VideoGame_Discussion

- Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong

- Tekken 5

2 -

- Shaq Fu

-
image -

- Cruis'n Blast
Misc - Shaq Fu (Amiga)

2nd Amendment - Quake, Quake II
Bear & Bird - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
Facelift - Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Hop 'n' Bop - Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land 2, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong
Race Drivin' - Cruis'n Blast
Street Fightin' - Shaq Fu, Tekken 7, Tekken 8
You're Winner - Shaq Fu

Unique Systems Covered: 10/38
Total Games Beaten: 19

I doubt Donkey Kong month is going to finish with another completion, but I've decided to wind things down with DK: King of Swing and see if there's anything there to write home about. I don't think I'm done with Donkey Kong games for the year, but even as the new Games of the Month rotate in, I don't see myself shifting to anything new on the homefront until Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is completed.

TalonJedi87

* 29-Mar(#68)

#19

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor

I finally got around to playing this after it’s been in my queue for almost a year and man all I can say is what a journey. Adventurous and grounded yet emotional are a few words that come to mind after watching the credits roll. I’m definitely going to keep playing the post game to unlock the platinum by completing the rest of the rumors and bounties and such. My only complaint about this game and I can’t believe it’s come to me saying this about a really good Star Wars game, but there’s just too much miscellaneous content that doesn’t really seem worth tracking it all down at the end of the day. There’s only so many color swatches I care to use for my clothing and lightsabers. Besides that though the game is a delight. Rich with lore and lush vistas as well as even more massively interconnected environments than the first game in this series. Plus the visuals are pretty stunning. In cutscenes though the game’s frame rate can appear a little choppy so keep that in mind, but when it’s running at 60fps in game it’s smooth as butter. The new additions to combat are sleek to boot. I enjoyed the different lightsaber stances from duel wielding to double bladed and found myself sticking with those two switching back and forth. The story was pretty solid as well with a nice twist toward the latter half of the game and some cool surprises as well along the ride. At the time of the credits rolling I had about 38 hours in with still about another 10 to go I want to say after I mop up all the post game stuff. A near 50 hour single player Star Wars game I thought I would almost never see again outside of the classic Knights of the Old Republic titles. It’s more than double the length of Jedi Fallen Order and a lot of the time you’re just wandering off with that sense of wanderlust getting immersed into the game’s rich planets but other times it can feel a bit overwhelming with way too much stuff to collect. Overall I really enjoyed and am enjoying my time with Jedi Survivor and am excited to see where it goes next.

TalonJedi87

30-Mar(#69)

#20

Super Mario Bros. 3

via

Online

I completed another stop in the Mario 2D sidescrolling journey and this one still aged like fine wine and is just as crisp as when I first played it. It’s only superseded to me by Super Mario World coming up after I tackle Super Mario Land 2 next.

Slickriven

30-Mar(#70)

5th in March, 19th overall, 2nd on Luna
Trepang^2
Badge - partly want to claim towards Racoon City as there were clearly some supernatural like sections, but that's a stretch as it's an FPS for sure. Not claiming for 2nd Amend though as I've got others coming for that.

Priorities have been elsewhere especially the past week, but I wanted to beat this before I lost access to in on Luna and I got it in, even with my router deciding to crap out last evening and having to spend a good bit of time figuring that out.
Game was decent, but likely b/c I'm getting older and the streaming factor from Luna, it was a struggle in sections without using the slow-time mode some. Also it gets really hectic in parts and the particles and other stuff didn't help. Another gripe was it was too dark in many sections, though you could use a flashlight. I played 90% via KB/M largely b/c of the extra precision wanted or needed with aiming - getting a headshot was certainly helpful as it could be a 1-3 shot kill depending on if they were wearing helmets. I didn't have the controls mapped great for a while before finally changing them up in the final boss fight. The final section of the next to last mission and the final boss were both pretty big ramps in difficulty and I had to do both bits far too many times. I did try some sections with a controller but didn't love it.
There are only 6 main missions, so it's not too long. There are around that number of side missions as well that I didn't touch during my playthrough but did give the 1 a shot after seeing the credits roll. It was pretty small and a bit odd, but I died against I believe the final big wave that included a high priority target and just stopped playing. Almost certain that I won't go back for it or more of those side missions. Story was alright with lots of intel bits you could collect to expand on it - had circumstances been different and with more time, I could've maybe cared to read all of that stuff, but eh.

SupremeSarna

1-Apr(#71)

We had fun this month, but time Marches on. ...Eh? See what I did there? Oh, never mind...

-In March, we beat a total of 73 games and finished 13 new consoles. Our total was the lowest for any month yet, but I'm sure everyone was busy getting hammered celebrating St. Patrick's Day and having a merry time.
-The user who beat the most games this month was me, with 16. I may have gone overboard on @Renaissance2K 's Retro GotM thread--I can't help myself when the theme is Donkey Kong!
-We earned 15 badges this month, setting a new monthly record for the year. I earned five of them, mostly by wrapping up some badges I'd set up earlier.
-I bit off way more than I can chew gaming-wise. I have a goal of beating six Fire Emblem games and six Shantae games across the whole year, but I haven't booted up another Shantae since the first week of January. FE games are pretty meaty, so that's taking a fair bit of time. Throw in the last gasps of 3DS/Wii U online play (it's terminated as of April 8), the aforementioned Donkey Kong month, Splatoon 3 events, and playthroughs of both Kirby's Epic Yarn and its remake, and it's too much to keep up with! First-world problems, amirite?

Please keep playing video games and having fun! Your participation in this thread means a lot to me.

ErickRPG

1-Apr(#72)

SupremeSarna wrote:

> We had fun this month, but time Marches on. ...Eh? See what I did there? Oh,

> never mind...

I really liked that joke.

APRIL FOOLS!!!

TalonJedi87

1-Apr(#73)

#21

Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins

via Switch Online

I forgot how much fun this one was. Music is catchy AF too. I wish they would put the original Mario Land on GB on Switch Online. Been jonesin’ to play that one for a while now too.

incubus421

* 2-Apr(#74)

Date: 4/2
Number: 15
Title: Unicorn Overlord

Play Time: 103 hours
Badge: The Best Offense [with Braveland Wizard]

Completed all quests and side content. Fantastic game. This is one the SRPG community hasn't gotten a taste of since OB64. Games like Fire Emblem and FFT style games are in the same genre, but not real close in comparison. The use of a 'gambit' combat system really works well here and the combinations are a plenty! I spent so many hours just toying with different combinations of units and abilities, where I was really just sitting in menus for hours upon hours tweaking. This is the real highlight of this game.

If we're comparing it solely to the games it's derived from (OB), I have some complaints.
- For one, there is no detriment to putting a fighter in the back row or a ranged one in the front. Attacks are the same no matter where you place a unit in your formation.
- While confusing/complex at times, the lack of a 'Chaos frame' system that drives your alignment as well as the story and characters you can recruit is a real disservice to Unicorn Overlord. Simply put, recruit every unit you come across, because there isn't any choice that bars you from obtaining anyone else, or changes the story in anyway.
- Speaking of story, UO is about as cookie cutter as it gets. Don't expect an enthralling story a la OB64 or FFT.

Unicorn Overlord isn't a perfect game, but it's a must play for anyone that feels starved of a true Ogre Battle sequel or thinks the last few Fire Emblems have been mediocre at best.

image

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DemonAlcohol

* 3-Apr(#75)

My #28 is

Dragon's Dogma 2.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cbD94ZReYfQ9znv18

First off, performance for this game is terrible. Hovers around 40 FPS while most games I play are over 100fps. Pretty good game though. I played as archer and it took me about 28 hours to see the end. I didn't get the true ending and the post game content but i'll get through that next year when I revisit the game. Hopefully Capcom puts out some patches to improve performance and will release a DLC.

DemonAlcohol

3-Apr(#76)

My #29 is

Mission: It's Complicated

https://photos.app.goo.gl/eQAXgwPxGc98s2mo9

Short visual novel about super-hero dating. It's free so you should check it out.

SupremeSarna

3-Apr(#77)

I beat Kirby's Epic Yarn

and Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn

, earning me the Facelift badge. Here are my Pads in both games:
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKN_lR-WMAA1X7E?format...[/imgt]
[imgt w=400 h=240]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKOJ03SWMAAQr2E?format...[/imgt]
(The latter is supposed to be a camel in a box that will be sawed in half by Squashini the magician, but there's no saw item. I also thought of separating the two boxes after the screenshot was taken.)

Kirby's Epic Yarn is by far my favorite Good-Feel game, and in my top five Kirby games. It's a delightful adventure with creative art direction and pristine music. Kirby stranforms into different shapes to help you perform different actions, like turning into a speedy car to dash or a parachute to drift slowly downward. Metamortex transformations spice things up, too--the Dolphin and Fire Engine ones are the best. The game has excellent multiplayer, though I haven't played it that way in almost a decade.

If the game is infamous for anything, it's the lack of difficulty. Kirby can't die. Taking damage simply causes you to drop most of the Beads (money) you've collected, which will quickly disappear if you don't recover them. As a result, many decried it as a step too far, even for a typically easy series like Kirby. I've always felt this criticism was overblown. When you actually play the game, you discover that taking hits or falling in pits is easy when you get reckless. In a game that incentivizes you to get as much cash as possible to buy boatloads of merch at the shop, losing money is frustrating in the moment. Heck, certain stages are only unlocked by obtaining a certain amount of Beads in one attempt.So the game does indeed punish you for poor play, just without killing you.

Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is more complicated. I can safely say it is exactly as good as the original, as it adds awesome new content and nerfs/removes previous content. It adds Ravel Abilities, six power-ups that kinda act like Copy Abilities from other games. There's a new Devilish Mode where a devil chases you around, and any hit depletes a brand-new health bar. There are way more furniture pieces to obtain, some of which are interactive! Not to mention you unlock two Score Attack sub-games, Dedede Gogogo and Slash & Bead. This version provides a good reason to play it over the original.

Sadly, it's not all improvements. Multiplayer was cut entirely. There's no way to play the vanilla original, as Ravel Abilities are always provided. The 3DS doesn't have the same processing power as the Wii, so it looks and runs a tiny bit worse. Also, certain Metamortex transformations had to be redesigned to work without the Wii Remote's motion controls, and a few majorly suffered in the transition (the previously-awesome Fire Engine and ever-lame Train come to mind). And of course, the last barrier to entry is Extra's price on the second-hand market--$80+ is way too much when the Wii original is around $10. Still, as a 3DS swansong, it's a worthwhile adventure and goes the extra mile to implement the Touch Screen and other 3DS functions (no stereoscopic 3D, though).

Whether on TV or handheld, with Prince Fluff or without, using Yarn Balls or Ravel Abilities, Epic Yarn is brilliant. Any chance Good-Feel will ditch Yoshi and return to Kirby's domain? One can hope.

Slickriven

6-Apr(#78)

1st in April, 20th overall, 1st on

Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
Badge - Want to count towards Bear & Bird as it's 3D and will add more support below.

Beat this for Ren2k's RTT GotM and without that push, I might not have bothered. It's far from terrible, but it only has like 12+ levels and to reach the final boss you need to pretty much replay 90% of them at least twice, if not 3 times to earn the 3 to 4 stars per level. Earning stars comes from 1-earning a high score, 2-collect all 200-400+ dots, 3-collect all 7 pieces of fruit, 4-complete a time-trial run. Which is why I'm claiming for B&B badge, though had I not already had the Puzzler badge I think it could count for that instead, or maybe the Quarter Muncher as it's obviously based on the classic Pac-Man and has a classic mode. What's annoying about it, is that there's a block that some levels have which requires a key to get past and you don't earn that key until doing all levels at least once and facing the boss the first time. So you don't know, for certain, if there are dots and/or fruit behind this blocker, so not getting all collectables on the first run can be an unknown and a forced reason to replay the level. You need 42 total stars to face the boss the final time which means you need 4 stars from nearly all levels.

TalonJedi87

* 6-Apr(#79)

#22

Super Mario World

via Switch Online

I guess the old expression never dies or falters when they say something ages like fine wine. Super Mario World is a testament to that statement and the test of time and then some to still be probably the greatest Super Mario sidesscrolling game that I’ve ever played and like many of you I’ve played them all. Simple yet effective and leaves a long lasting impression that will be with you until the very end and beyond. From the music to the gameplay, everything was and is just sensational no matter how many times I experience it.

TalonJedi87

7-Apr(#80)

#23

Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League

I truly disliked this experience. Not as a whole but the live service aspect gave me such a sour taste for this game as to what it could have been that I’m forever going to be salty because of it as I once held the developer Rocksteady in such high regard. Now that they have been consumed by the dark side all we have left to do is roll with the punches in a hollow game that’s filled with repetitive missions, combat and loot to an extent of insanity. The only thing holding this game somewhat together is the interesting story that adds some levity and depth to what’s otherwise a very poorly constructed game. Even the controls are bonkers at times, asking you to hit a random combo of buttons to weaken certain enemy types or bosses that just feels manic and unnatural. But getting back to the only saving grace of this game for me. The story is pretty good for what it’s worth and the team had kind of had a Guardians of the Galaxy like feel and humor surrounding the Suicide Squad. I did enjoy their banter and chemistry and felt that they achieved decent character development by the time the game’s story wrapped. Braniac is an intriguing villain to boot and I thought was a good choice for this type of story and setting. However with that being said it’s just a shame this is how the late, great Kevin Conroy had to be remembered as The Batman before he passed on. I’m sure this is not how he wanted his legacy of Batman to end, going out in such an underwhelming fashion. In fact this game and story is not considered canon to me in the Arkham-verse. Arkham Knight was his last great video game role as far as I’m concerned. This was Earth-2 Batman and friends in a sloppily crafted world. And speaking of world I did not think Metropolis could be so boring and dull even with the highly chaotic things transpiring. It just felt like all I was doing was going from point A to B and ignoring the silly side missions which were just copy/paste wash, rinse and repeat even with some of the familiar Riddler challenges scattered throughout which just felt tacked on with an all too familiar, been there done that with numerous repetitive riddles to undertake. And lastly but certainly not least, it is HIGHLY laughable that the devs think anyone in their right minds would continue this game after the credits roll and go on to defeat Braniac a total of 12 more times in this type of utterly tedious environment. Shame on you Rocksteady and even more shame on you WB Games. You have deeply failed this city.

Slickriven

9-Apr(#81)

2nd in April, 21st overall, 1st on

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Badge: Super Mayrio makes sense to me, additional game necessary

Beat this a little late for March's pick in Ren2k's RTT GotM selection. Was a big fan of the original that I played as a kid with a friend, not sure we ever finished that one so I beat that back in '21 and wanted to get to DKC2&3 eventually - last month's pick of the franchise got me to start it, but I didn't get to finish until today as it was challenging. I don't recall thinking that DKC was as tough, though I do recall my childhood friend and I very likely didn't beat it, thus why I did so recently.
Didn't come even remotely close to collecting everything that was hidden in the levels, so it seems I didn't get the true ending or whatever, but I got credits and am moving on... in my 40's I don't have time for all that frustration.

Frank

9-Apr(#82)

image Level Up!: Beat 2 JRPGs

I'd like to use FF7 and FF7 Remake to cash in on this badge

Bleed_DukeBlue

9-Apr(#83)

#17 down: Unicorn Overlord on PS5. I would like to count this toward the The Best Offense badge.

This was a fun one for the most part. The story is pretty generic, but the art style is nice, and the gameplay is quite fun. You can spend a ton of time tweaking your unit formations and gear for various strategies. There's a boss toward the end that forced me to completely rethink how I played (which was annoying at first but which I appreciate more in hindsight). The only major downside was that some of the trophies on the way to the platinum were a little tedious (especially 100%ing the map-- I finally realized that I had failed to walk over a tiny part inside a village you can only access after you beat the game. I was sitting on 99.7% for awhile.)

SupremeSarna

10-Apr(#84)

I beat WarioWare: Get It Together!

.
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GKr26AOaEAADYC1?format...[/imgt]

WarioWare has never been Wario's best series, but it's fun to play on occasion--especially if you find it for the right price. I got a new copy from Target for $15, which I thought was worthy. The game focuses on making its microgames accessible for multiplayer, and having the typical WarioWare cast all be playable. Each character is controlled a different way, and the game swaps you between them at a rapidfire speed. It's as short as you'd expect, but it's fun for its brief playtime. I also love the way it swaps between artstyles in each level--especially the claymation style used in Dribble & Spitz's stage, which makes me demand a Kirby and the Rainbow Curse Switch port all the more!

Once the story mode is done, the game expects you to play selections of microgames online or replay the same microgame over and over for a high score. The playerbase for this game is dead by now, and I'm not psyched to play these ad infinitem. I had fun, but I'm calling it there.

Slickriven

12-Apr(#85)

3rd in April, 22nd overall, 4th on

Warhammer 40k: Boltgun
Badge - earns me 2nd Amendment along with Quake 2

Game was alright, enjoyed some parts, meh about others, wrote more about it in the Last Game You Beat thread if anyone wants to read more there. Was another good GP title as I generally enjoyed beating it, but don't feel really any reason to replay it or put more time in. I know it's not a pricey title, but I effectively paid nothing to very little for it and that's just fine with me. Need to decide what I want to play next.

Renaissance2K

* 12-Apr(#86)

I suffered through two more mediocre at best Game Boy Advance games, all in the name of the Retro Talkshop Thread.

Number: 20
Full Title: DK: King of Swing
Platform Played: Game Boy Advance
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Game Boy Advance
Original Platforms: Game Boy Advance

This game's shoulder button-driven swinging gameplay had me wanting to throw my Pocket across the room almost as quickly as it charmed me in the first place. Clearly just intended as a dusty revival of Clu Clu Land with the Donkey Kong franchise slapped all over it (with crisp, cheerful sprites, admittedly), there are too many hazards, gut checks, and frustrating mechanics to turn the relaxing puzzle adventure I expected into an exercise in frustration. The boss fights weren't exactly a picnic either. At least the game was short.

Number: 21
Full Title: Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
Platform Played: Game Boy Advance
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: Game Boy Advance
Original Platforms: PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance
Badge: Girl Power (1/2)

Calling this a "true sequel" to the original Ms. Pac-Man is a bit of a stretch. Sure, it stars Ms. Pac-Man, and sure, you run around collecting dots - 'scuse me, Pac-Dots - while dodging immortal ghosts. The levels are less about survival and more about just making it to the end, making the game feel more like Chip's Challenge than Pac-Man. It gets off to a great start with simple controls (there are no action buttons) and decent design, but the moment levels start getting complicated, the GBA's platform limitations start to get in the way. The 90-degree isometric perspective and lack of shading make it nearly impossible to differentiate between floors of different heights, turning the game into a mind-munching game of trial and error.

I did really like the music, though. The tunes for most of the levels are extremely catchy without falling head first into the tropes that such themed tracks - Egypt, Chinatown, etc. - tend to exploit.

- Quake, Quake II,Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Tekken 7, Tekken 8

- Shaq Fu

- DK: King of Swing, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness

- Tekken 5

2 -

- Shaq Fu

-
image -

- Cruis'n Blast
Misc - Shaq Fu (Amiga)

2nd Amendment - Quake, Quake II
Bear & Bird - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
Facelift - Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Girl Power - Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
Hop 'n' Bop - Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land 2, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong
Race Drivin' - Cruis'n Blast
Street Fightin' - Shaq Fu, Tekken 7, Tekken 8
You're Winner - Shaq Fu

Unique Systems Covered: 10/38
Total Games Beaten: 21

I'm going to continue with Pac-Man month by starting Pac-Man World on the GBA next. With less than three chapters to go in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I'm getting ready to "switch discs" to something else, though I haven't decided what yet. A big part of me wants to load up the original Final Fantasy VII and play through the first disc, imitating what I did when I finished Remake and played through the original game's Midgar sequence. The rest of me is shuffling between finally starting Diablo IV or picking up a Psygnosis game for the Retro Talkshop Thread's annual challenge.

SupremeSarna

13-Apr(#87)

Renaissance2K wrote:

> Three more games and one badge to report!

You only posted two, with no badge. What are the others you wish to update?

Renaissance2K

13-Apr(#88)

SupremeSarna wrote:

> Renaissance2K wrote:

>> Three more games and one badge to report!

> You only posted two, with no badge. What are the others you wish to update?

Copy pasta error.

image

PizzaTheHutt

13-Apr(#89)

Game #19 of 2024

Pistol Whip on PSVR2
This, along with my previous clear of Metal: Hellsinger, earns the Rhythmic badge.

Bleed_DukeBlue

15-Apr(#90)

#18 down: Mortal Kombat 1 on PS5. I would like to count this toward the Street Fightin’ badge. I’m not a big fan of fighting games, but this actually had an engaging storyline and a legit campaign. It’s also impressive visually.

Slickriven

15-Apr(#91)

Doh, I somehow forgot to complete my post from last night and don't recall 100% what I wrote, oh well.

4th in April, 23rd overall, 5th on

SuperHot

This was on my list for a long while, stunned it came out in 2016. It was pretty short as I beat it in 2 session and just 1 evening, and enjoyed it. The story was cool and a bit unexpected. Doubt I'll get to the challenges nor endless mode right away, but can see possibly trying them out. But with the sequel Mind, Control, Delete available on GP I likely will play that before thinking about trying more of the base game.

For now I've finally gone back to Doom Eternal that I was playing a few months ago before getting sucked into Lies of P and I was rusty at DE... and just don't love it, the need for the chainsaw to earn ammo and the melee kills on random weak enemies that are basically necessary in a boss fight just doesn't jive for me. I am in the somewhat early level where you watch as the Doom Hunter get 'reconstructed' and then fight him and I tried like 4 times and died, twice before phase 2. Game is amazing looking, but I liked '16 Doom a good deal better. Will stay with it as I already bought the DLC, as I enjoyed it initially and had some M$ Rewards points already redeemed for Xbox funds that I spent on said DLC.

SupremeSarna

16-Apr(#92)

OP updated! The weekend got away from me, but now the OP's up to code.

Bleed_DukeBlue

16-Apr(#93)

@SupremeSarna: I have some PSVR games that have been delisted digitally and don’t have physical copies in America but technically have physical versions that are still available in Europe. Could those count for Delisted? It’s a tough category to find games for.

SupremeSarna

16-Apr(#94)

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

> @SupremeSarna: I have some PSVR games that have been delisted digitally and don’t

> have physical copies in America but technically have physical versions that are still

> available in Europe. Could those count for Delisted? It’s a tough category to

> find games for.

I’m inclined to count them based on the rules of the Localize Mother 3 badge. Like that one, if the extremely specific version of the game you played meets the criteria, it counts. The Delisted badge uses an image of Qbby from BOXBOY!, a game that got a rare physical release in Japan while being delisted from digital stores everywhere. So the answer to your query is yes.

If you own an Xbox 360, its marketplace is closing in July. Just in case you need more delisted games.

Bleed_DukeBlue

16-Apr(#95)

Sounds good. Thanks!

SupremeSarna wrote:

> Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

>> @SupremeSarna: I have some PSVR games that have been delisted digitally and don’t

>> have physical copies in America but technically have physical versions that are

> still

>> available in Europe. Could those count for Delisted? It’s a tough category

> to

>> find games for.

> I’m inclined to count them based on the rules of the Localize Mother 3 badge. Like

> that one, if the extremely specific version of the game you played meets the criteria,

> it counts. The Delisted badge uses an image of Qbby from BOXBOY!, a game that got

> a rare physical release in Japan while being delisted from digital stores everywhere.

> So the answer to your query is yes.

> If you own an Xbox 360, its marketplace is closing in July. Just in case you need

> more delisted games.

Bleed_DukeBlue

17-Apr(#96)

#19 down: A Chair in a Room on PSVR. I would like to count this toward the Guybrush Threepwood badge. For some reason, I couldn't get my PSVR to work with my PS5, and, even when I got it working on my PS4 Pro, some of the padding was flaking off, which was annoying to deal with. Thankfully, someone on here hooked me up with a good deal on another PSVR, and, for whatever reason, it actually worked with my PS5! This game is pretty wild. Without giving too much away, it's a walking sim in which you are a psychiatric patient piecing together what happened and how you got there. The epilogue had a cool and unexpected twist. The controls were a little wonky with the Move controllers (which are hit and miss generally anyway), but, once I finally got everything sorted out, it was an interesting game and worth the time.

Bleed_DukeBlue

17-Apr(#97)

#20 down: Bandit Six on PSVR. I would like to count this one toward the Delisted badge. This is a PSVR game that was delisted from the PlayStation store and not available in the U.S. via disc, but I was able to play it from a European disc. It's a straightforward and repetitive air shooter in which you're a gunner at the back of a plane firing on enemy planes. Some of the levels involve time challenges, some involve defending bombers against attacking planes, and some involve destroying a certain number of enemies before dying. The levels toward the end get pretty challenging, but there are upgrades you can buy with in-game currency that improve your gun, increase your armor, and give you stronger/lengthier power-ups when you destroy a supply plane and then shoot the crates that fall from it. The thing that made me want to keep playing this is that all the targeting is via head movement. It's pretty fun aiming the guns at enemy planes with your head while shooting with the controller. It added a lot of immersion. I love games that use the headset for movement. (It's what made Headmaster so cool when I first bought my PSVR.)

BloodPuppetX

17-Apr(#98)

I beat Crime O' Clock on Switch. Kinda like Where's Waldo with a story.

SupremeSarna

19-Apr(#99)

It took longer than I expected, but I finished Eliwood's story in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GLfnKUQaoAA3d4x?format...[/imgt]
This game is fire (no pun intended)! It's definitely trumps Engage, which I played in January. It's an excellent strategy RPG on the GBA, with beautiful sprites and animations. As one expects from a 2000s FE game, cross-continent war and power politics play heavily into this journey--far more than a modern FE game. (This game will single-handedly teach you what a marquess is, something other games wouldn't do.) The writing is also more poetic; they aren't content to just use common English.

The story is rich and the characters are likeable. You immediately fall in love with the main trio of Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector, as well as the others you recruit. I could alway rely on Dorcas (despite his poisoned mutton) to bring down a tough foe, and I was determined to get the pitiful Florina to a usable state. Pent and Louise have a heartwarming relationship, too. Not to mention the adorable Ninian and Nils, who prove their worth immediately. And how can you forget Nino and her struggle with the Black Fang? And the Bern monarchy drama? Great stuff!

This was the seventh FE game but the first to come to the West, and you can tell the devs knew that would be the case while making it. You start by creating a silent, nonplayable tactician who doesn't appear in cutscenes--characters will occasionally talk right to the camera, complimenting your tactician for his strategies. This is obviously there to help newbies conceptualize what's happening in this foreign game. Lyn's story is a ten-chapter tutorial that effectively explains the meat and potatoes of the game. The recruitment music is the same one that was used in Super Smash Bros. Melee (though it originated in the first FE), and Roy appears in the final cutscene, too. Those were likely to gain some recognition from Melee fans.

Additionally, the game's overall challenge is pretty comfortable. Not as easy as Awakening or Fates: Birthright, but not as crushing as Radiant Dawn or Fates: Conquest. There were a few chapters that boiled my blood (looking at you, Ursula and Sonia chapters), and the final stage is a true trial, but it's pretty managable otherwise. Just how I like it.

If I have any criticism, it's with your convoy. Unlike Path of Radiance-onwards, you can't buy equipment at your base, nor can you access your convoy by standing next to your lord. You have to buy gear within each map, then divvy up the stuff later. A merchant named Merlinus allows you to have a convoy, so you don't have to discard items when your inventory is full. You also recruit him midway through the game in a bonus chapter. Any equipment change on the battlefield must happen through his stationary tent, which is susceptible to enemy attacks. I treated protecting the tent as a bonus objective, but that doesn't fix the issue.

Support conversations are also handled weirdly. If two compatible characters battle next to each other enough, then one of them can initiate a Talk action. Later FEs would give you a list of compatible characters and let you read the conversations at your base. This game does neither. You have to read the conversation on the battlefield and you have no idea which characters should be fighting side by side. I only ran into three support conversations a a result, which is unfortunate.
(For those curious, they were Eliwood+Hector, Pent+Louise, and another Pent+Louise).

All in all, this game was brilliant. Not on the same level as Echoes or PoR, but definitely better than Shadow Dragon, Fates (all three), and Engage. I liked this waaay better than Three Houses, too. I won't compare it to Radiant Dawn or Awakening as I'm going to replay those later this year. Go give this a try. It's on Nintendo Switch Online, and I'm sure there are *cough cough* other ways of accessing it.

Bleed_DukeBlue

* 19-Apr(#100)

#21 down: Salvo on PSVR. This, with my previous clear of Bandit Six, should get me the Delisted badge. This is also a PSVR game that was delisted from the PlayStation store and not available in the U.S. via disc, but accessible via a European disc. This takes the head movement of Bandit Six, but, instead of being in the back of a plane shooting other planes, you're switching between and firing four different gun placements, taking down planes, ships, tanks, transport vehicles, etc. on beaches and in cities with goals like securing a bridge, protecting generals, and just destroying the enemy. This was a fun one.

Edit: I just realized that you changed the Delisted badge to Bye Bye. I'd like to claim that one please with Bandit Six and Salvo.

incubus421

20-Apr(#101)

Date: 4/20
Number: 16
Title: Disciples Liberation

Play Time: 64 hours 13 minutes
Badge: Girl Power [with Dishonored 2]

A series similar to Heroes of Might and Magic and King's Bounty. It's not as good as either of them. In fact, this entry is about 20 hours too long. The story is decent, but a bit convoluted. The battles and especially boss fights are soooo long and repetitive. Seriously each boss fight takes 30-45 minutes on the same battlefield, with the bosses doing a rotation of 3-4 moves on their turn. Also, as is the trend, it tried to introduce more mature themes including sexual encounters. These are not graphic and instead are completely text-based that read like a bad erotic novel. Kind of strange

image

TalonJedi87

20-Apr(#102)

#24

Super Mario World Yoshi’s Island

via

Online

I haven’t played this one in about 5 years or so and it still holds and stands the test of time. Especially with some of the more clever platforming puzzles and creative boss fights. You can definitely see how it translated into modern day Yoshi titles. Some of the controls though I felt need to be tightened up a bit back in the day as Yoshi sometimes moves a little bit too fast and feels a tad too slippery. And also keeping baby Mario from getting kidnapped always irked me a bit. Other than that it’s still a grand old time.

TalonJedi87

21-Apr(#103)

#25

Prince of Persia The Lost Crown

What a breath of fresh air this experience was. When I first heard the series was getting a new entry I was very excited but also a tad disappointed seeing as though the Sands of Time remake was put on hold in favor of returning to the roots of the series as seen here but low and behold it was worth it and then some. I thought it was going to be yet another simple Metroidvania, but it turned into having elements from other game franchises like Dark Souls like shortcuts and even some boss encounters in tandem with the treacherous platforming and puzzles of, well, the original Prince of Persia games! Man, some of the puzzles and platforming challenges in this game was so damn clever and even a little frustrating but in a good way. No challenge ever felt too tough although I will say some of the more several minute long gauntlet infused challenges could have used better payoffs than simple colored character skins. But besides that little minor gripe and the fact that some of the side quests leave a little to be desired, the game is a delight. Air tight traversal controls and a pinpoint precise combat system makes for quite the delicacy. The sense of wanderlust believe it or not is quite immense as well in the massive interconnected map. Countless times I found myself just going off the beaten path just to see what was around the corner only to find myself rewarded with slews of treasures, upgrades or optional boss battles. The story is pretty cool too about a tale of betrayal and redemption that has some twists, turns and revelations along the way with a cast of interesting memorable characters. I didn’t like Sargon’s overall look though and the character models graphics wise are a little rough. You can tell the budget did not go deep into rendering those models to their fullest potential. The visuals within the environment though are a different story entirely. Gorgeous vistas and saturated portraits of a ruined yet mystical place within and surrounding Persia await you as you soak in all of the vibrant and vivacious color palates. In regards to your arsenal you are equipped with two swords and a bow which can be upgraded 4 times and you get amulets that work as perks to enhance your skills in combat. You can also possess special abilities called surges that you can equip 2 at a time that unleash a variety of overpowered attacks to either counter or do massive explosive damage to foes. And lastly the numerous boss fights in the game range from quick and simple to quick, fast and furious. There’s one boss in the game that took me so many tries to beat all because of his nimble nature and how hard he was to catch. Seriously this game pulls no punches when it comes to it’s fluidly fast nature. Jedi reflexes preferred. Overall, I loved this game and would gladly replay it on a new game plus. I just hope the Sands of Time remake is around the corner too because this game got me jonesin’ more for it.

Bleed_DukeBlue

* 21-Apr(#104)

#22 down: West of Loathing on Steam deck. This is my first clear toward the Vault Boy badge. West of Loathing is a really unique game. It's a turn-based Western RPG with black and white stick figure art and over-the-top ridiculous humor. I found myself laughing pretty often. This one is an easy recommend.

#23 down: West of Loathing DLC- Reckonin' at Gun Manor on Steam deck. This (with West of Loathing) gets me the Vault Boy badge.

Bleed_DukeBlue

22-Apr(#105)

#24 down: Golfie on Steam deck. I would like to count this toward the Bo Knows badge, as it's a golf game. This was a little more interesting than the standard golf game, as it's set up as a roguelike with cards you can use to do things like set up a gravitational pull zone to hit your ball toward or make your ball explosively clear obstacles. I'm still not really into sports games in general, but this was OK.

incubus421

* 22-Apr(#106)

Date: 4/22
Number: 17
Title: Burgertime

Play Time: 3 hours

Beat my former highest score of 68800 set on 6/30/2019, with a 74000. Took several hours to do so. Got to level 9. It irks me that I hit my game over while still having a pepper shake in reserve.
Burgertime is without a doubt my all-time favorite arcade game.

image

.

Date: 4/22
Number: 18
Title: Tetris

Badge: Quarter Muncher [Burgertime & Tetris]

Like Burgertime, beat my former high score of years ago of 22337. Also received a cut scene and "Tetris Master" title. I've not seen these screens before.

image

Slickriven

23-Apr(#107)

5th in April, 24th overall, 6th on

Bot Vice
Badge: Want to count toward Heavy Machine Gunner, need a 2nd still

This landed on my Wishlist quite a while ago and after getting some funds from Ren2k I bought this one finally and gave it a shot the other night. It hooked me even though it was tough and you needed to adjust your approach almost every level. A few levels caught me out and I had to tweak the controls to get more comfortable with gameplay. The final fight was tough for me as I couldn't grasp what approach to take against phase 1 and barely even got to phase 2. But I finally got through and beat it. After beating it and its absurd story I unlocked the bonus levels which seem to be more/less the same base set of 25 levels but with tweaked enemy deployment. I already beat around a dozen of those extras and even went back and improved my time on some of the first few level since a quick time is given higher ranking. The game is more akin to the 'vertical' levels in Contra, so it's less Metal Slug like but it for sure lives up to the bullet-hell-esque aspect of that badge.

Bleed_DukeBlue

* 23-Apr(#108)

#25 down: Fated: The Silent Oath on PSVR (53 on Metacritic.) This, alongside my previous clear of Adam's Venture: Origins, gets me the You're Winner badge. Fated: The Silent Oath is an interesting game. It's mostly a walking sim but has moments of action that are pretty varied (e.g., steering a moving cart, shooting deer with your bow, dodging traps etc.). It’s better than the reviews but suffers from a couple of major things. First, the walking speed is annoyingly slow. Secondly, it ends just as the story starts to pick up.

Johnny

23-Apr(#109)

#3: Persona 5 Royal on the Switch

8/10. Been off and on again with this game since it released on the ps3. Finally got back into it a few weeks ago and pushed my way through to finish it.

Wonderful game with great story and incredible soundtrack.

SupremeSarna

24-Apr(#110)

I beat LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

(originally 360).
[imgt w=680 h=510]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GL6ACbHW0AAD_yn?format...[/imgt]

Anybody remember that old show, Star Wars? I loved it growing up. I’ve watched all seven seasons and nerded out about the characters and story arcs. In 2011, Traveler’s Tales made a LEGO game about its first two seasons. It’s pretty good!

It’s great hearing most of the show’s voice cast grunting and mumbling throughout gameplay. Vehicle and battlefield stages are pretty novel, though I enjoy the latter more than the former. The hub is really explorable, full of secrets and even special missions. Heck, you can mount a starfighter and fly over to the Invisible Hand to run around a second hub, complete with secret stages! It’s a great game loaded with charm.

It’s not perfect, though. About a third of the episodes represented here miss the point of the original story. The Hidden Enemy completely cut the titular subplot about a traitor in the clone ranks. Innocents of Ryloth omits the young Twi’lek refugee, effectively cutting the innocents out of it. Jedi Crash is based on a five-minute fight scene from that episode, and Anakin doesn’t get mortally injured (y’know, the Jedi crash). Couple that with the cutscenes being overzealous in the comedy, and you get pretty bad adaptations of the source material. Fun to play, obviously, but a little lacking in sincerity. (And yes, older LEGO game cutscenes DID have sincerity in addition to silly humor.)

I’d love to see a new LEGO game that takes a Skywalker Saga approach, covering the vast majority of the seven-season series. I wonder which arcs would make the cut?

Bleed_DukeBlue

24-Apr(#111)

#26 down: Unearthing Mars on PSVR. I’d like to count this toward the Guybrush Threepwood badge. With my previous clear of A Chair in a Room, that should get me the badge.

Last year, I played Unearthing Mars II (which is mostly wave shooting with the Aim controller), so I was curious about the first game. Unearthing Mars got pretty bad reviews, and I partially get it. It starts slow and is pretty ugly visually. However, they do a good job with getting the sense of scale right when you’re in space which makes parts of it neat even if everything is rough around the edges. I liked that the gameplay was more varied than the sequel. You’re doing everything from adjusting instruments in the cockpit of a rocket to finding food for these weird alien teddy bears that do this creepy pelvic thrusting dance to open a portal. It’s a weird game.

Bleed_DukeBlue

24-Apr(#112)

#27 down: Dexed on PSVR. I would like to count this one toward the Destroy the Core badge.

Dexed is a unique on-rails shooter in which you have two guns (one for each Move controller). One shoots fire, and the other shoots ice, and you aim at various moving targets trying to neutralize ice targets with fire and vice versa. If you hit fire with fire or ice with ice, you get attacked and have to deflect with your shield. There is one boss, and that encounter was pretty cool. The graphics are really nice for PSVR. I’ve been playing a lot of PSVR games lately, and many of them have had a lot of fuzziness and blurriness, but this was crystal clear by comparison.

Bleed_DukeBlue

* 24-Apr(#113)

#28 down: X-Men: Reign of Apocalypse on Game Boy Advance. Alongside my previous clear of Young Souls, this gets me the Pile Drivin' badge. This was a pretty straightforward beat 'em up with some X-Men powers when you fill up your special attack meter. I beat the game with Storm.

Bleed_DukeBlue

24-Apr(#114)

#29 down: Afterlife on PSVR. This was really interesting. You're basically inside a movie. (I won't give away exactly why you're taking the perspective you are, as it's a major plot point. It's also a plot point that you learn about in the first few minutes of the game, though, so be careful about Googling too much if you don't want to spoil that part.) There are multiple decision points that allow you to alter the storyline (which leads to changes that determine which of the three endings you get). The really unique part is that there are decision branches in the story based on what you do subconsciously too. The story branches out in some places based on what you look at the most. I've never experienced something like that in a game before.

BucketofJustice

24-Apr(#115)

Not even sure why I signed up for this haha. I’ve beaten 3 games this year. Hopefully the next half of the year will be better than the first half.

TalonJedi87

24-Apr(#116)

#26

Spider-Man Miles Morales

Pregamed before diving head first into Spider-Man 2 which is next and it was still for lack of a better word, amazing 3.5 years later. Short sweet and to the point with cool new Spidey abilities and some clever mini-games and lite environmental puzzles. The story was a bit expected here and there to the Spider-Man cliche storylines but overall, graphics, gameplay and presentation were just as awesome as the first Insimniac installment back in 2018. Can’t wait to dive into the sequel next.

PizzaTheHutt

24-Apr(#117)

Game #20 of 2024

Super Death Game SHOW! VR on PSVR2
This will count towards the Makin' Money with Minigames! badge.

DemonAlcohol

24-Apr(#118)

My #30 is

Yakuza 5 Remastered

5 protagonists in this one. They wrap up a story much cleaner than they did in the previous title. Different things to do break up the constant button mashing gameplay. This is a longer game than any of the previous ones.

SupremeSarna

25-Apr(#119)

@Bleed_DukeBlue So much VR! When was the last time you saw a glimpse of the real world?

Bleed_DukeBlue

25-Apr(#120)

That’s fair. I got a good deal on here for a PSVR to replace my old one that had a few issues, and I had been meaning to go through my big PSVR backlog for awhile anyway. Then, my cat of 16 years that I was really close to went downhill with cancer, and I had to say goodbye to her, so I’ve been escaping a bit.

SupremeSarna wrote:

> @Bleed_DukeBlue So much VR! When was the last time you saw a glimpse of the real

> world?

SupremeSarna

25-Apr(#121)

Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

> That’s fair. I got a good deal on here for a PSVR to replace my old one that had

> a few issues, and I had been meaning to go through my big PSVR backlog for awhile

> anyway. Then, my cat of 16 years that I was really close to went downhill with cancer,

> and I had to say goodbye to her, so I’ve been escaping a bit.

> SupremeSarna wrote:

>> @Bleed_DukeBlue So much VR! When was the last time you saw a glimpse of the real

>> world?

I'm sorry about that. I've been in a similar spot with pets quite a few times, and it's always hard. Stay strong, man--things will get better. Do whatever you need to take your mind off the pain.

TalonJedi87

25-Apr(#122)

#27

New Super Mario Bros

via

As my replay of the Mario 2D sidescrolling games continue, I have now finished the 2006 entry and man I guess I'm just getting too old for this stuff because I do not remember this game being as challenging as it was in some parts back when I was playing it years ago. But nevertheless it's still a damn fun time. I think the controls feel a bit too slippery though because I could have sworn my timing was correct in some parts but it didn't register on my DS. Maybe my DS is just old like me hah. Anyways, next stop, New Super Mario Bros. 2!

Bleed_DukeBlue

25-Apr(#123)

Thanks for the kind words.

SupremeSarna wrote:

> Bleed_DukeBlue wrote:

>> That’s fair. I got a good deal on here for a PSVR to replace my old one that

> had

>> a few issues, and I had been meaning to go through my big PSVR backlog for awhile

>> anyway. Then, my cat of 16 years that I was really close to went downhill with

> cancer,

>> and I had to say goodbye to her, so I’ve been escaping a bit.

>> SupremeSarna wrote:

> |>> @Bleed_DukeBlue So much VR! When was the last time you saw a glimpse of the real

> |>> world?

> I'm sorry about that. I've been in a similar spot with pets quite a few times, and

> it's always hard. Stay strong, man--things will get better. Do whatever you need

> to take your mind off the pain.

ErickRPG

* 25-Apr(#124)

Aww I’m sorry. I lost my mainecoon at age 13 to cancer. I did everything I could for him. At the end it was just about comfort. I was close to him too. Might have been the best friend I ever had. Pet or human. That was a few years back. Time heals wounds but you’ll never forget. Now I’ve got a silly sweet Siamese boy and a playmate.

Bleed_DukeBlue

26-Apr(#125)

Thanks. It’s still pretty weird, as I work from home a fair bit, and she usually would sit in my lap or hang out right by me.

ErickRPG wrote:

> Aww I’m sorry. I lost my mainecoon at age 13 to cancer. I did everything I could

> for him. At the end it was just about comfort. I was close to him too. Might have

> been the best friend I ever had. Pet or human. That was a few years back. Time

> heals wounds but you’ll never forget. Now I’ve got a silly sweet Siamese boy

> and a playmate.

Renaissance2K

26-Apr(#126)

Number: 22
Full Title: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Platform Played: PlayStation 5
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: PlayStation 5
Original Platforms: PlayStation 5
Badge: Level Up! (1/2)

I spent nearly every free moment I had at home playing through Rebirth, prioritizing the story and the main quest and skipping most of the side content. This is completely different from how I usually approach a Final Fantasy game (though admittedly, my playthrough of FF16 was pretty similar) - especially one of such nostalgic significance - but I've spent the past two months chased by spoilers and didn't want to ruin the core of my experience because of some YouTube trolls. The end result? I finished the game in roughly 45 days with a playtime of 57:22, compared to Remake's 61 hours in as many days.

In the end, the game was at its best when the party was crawling a dungeon. The mini games and action sequences take a step back, the unhindered party is at your disposal, and you get a healthy mix of combat and exploration. The "open world" region segments are a lot like this as well, but the map is usually too sparse and too difficult to navigate (especially the late game zones) to be as enjoyable.

In a way, Square did fans a disservice by releasing Final Fantasy XVI first. FFXVI was polished, dark, and unique among modern Final Fantasy games. Rebirth feels rushed, recycled, and somewhat convoluted with its barrage of colorful, saccharine minigames and graphics that seem locked to "Texture Quality: Medium" for some unexplained reason.

During the first few hours, I was extremely excited about seeing a bigger chunk of FF7's story fleshed out with modern tech. The battle system, on the other hand, felt over-engineered with a whole bunch of new synergy concepts piled on top of Remake's battle system. As time went on, those opinions reversed. Embracing multi-character tactics is the secret to the game's biggest spectacles and most satisfying combat. Unsatisfying, however, was how Nomura treated some of my favorite moments from the original game. The somber revelation at the end of the Cave of the Gi was ruined by some ridiculous Michael Bay-style cinematography, and the infamous climax at the end of Forgotten Capital was too confusing and overloaded to elicit any substantial emotional impact.

With the main campaign in the rear view, I considered going back and finishing the side content that I skipped as I ran away from spoilers. Without the incentive of getting closer to the finale, however, the frustrating zone designs make it harder to play the game for more than just a few minutes without taking a break. And then, I find a big fiend, get into a great battle, and find the urge to stay in Gaia a little bit longer.

The game will inevitably get a PC and Steam Deck release, so I'm excited about potentially doing a more traditional playthrough where I complete side content as I progress instead of saving it all for the post game. Until then, I think I'll mostly set the game aside and figure out how to deal with the odd, sudden desire to play through Remake again.

- Quake, Quake II,Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Tekken 7, Tekken 8

- Shaq Fu

- DK: King of Swing, Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness

- Tekken 5

- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

2 -

- Shaq Fu

-
image -

- Cruis'n Blast
Misc - Shaq Fu (Amiga)

2nd Amendment - Quake, Quake II
Bear & Bird - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut
Facelift - Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario vs. Donkey Kong
Girl Power - Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness
Hop 'n' Bop - Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land 2, Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong
Level Up! - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Race Drivin' - Cruis'n Blast
Street Fightin' - Shaq Fu, Tekken 7, Tekken 8
You're Winner - Shaq Fu

Unique Systems Covered: 11/38
Total Games Beaten: 22

As I did with Remake, I've picked back up the original Final Fantasy VII - this time, the original PlayStation version and not one of the more recent ports - with the goal of retracing Rebirth's footsteps, all the way to the end of Disc 1. It's my first time in decades seeing the game on a real CRT with a real PlayStation controller, and my nostalgia engine are firing on all cylinders. On the portable front, I've been exploring the PlayStation release of Pac-Man World on my Vita. It's a charming game, but the early 3D platforming gotchas - coupled with some serious early gut check levels - have made progress slow. Maybe next month's game(s) will be a smoother experience.

DemonAlcohol

26-Apr(#127)

My #31 is

Kingdom Rush Origins

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bmy8XHrgj1qszMrM9

legendrko25

26-Apr(#128)

I beat Uno on the xbox1

and Doritos Crash Course on the xbox 360

Finn

27-Apr(#129)

Beat Unicorn Overlord (PS5) tonight. Now just trophy cleanup.

Bleed_DukeBlue

27-Apr(#130)

#30 down: Wordtris on Super Nintendo. I would like to count this toward the Brain Teaser badge. This is basically Tetris, but, instead of shapes fitting into lines, you spell words to clear those blocks and occasionally get bombs and dynamite to take out other blocks. It gets tough by the end, especially since, when you beat a level, the blocks that were there when you beat it remain into the next level.

Bleed_DukeBlue

27-Apr(#131)

#31: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (PS4). I would like to count this toward the Girl Power badge. I’m still processing what all happened in this game. It’s pretty wild. As everyone else seems to recommend, it’s worth playing with headphones to get the full effect of the voices in your character’s head. (The voice acting in general is really well done.). The game starts out slow and has some annoying puzzles, but it got more interesting (and genuinely disturbing at times) the further in I went. It has some pretty impressive parts (like the sea of corpses and the stuff with Fenrir). It was not “fun” in the traditional sense, but I’m glad I played it. It was thought-provoking, and I’m looking forward to the sequel coming out on Game Pass soon.

SupremeSarna

27-Apr(#132)

I beat Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X

.
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GMJoWPUWwAAmw7U?format...[/imgt]
I’m much more of a classic MM fan than an MMX fan. I liked this overall, but the Sigma stages are kinda obnoxious. I eventually broke down and returned to previous stages for health upgrades, though it felt like a chore to do.

I’ve been borrowing this game for over a year, and now I can finally return it. It was a good call buying MM: Powered Up and skipping on this one—Powered Up speaks to me a lot more.

I’ve now earned the Heavy Machine Gun badge (MMX8, Maverick Hunter X).

Slickriven

27-Apr(#133)

Sorry to hear about the departure of your cat, @Bleed_DukeBlue and @ErickRPG
Today marks 1 month since saying goodbye to my buddy of nearly 16 years, still miss him. Even though we have 2 others, it just feels different with him gone. Sarna's not wrong that time helps heal those wounds but it still just flat out sucks.

ErickRPG

27-Apr(#134)

Thank you. Mine was 3 years ago now. I lost him, took me a year to even consider kittens. And mine are nearly 2 years now I think. They are bonded which is really sweet.

Bleed_DukeBlue

27-Apr(#135)

Thanks man! I'm sorry about your cat. I had mine for almost 16 years too. As sad as it is, I'm glad I got more time with her than expected. They actually thought she wouldn't make it 7 years ago, but we put her on some intense steroids, and that gave her another 7 years of good-quality life.

Slickriven wrote:

> Sorry to hear about the departure of your cat, @Bleed_DukeBlue and @ErickRPG

> Today marks 1 month since saying goodbye to my buddy of nearly 16 years, still miss

> him. Even though we have 2 others, it just feels different with him gone. Sarna's

> not wrong that time helps heal those wounds but it still just flat out sucks.

Slickriven

27-Apr(#136)

6th in April, 25th overall, 7th on

Guns Gore & Cannoli 2
Badge - Earns me Heavy Machine Gunner along with Bot Vice

My focus on PC games and Steam specifically continues with this game. I got both GG&C titles last year and beat the first then. Opted not to jump into 2 right away as I think it annoyed me a little, but this sequel was a pretty easy jaunt. I got into in the other night pretty late and actually ended up beating right around 50% of it apparently. Then today I jumped back in and wrapped it up. Steam says the first game took me close to 4 hours while this one only took me a bit over 3. Since I only died like 3-4 times total and just once to the final boss, that made it faster, as I think the final boss in the first game gave me trouble and I recall dying a bit more than I would've preferred in the first game, <shrug>

Slickriven

* 28-Apr(#137)

7th in April, 26th overall, 5th on

SuperHot Mind, Control, Delete

After rather enjoying the original title in 2 sessions earlier this month then seeing that this game came on GP, I decided to give it a shot. SH-MCD is around 3x longer and I've earned the very rare achievement (only 1.01% of players have it) for beating the game by deleting it - which is an interesting way how the game ends. Apparently most of the 8th set of levels/nodes are basically optional since after you reach the 4th floor and beat the first level in the 8th set, you can get to the final floor and do some levels that result in you beating the game. At this point you delete the game and then if you keep doing some things you can trigger a sequence to recover the now deleted game. This takes legit 2.5 hours (used to take 8 apparently) and after a min or so the credits basically roll in reverse, since you're reconstructing the game. So technically I beat the game and once this process is complete, then I'll earn the final (of 14) achievement which even fewer have earned (0.71%). I'll also likely look to try more of the afore mentioned 8th set of nodes. I beat 1 already, but dang they're challenging with a full 15 random arenas to complete with only 2 hit points to take, if you go with one of the alternative cores, vs. the default one that gives 3 hits. Some mods optionally selected can earn you some health back but they're not guaranteed so the goal is to avoid taking any damage. I used the recall core once I got it as that allowed you to recall a thrown Katana blade to you and that could go through multiple foes. It also gave you that sword to start each arena with, which was a big help.

Game was no joke, I had to restart nodes several times b/c I died. Was crazy annoying to progress say 5, 7, or more arenas in a node while taking zero hits only to get sort of screwed and take 2 or 3 in one arena and be dead just that quick. Note that most nodes only require 5-7 arenas, it's not until later that they start to get to 10, 12 with 15 seemingly only being for the 8th set. When the game is flowing it was a good bit of fun, but with your enemies generating basically zero sound and you randomly spawning into the arena, I sometimes didn't know an enemy entered the arena behind me and that sucked a bit too often. I ended up resorting to trying to find a corner or spot where I could prevent enemies from hitting me from behind and generally staying near one of the several doors foes could come in from, since they wouldn't if you remained close.
There are 2 types of endless modes, 1 being endless random arenas where you need to take out the standard 6-10 or so foes, and the other you pick a single arena and see how many kills you can earn before dying. I didn't bother much with mode 1, but tried mode 2 and did really well IMO - I got 186 kills in the lab level which I thought was really good. I don't think I'll bother to pay the other arenas for that mode and really just focus on beating the few remaining things on that 4th floor that I skipped.

Interesting tid-bit, this is my 99th completed game from GamePass since I joined in '19 - I might have missed a game as well and did count TMNT: Shredder's Revenge twice b/c I beat that in '22 and '23 for this thread, which is why I tracked my completions so much. Makes me feel like paying for GPU, especially after taking advantage of the Gold -> GPU conversion deal, is worth it since many of those games I would've either wanted to buy or not really ever bothered with. Granted a number of more indie GP games seem to become Epic and/or Amazon Games giveaways eventually, so some I could've got to some via those services, but nearly beating 100 games on GPU (so including some EAplay and PC games) feels pretty good.

EDIT - got the final achievement for reinstalling/recovering the game after 2.5 hours. That also added around 5-6 new nodes of which I tried one and it was fun. I did the one on floor 4 and it consisted of like 8 arenas but you needed to kill 25+ foes which I didn't know at first and thought after killing well above the normal 8-10 that it was going to be different. Good news was that most enemies only had a melee weapon with very few guns. It was fun slicing through them all and I even made sure to destroy any guns with my katana. I also did one of the remaining 8th nodes - that sucked b/c I got to the 14th or 15th arena with 2 health and died on the one attempt which made me pretty mad. But then I got it on the next attempt. I will certainly look to play the remaining new nodes as they were cool (assuming the others are similar)... and still push through those 8th set nodes even though they suck.

Slickriven

* 29-Apr(#138)

I'm almost completely done with SH-MCD. I was hoping to enjoy those other new levels but dang they all sucked. 1 had every foe starting with a shotgun, another they were all the exploding type and a third was all guys with only 1 red (weak) body part - so you need to hit that one leg, arm or their torso. I tried all nodes a few times but just couldn't get through any of them. Came closest on the exploding foes one, but 15 arenas was just too much.
So I went back to the 8th set and at least got 2 more knocked out. I only have one left I believe and I unlocked a 100 arena node that I tried and got through 25 arenas before finally dying. Will not be replaying that either. Game is generally fun when it's not absurd like these last few nodes and I want to move on before they sour the whole game for me.

SupremeSarna

29-Apr(#139)

I beat Mega Man 6

(originally NES).
[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GMTn4PRaYAAnouT?format...[/imgt]
I raced a friend at it and lost, so I owed him ice cream. But by that late hour, any ice cream shop was closed. We tried Wendy's, but that location was entirely out of Frosty mix. So we just bought actual food there and called it good. It was fun.

Oh yeah, and Mega Man 6 is pretty good, aside from Plant Man's stage.

Bleed_DukeBlue

29-Apr(#140)

#32 down: Dead Island 2: Haus DLC. I would like to count this toward the BFFL badge, as I played it entirely in co-op. If you like the game, this is more of the same. The storyline was somewhat interesting, but it's mostly just an excuse to kill a bunch of zombies in over-the-top fashion. I'm glad I played this with someone else, because the end got pretty tough. We barely pulled out the win.

DemonAlcohol

29-Apr(#141)

My #32 is

Rain on Your Parade.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fvSw3X1d21i95zGe8

Cute game about being a rain cloud and causing all types of mischief. Similar gameplay to Donut County.

PizzaTheHutt

29-Apr(#142)

Game #21 of 2024

Affected: The Manor on PSVR2
This will go towards Guybrush Threepwood badge as I think it counts as a walking sim, since the entire point of the game is basically walking through a haunted house.

Badge suggestion for next year - "Grow A Pear" for completing two farming sims. Or has that joke been done already?

TalonJedi87

29-Apr(#143)

#28

New Super Mario Bros 2

My 2D Mario-A-Thon is almost over as I round the corner at watching the credits roll for this one and no real complaints here on this revisit other than it being far too generous in lives, coins and power ups which is not necessarily a bad thing. Although I watched a DYKG video the other day that explicitly said the sequel to NSMB was going to have a focus on coin collecting so that makes sense here why it has such a heavy focus on coins. Overall though it felt like it wanted to emulate Super Mario World in almost every sense outside of having Yoshi in it which was fine by me! Next stop the U Deluxe!

SupremeSarna

1-May(#144)

April has officially behind us. We had a good turnout this month, I think--let's run down the numbers.
-We beat 60 games/DLC this month.That's the lowest number so far, but hardly a bad count. @Bleed_DukeBlue beat the most games/DLC this month, with a whopping 16! Well done, mate!
-We cleared 12 new consoles this month. Nothing will top January, of course, since just about every game someone plays tht month counts as their first for that system. Still a respectable number.
-We earned 16 badges this month, trumping our best record so far. Bleed_DukeBlue once again dominated, taking home five of those bad boys. You're well on your way to nabbing every badge!
( @PizzaTheHutt , your farming sim badge idea is being considered. Feel free to play more of them in the meantime, if you want.)
- @Frank , play a game. That's an order from your senior officer.

-Thanks for hanging in there the past few weeks. I was totally swamped with intern work in the second half of April, so I couldn't update this thread. I'm not usually assigned this many projects all at once, but I'm popular with the company heads because of my generally quick turnaround time. But I finished that suite of projects, so I hope things calm down for a bit.

Frank

1-May(#145)

SupremeSarna wrote:

> April has officially behind us. We had a good turnout this month, I think--let's

> run down the numbers.

> -We beat 60 games/DLC this month.That's the lowest number so far, but hardly a bad

> count. @Bleed_DukeBlue beat the most games/DLC this month, with a whopping 16! Well

> done, mate!

> -We cleared 12 new consoles this month. Nothing will top January, of course, since

> just about every game someone plays tht month counts as their first for that system.

> Still a respectable number.

> -We earned 16 badges this month, trumping our best record so far. Bleed_DukeBlue

> once again dominated, taking home five of those bad boys. You're well on your way

> to nabbing every badge!

> ( @PizzaTheHutt , your farming sim badge idea is being considered. Feel free to play

> more of them in the meantime, if you want.)

> - @Frank , play a game. That's an order from your senior officer.

> -Thanks for hanging in there the past few weeks. I was totally swamped with intern

> work in the second half of April, so I couldn't update this thread. I'm not usually

> assigned this many projects all at once, but I'm popular with the company heads because

> of my generally quick turnaround time. But I finished that suite of projects, so

> I hope things calm down for a bit.

I'm still playing FF7 Rebirth

Slickriven

* 2-May(#146)

1st in May, 27th overall, 8th on

Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony
Badge: 1st towards Destroy the Core

I got this on Steam a LONG time ago, not 100% sure exactly how but back in Nov '12 I played it some, and I recall doing so - to a degree. I found the game alright back then but stopped playing for whatever reason. Been on a little SHMUP kick - mainly looking for good games to try and some YT vid had this listed in their top X number of games, which of course reminded me of it so I immediately installed it. Apparently not playing it for 11.5 years means I didn't have a save to use, likely was 3 PCs ago, so not surprised. Game is alright and tough to finish. Only had 5 levels but in a lame manner if you opt to beat 1-3 on 'normal' you're then prevented from accessing 4 until you beat 1-3 all on 'Difficult' first. So I replayed 1-3 on difficult and it wasn't bad. Then after beating 4 (on its lowest challenge of 'Difficult') I was blocked from 5 until I beat 1-4 on 'Legendary'. Kind of BS, but I did 1-4 on legendary and got to the 5th level.
The 5th was crappy. Thus far, all levels were wide open, you could move freely to take out foes and avoid their fire, while like a vertical SHMUP the screen slowly scrolled up. But in level 5 you're locked into a narrower corridor-like setting with barriers that your shots might destroy OR might not OR you can't fly over, but can shoot through and be shot through. Some move and some have spikes and the there are a lot of enemy spawn points that you can destroy and clearly want to to stop more foes. It was a chaotic level that I wasn't a fan of and I died a number of times before even reaching the boss. Then when I finally got to him, I only had 1-2 hits to take and died several times including once with him having like 5% health remaining. So I kept trying and finally got him... only for him to have a 2nd phase. Shock... I died on that phase a few times too. I eventually got better at phase 1 and didn't take any hits and on my 3rd attempt at the 2nd phase I got it and credits. Overall the game isn't terrible, but that 5th level sucks. There are some challenges I could do, did a few already, but I'm not sure I'll bother with the rest.

I don't know why I'm on a SHMUP kick right now, I'm okay at them, but am no pro and can get frustrated easily. But according to Steam, I hadn't beat the 5th level 11+ years ago, so I'm glad to have done so after all this time.

SupremeSarna

* 2-May(#147)

It’s about time I continued my journey through the Shantae series. I bought all the currently-released games in December with a plan to play them all, but I’ve only just now touched the next game. Fortunately, I’ve now beaten it.

Shantae: Risky’s Revenge - Director’s Cut

[imgt w=1280 h=720]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GMh1xz1awAAcr9S?format...[/imgt]
This former DSiware came after a cancelled GBA game, making it Shantae’s first appearance in eight years. Though it’s short like any DSiware game, it’s an adequate length for the price—as you can see, I got nearly six hours out of it. The game is a step up from the first in virtually every way. The graphics are gorgeous, the audio’s improved, and characters appear as expressive character portraits.

RR has an overworld map, which makes travel so much smoother. The timed button presses for animal transformations have been removed, streamlining the mechanic to glorious results! Holding the X Button for one second to turn into a monkey feels so snappy! Additionally, warping between locations no longer requires collectibles and more timed button presses; you just find a warp point to activate it, then warp between them. Sure, you can’t do that from just anywhere, but it’s not as cumbersome as before.

The characters and writing are better. Zombies keep their humanity by drinking coffee, a general buys the deed to Scuttle Town and renames it Ammo Town, and a squid misgenders you to humorous effect. (Shantae takes that opportunity to express that she’s okay murdering people who wrong her.) There’s a whole scene between Shantae and Sky regarding a bird egg that Shantae allowed to rot, and it’s hilariously savage! But then the ending… it’s not funny, rather, it leaves you with some tough feelings. Didn’t expect that.

I have a few nitpicks. It would be nice to have more than two full dungeons, since the GBC game had four. You only get one life, like the first game; but unlike that game, any death here undoes all your progress since the last save point. Yeah, the 2002 game was surprisingly more modern in terms of forgivingness than this 2010 sequel. There’s also two grayed-out areas of the map that never get filled in, which really threw me off.

Beyond those things, this game gets a hearty recommendation from me! Looking WayForward to Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse! The Switch version contains a WarioWare microgame, apparently, complete with the trademark Wario bomb.

DemonAlcohol

2-May(#148)

My #33 is

South Park The Fractured But Whole

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cJxCfbuswW8F4p898

While not as well written as The Stick of Truth, it has it's moments.

Slickriven

3-May(#149)

2nd in May, 28th overall, 2nd on

Top Gear
Badge: Earns me Race Drivin' along with Inertial Drift

Loved this as a kid, especially the music and general feel. Recommended it for the RTT GotM pick, it finished 2nd but Ren2k made it the bonus, so I had to play it. There are 3 tiers of challenge: Amateur, Professional and Championship. I did the 4 race per region times 8 regions overall series on Amateur for this. Such good memories. I'll likely play the Pro and Champ series over the rest of May.
It's been so long that I don't fully recall if I beat all 3 as a kid. I know I got Amateur and very likely Pro, not sure about Champ. I think I traded away my childhood cart and then picked up another in my 20's from eBay (maybe I'm thinking of another SNES cart), so while I did this via a ROM, I don't know if I dug out my copy if my save would be there, highly unlikely since I never replaced the batteries in my carts.
White car FTW, loved how it was better on fuel and how it drove in general.

Bleed_DukeBlue

3-May(#150)

#33 down: HappyFunland on PSVR2. I would like to count this toward the Bear & Bird badge, as it is a collect-a-thon. You spend a lot of the game searching for 80 gold squirrels to break. I thought I went through pretty methodically, but, somehow, I missed at least one, and I'm debating whether or not I'm up for going back through the game to find the other ones. There's also one other trophy for activating a rocket ride that I can't figure out.

This game is pretty trippy. It uses Unreal engine rather than Unity, so it has some decent details, although the graphics aren't incredible or anything. The atmosphere and sense of scale are good though, and, while there are stretches that are so-so, there are some really impressive moments too. The scene where you're hallucinating in a bathroom is pretty visually striking. There's also a scene with a ferris wheel that was impressive as well. For such a small dev team, this was a solid outing. It's not a very long game, but it's worth trying out.

ErickRPG

* 5-May(#151)

#18
Odin Sphere -

image

Second time beating this game. Really an action RPG masterpiece. I sold my OLED vita many years ago but rebought one last year I think. It was a nice minty one with the OLED screen. This is definitely one game that was on my list to play for Vita. Even though I've already beaten it once. And while I do know it's available on couple of other systems. Playing it on the small OLED screen of the OG Vita is pure joy.

SupremeSarna

* 5-May(#152)

I beat Rhythm Heaven Fever

again after wanting to do it for over a year. It's a lot shorter than I remembered, probably because I'm better now than in 2022.
[imgt w=2048 h=1536]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GM2P0VFWEAAkz5E?format...[/imgt]
This game easily has one of the best soundtracks in gaming, top five at least. All the weird stuff you do, from bacterial synchronized swimming to library cheerleading, is done to a fantastic beat. This is perhaps the best example of a game you can play, watch, or listen to and still have the same wonderful experience.

Some games are harder and/or better than others, and it's lame that the game expects you to get perfect scores for 100% completion. Even so, they also won't give you the perfect rewards unless that particular game was highlighted with a "Go for perfect!" message when you played it. That's a bit annoying.

Still, you really should experience this game at least once. So go listen to the soundtrack, or watch an LP on YouTube, or find a way to play it unexpectedly. Either way, have fun!

SupremeSarna

5-May(#153)

OP updated! Ra-ra-sis-boom-ba-boom, let's go play a bunch of games, yeah!

BloodPuppetX

5-May(#154)

I finished Killer Frequency and Desolatium on Switch.

PizzaTheHutt

6-May(#155)

Game #22 of 2024

Bugsnax on

Would this count towards Bear & Bird? There's a bunch of optional bugs to collect, not all are needed for the main story.

SupremeSarna

6-May(#156)

PizzaTheHutt wrote:

> Game #22 of 2024

> Bugsnax on

> Would this count towards Bear & Bird? There's a bunch of optional bugs to collect,

> not all are needed for the main story.

I suppose I can count it as that.

PizzaTheHutt

7-May(#157)

Game #23 of 2024

Crisis VRigade 2 or Crisis Brigade 2 Reloaded on PSVR2

The PS5 home menu has the game's name as Crisis VRigade 2, but the game's thumbnail on the home menu calls it Crisis Brigade 2 Reloaded. You can mark it down as whichever you want.

This'll go towards the 2nd Amendment badge.

Bleed_DukeBlue

* 9-May(#158)

#34 down: Ancient Dungeon on PSVR2. With my previous clear of Yakuza 0, this should get me the Hyrulian Hero badge.

This game was an impulse buy, and it turned out to be great. Imagine that you're inside Minecraft, going through dungeons hacking and slashing at things with a sword and throwing a throwing knife that you can retrieve with a trigger pull. Everything you hit explodes into blocks, and the monsters you fight bleed in blocks. There are a ton of surprises. I kept running into unexpected things, and each level has its own unique characteristics and enemies. As you play more, you encounter new, more difficult enemy variants in each level. You eventually also unlock a crossbow and knife combo, but I found that less fun. This is a roguelike, and it's quite challenging. It took me 40 runs to finally win, and the permanent unlocks are not very powerful. What really ended up working for me was just practice and getting better at the game. My first run where I got to the final boss, I was lucky and got powerups that let me throw my knife for tons of damage, and it would catch things (and monsters) on fire, could be thrown without gravity or physics affecting it (a powerup that lets you throw it basically as far as you can see) and was super fast (another powerup). I was wrecking everything until I got to the final boss, didn't know what was going to happen, and got blindsided, because one of the power-ups I had for extra damage limits you to two hearts (like in Zelda for your life). When I finally won (the second time I made it to the final boss), I actually didn't have a very strong build. However, I had bought some protection hearts (extra hearts that disappear permanently when you're damaged) and had an extra heart container I found along the way. I didn't do much damage, but I did pick up a powerup that makes your sword grow really big and then get really small after you hit something before getting big again. When it's big, it does like 2 1/2 times the normal damage, but, when small, it does less and is more like a little dagger. By being really careful with that, I could one-shot a lot of enemies. It also turned out to be really useful for the last phase of the final boss in a way I didn't anticipate (but won't spoil). I beat this with one heart remaining, out of breath, and lucky to have made it. It was pretty thrilling.

Slickriven

* 9-May(#159)

3rd in May, 29th overall, 2nd on

The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition
Badge - Fittingly earns me the Guybrush Threepwood along with Return to Grace

Been on my 'list' for a long while, voted for it for Ren2k's RTT GotM and was happy for a final push to just play it. Enjoyed the graphics and voice acting of the Special Edition. I certainly took liberties with some hints and online help, but I didn't want to struggle through some of the puzzles as I just don't have the time.

4th in May, 30th overall, 1st on

Microsoft Jewel 2

I've been playing this for months just about every day via the Xbox app. M$ was giving 30 Bing Rewards points for beating a level each day until around a month or so ago, now it's just 5 points but I still generally do it every day while listening in on blah work meetings or whatever. It's technically unbeatable, but on a board of 64 gems you need to first clear enough to fill a bar as new gems drop in, replacing your matched ones. Then the board fully fills and you get a new target to clear a certain number (or more) gems before the next level, with no new ones added. You get a score for how many total gems you clear and especially how well you clear the board is at the end. Each level increases the number of gems required to clear before moving on. By level 13 it's 48, as they go up 4 each level. Level 16 is 60 gems and I've only done that once. 17 is also 60 as it really can't go higher. It's pretty tough with the special gems that get added to the mix and accumulate in later levels. My top score is also pretty high at 92 million - suffice to say, I think I've played plenty of boards to claim this.

Renaissance2K

10-May(#160)

As part of my rabbit hole tumbling into retro MIDI music, I found a copy of Jones in the Fast Lane that works with my retro PC setup.

Number: 23
Full Title: Jones in the Fast Lane
Platform Played: PC
Collection: N/A
Native Platform: PC
Original Platforms: PC
Badge: Chance Time (1/2)

Jones has lived rent free in my head since it was a feature on the old IBM PC in my fifth grade classroom. Framed as a board game of sorts for 1-4 people (plus Jones, the AI opponent), you start the game by picking an avatar and a set of goals, and you spend the game trying to reach those goals through work, study, hobbies, and many other mundane life needfuls. Everything you do takes time, and you have a fixed amount of time each week/turn before you're unceremoniously shoved back home to your apartment to rest. Reach your goals by landing a specific job, amassing enough money and knowledge, and staying relatively happy, and you win the game.

This sounds like the most mundane of mundane games - like The Game of Life if it was developed by a CPA - but even ignoring the nostalgia factor and my memories as one in a huddle of tweens surrounding a beige PC, it's surprisingly fun and addicting. The fixed time per week is diabolical for driving that "just one more turn" feedback loop, and the "set your own goals" mechanic make the game feel like a nice balance between endless life simulators like The Sims or SimCity and traditional games with an objective end. In fact, in terms of feel, SimCity is probably the Jones' closest relative with its contemporary MIDI soundtrack, funny one-liners, and random world-shaking disasters that force you to pivot your approach.

I was terrible at managing the game's limited time when I was younger and naturally made a number of terrible life choices during my playthroughs: staying with my job at the fast foot restaurant and never attempting a promotion (bonus points for eating nothing but fries every week), buying a TV for my rent-controlled apartment just to have it stolen a week later, walking around with a massive multi-thousand dollar nest egg only to be pickpocketed, etc. As a result, throughout the years, I've had these moments where I remember the game, look back on it fondly, and then suddenly think of a strategy that my tiny ten-year-old mind wouldn't have thought up on its own. "One day," I'd think, "I'll boot that game back up and give it a try."

Well, that day finally game. After an extremely frustrating odyssey of corrupt disk images and literal Divide By Zero errors, I got the game running on my retro PC and pumping out music through my mt-32 pi. My first attempt at success failed miserably when a sour job market and flash of inflation caused me to lose my job, my cash, and my clothes (which are necessary for any sort of employment... The game will eventually take pity on you and gift you a new set, but I never knew this.) I fared better with my second attempt. I split my time between work and study, putting myself in line for a big promotion fairly early on, which meant a theft-proof apartment, fancy clothes, and the latest in discounted A/V hardware for chill time; all without having to stand naked in the unemployment line.

For those of you that just had their memory jogged, or want to check the game out for yourself, you can play the game in your browser at https://jonesinthefastlane.com/. You can beat the game with almost zero strategy if you set all of your goals as low as possible, but you'll need a solid strategy to win at the default settings; doubly so if you increase them to the maximum.

- Jones in the Fast Lane, Quake, Quake II,Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Tekken 7, Tekken 8

- Shaq Fu