Games Beaten In 2012!

[7800Lover]

I finally beat the second quest of the Legend of Zelda.

[Austin]

Guess I should start numbering these, otherwise I am bound to lose track.

 

4. Ninja Gaiden (NES).

 

How is Chip 'n Dale? That's on my list for 2012

 

It's all right. I don't enjoy it much these days, but liked it a lot as a kid. It's just very easy. Better with a friend, too.

[Austin]

5. Ninja Gaiden III (NES)

 

6. Contra (NES)

[+thegoldenband]

5. Metal Head (32X)

 

A few hours after beating this one on Normal for the first time, I beat it on Hard, with no continues used, 2028 points scored, and five medals at the end. It looks like there was room for a sixth medal (in position #3 of what would be six), but I don't actually know what the medals mean to begin with! I'd gotten two medals on Normal, FWIW.

 

Since there are no continues on Hard, I guess I 1cc'ed it by default.

 

The game's biggest flaw: "dash" mode should've been the default, with C used to walk slowly. That one change probably would've improved Metal Head's collective reviews by 5-10%, because it's actually a decent enough game that moves at a good pace once "dash" is on. The talking-head campiness is no worse, and a good deal funnier, than your average anime (and it's easy enough to switch into that mode if you want it).

 

Important techniques: bob and weave while strafing, trust your onboard computer ("OUCH"), and use your radar to shoot enemies while they're still far enough away to dodge their shots. Once you learn to focus on achieving mission objectives instead of blowing everything up, the game starts to hum along harmoniously. Kudos for making use of the MODE button -- the overhead view is critical, and helps to keep you from getting disoriented. If anything the game is a bit on the easy side, but better too easy than too frustrating.

 

I'd give it a B-minus, maaaaybe a B if I'm feeling very charitable. Either way, I think it's one of the better games for the 32X.

[Austin]

5. Metal Head (32X)

 

How long did it take you on the second try?

 

I'd like to snag this one again, but I need to get a replacement 32X head first (mine magically died for some reason ).

[+thegoldenband]

5. Metal Head (32X)

 

How long did it take you on the second try?

 

Normal took about 90 minutes since I used both of my continues. I then tried Hard, messed up the first attempt after 20 minutes (got lost in the maze in Mission 2-3), turned off the game in disgust, came back again after a break, and ran through Hard in just over 70 minutes.

 

Before that, I hadn't played the game in almost a year. It all came back pretty quickly! I actually thought I'd beaten Normal in the past, but checking my notes, I had only finished Easy.

 

I'd like to snag this one again, but I need to get a replacement 32X head first (mine magically died for some reason ).

 

Sorry to hear that. And man, I'm kicking myself for not snagging that $5 32X I had the chance to buy last year at the flea market. (Not to mention the $15 3DO FZ-1!) Good news is, loose 32X "heads" (I like that expression) seem pretty easy to come by, especially without the cable.

 

BTW I assume you've tried opening yours up and reseating the ribbon cable, right?

[Austin]

Normal took about 90 minutes since I used both of my continues. I then tried Hard, messed up the first attempt after 20 minutes (got lost in the maze in Mission 2-3), turned off the game in disgust, came back again after a break, and ran through Hard in just over 70 minutes.

 

That's good to know, thanks! I am looking for more content I could use for my longplay videos where I complete a game in one go and comment on it. I'm slowly running out of options though in terms of games I'm able to finish in that short of time (an hour and a half or less is the sweet spot for these videos). This one sounds doable in the future.

 

BTW I assume you've tried opening yours up and reseating the ribbon cable, right?

 

I've been meaning to, but I've been pretty lazy about it. Is it easy to do, or does it require soldering or anything like that? Maybe that will be a project for this weekend!

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys,

 

Driver! Sony Playstation!

 

Anthony...

[8th lutz]

1.) Castlevania Sympony of the night (Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles version) -PSP

[Austin]

8. Raiden (Jaguar)

 

Was playing this one for the Jaguar HSC last night.

[twoquickcapri]

8. Raiden (Jaguar)

 

Was playing this one for the Jaguar HSC last night.

Just beat it today with 3 credits. If that counts.

[Austin]

Just beat it today with 3 credits. If that counts.

 

I don't see why it shouldn't.

[+thegoldenband]

Missed this earlier, my apologies:

 

That's good to know, thanks! I am looking for more content I could use for my longplay videos where I complete a game in one go and comment on it. I'm slowly running out of options though in terms of games I'm able to finish in that short of time (an hour and a half or less is the sweet spot for these videos). This one sounds doable in the future.

 

Jeez, I could give you a ton of suggestions if you're interested, depending on what systems you're looking to feature. Do you have a list of longplays you've already done? I've only seen a few of your videos so far, but I definitely enjoyed the reviews I watched (Tetris for CD-i was one, IIRC). Actually, I was thinking about PM-ing you with an idea...

 

BTW I assume you've tried opening yours up and reseating the ribbon cable, right?

 

I've been meaning to, but I've been pretty lazy about it. Is it easy to do, or does it require soldering or anything like that?

 

I don't believe it requires any soldering or anything of the sort, but I've never actually done it so I'm really just passing along what I've read. It's usually portrayed as an easy, quick fix though, FWIW.

[Austin]

Jeez, I could give you a ton of suggestions if you're interested, depending on what systems you're looking to feature. Do you have a list of longplays you've already done? I've only seen a few of your videos so far, but I definitely enjoyed the reviews I watched (Tetris for CD-i was one, IIRC). Actually, I was thinking about PM-ing you with an idea...

 

Yes, I have a playlist of just my longplay videos, here:

 

So far, I've done Chip 'n Dale (NES), Castlevania (NES), Castlevania IV (SNES), Castlevania Bloodlines (Genesis), MUSHA (Genesis), DOOM (32X), Gremlins 2 (NES, will be uploading soon), Contra (NES, again, uploading soon), Twin Cobra (NES), Firepower 2000/Super SWIV (SNES), Mega Mans 2, 3, and 4 (NES), Ninja Gaidens 1 & 2 (NES--might upload the trilogy versions in one massive longplay since I've captured the footage already for a special), Guardian Heroes (Saturn), and lastly, Raiden on the Jaguar (will upload shortly).

 

If you have any ideas, I'm all ears! It's just a matter of whether I can actually complete them or not. For instance, there are a few games I have been able to one-credit-clear fairly easily in the past, but seem to have trouble these days (or at least, trouble when I attempt to gather the footage). But yeah, feel free to PM me so I don't clutter this thread any further!

 

Thank you for the feedback on my full reviews as well! I am thinking of going on hiatus with the casual let's play/review hybrids, as well as the longplays, in order to focus on the more in-depth reviews (they take much longer to put together, and I only have so much time!).

 

I don't believe it requires any soldering or anything of the sort, but I've never actually done it so I'm really just passing along what I've read. It's usually portrayed as an easy, quick fix though, FWIW.

 

Well, that's good to know! I didn't get to it last weekend afterall.. Maybe this weekend? Who knows..

[pce_collector]

I beat Rachet & Clank: All 4 One on Normal difficulty yesterday. I'd say it's a nice multiplayer game and worth a try.

[Tempest]

I beat the Final Fantasy remake for the PSP today. The game took me 10 hours total and was ridiculously easy. Was Final Fantasy always this short? I seem to recall it taking me much longer back in the day. Maybe it's because you can save anywhere now which sort of takes all the challenge out of it. That or the revamped magic system. Oh well I had fun anyway, I'm looking forward to playing the FF II remake next.

 

I also beat Skyward Sword the other week. It was alright (typical Zelda), but I did not like the motion controls at all as they made things twice as difficult as they needed to be. I enjoyed Twilight Princess much more.

[ahuffman]

I finished Saints Row the Third for ps3 the other day. Such a great game. Have not reached 100% yet, but I'm working on it.

[Austin]

I beat the Final Fantasy remake for the PSP today. The game took me 10 hours total and was ridiculously easy. Was Final Fantasy always this short? I seem to recall it taking me much longer back in the day. Maybe it's because you can save anywhere now which sort of takes all the challenge out of it. That or the revamped magic system.

 

I am actually in the middle of this one myself. Actually, more towards the end of the game than not I suppose, I just have to get that last orb and then it's just a little bit further than that. The game is definitely easier, and thanks to it being more streamlined in ways (the dash function and being able to buy more than one item at a time most notably), you don't get held up as much as you did in the NES version.

 

Did you go through those new dungeons (the ones you unlock as you defeat the elementals)? I tried the first unlockable cave (earth), and I was destroyed in it. The enemies are much, much more difficult than what I have found in the normal game.

[+atari2600land]

1. Super Mario Bros. (NES) I've beat it before a lot, so don't know if it counts. I've even beat it playing through every world using no warps, which is what I did here. Don't know how I amassed so much of a total in the SMB High-Score contest, my total here is 733,000 something.

[Tempest]

Did you go through those new dungeons (the ones you unlock as you defeat the elementals)? I tried the first unlockable cave (earth), and I was destroyed in it. The enemies are much, much more difficult than what I have found in the normal game.

No I didn't, I generally don't do bonus dungeons beacause they have little to no story and they always feel tacked on (well that's because they are I suppose). Bonus bosses are a different matter, I like those but I don't want to slog through 50 levels to get to one.

[+thegoldenband]

6. Granada (Sega Genesis)

 

I'd finished this one on other difficulty levels over the past year or two, but today I finally sat down and took on Mania. It took me 4-5 attempts, but on my last try of the night, I beat it fairly handily. Mania/6 Lives, 2 of 3 continues used. Perhaps I "should" beat it with the default number of lives (3), but since Mania's not the default setting, that's kind of moot.

 

I was expecting to be frustrated by trying to find my way through the game's often-labyrinthine stages with a relentlessly ticking clock, but I decided to consult the level maps at VGMaps first, and that helped tremendously. After the third playthrough or so I pretty much had the layouts in my head and didn't much need the maps anymore -- which makes sense, since they were 50% in my head anyway, but that last step of understanding the interconnectedness of the whole is something I struggle with, since I'm not a visual thinker. I also took a few tips from the Shmups forum strategy thread, though I think the only things that were 100% new to me were the hidden weapon in Stage 2, the optimal strategy for the Stage 1 boss, and the ability to bypass the gates in Stage 9.

 

Unlike so many other games I beat, I'd actually be interested in playing Granada again just for pleasure, and/or to try to improve. Sure, holding down the strafe button cramped my wrist after a while, and the fact that the clock doesn't reset after you lose a man is kind of stupid. And it's got the patented Wolf Team sprite breakup/flicker issues, now and then. But otherwise, one of the best games I've played on the Genesis, easily, and any caviling about its allegedly minimal graphics (or whatever) would be silly -- the game is tough, fair, and fun, even on Mania! I'd give it a strong A.

[+thegoldenband]

7. Blockade Runner (Intellivision)

 

This obscure title was one of two produced for the Intellivision by a Canadian company called Interphase, which from what I understand was essentially a one-man operation. That last bit is relevant, because both of their releases -- the other one is Sewer Sam -- are tricky, offbeat titles that are seriously hampered by a steep learning curve, unorthodox gameplay mechanics, and a poorly-designed manual that spends more time hyping itself ("Five unique reasons why Blockade Runner is out of this world!") than explaining how to play the game: maybe having a couple non-programmer types on board would've helped with that.

 

Ever since it arrived with my Intellivision in 2009, I've wanted to figure out how to play Blockade Runner. Every so often, I'd pick it up for 15-20 minutes, and end up putting it right back down. But today I finally "got it" and -- thanks to the prompt of the Intellivision HSC here at Atariage -- I finished the game on my fifth attempt of the day.

 

Like Sewer Sam, once I figured out what the game was really about, it turned out to be pretty straightforward and reasonably fun -- but the learning curve is a lot steeper with Blockade Runner. It's akin to games like Starmaster for VCS, or the minefield/asteroid sequences in WarpSpeed for Genesis. But it has a couple twists all its own, including a scoring system that constantly penalizes you and allows for negative points -- it's pretty easy to end up with a score of minus-20k your first time out.

 

Outside of the pleasure of the accomplishment itself, is Blockade Runner fun? Dunno, but I kind of like it nonetheless. Not too many games from that era can be "beaten" so it's a nice change of pace. And it's one of the oldest console games I've ever seen that allows you to configure your controls.

 

All told, I'd give it a C-minus. Anything more would be overly generous; anything less would be uncharitable. But I still have an odd affection for the game, given how long it eluded me.

[+thegoldenband]

8. Fist of the North Star (Game Boy)

 

I picked this fighting game up yesterday for a dollar. To its credit, it has a few interesting ideas like RPG-style leveling up, as well as a password system, responsive controls, and decent music.

 

Unfortunately, none of this matters, since the AI is so pathetically braindead that I was able to beat the game in less than half an hour without losing a match. It's not as offensive as Shadow: War of Succession for the 3DO, but the core problem is the same: if you endlessly spam fireballs, the computer has no answer for it.

 

Maybe it'd have some redeeming qualities in two-player mode, or if you picked a character with no projectiles for the challenge of it. Otherwise, it's a joke, and gets a big ol' F.

[earthdefence]

I beat magic candle for the C64

[Austin]

9. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)

 

This is a refreshing take on the "MetroidVania" formula and is easily my favorite next to SOTN in terms of that style of gameplay. Just finished it for the second time last night (the first time was about a year ago). I think I will probably continue to play it in order to gather all the glyphs and items, and maybe play it through again in the Albus mode (a secondary character, kind of like playing through Symphony of the Night again as Richter).