weak, though. I just never felt a strong attachment to what was going on, unlike other titles. I'm not sure how likely I am to play it again, or at the very least I'll say it's going to be a while before I think about doing so. Not my favorite in the series, but I'm glad I played it.