Games Beaten In 2013!

[Christophero Sly]

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)

 

Inexplicably, Uncharted 3 backpedals on nearly every improvement the series made in its second installment. The level designs are comparatively awful. The wonderful sense of scale that permeated the second game has been drastically scaled back. The narrative, never a series strong-point, is especially deficient here, being little more than a wandering series of contrivances attempting to weave together a series of disparate setpieces. Gunplay is as poorly choreographed as you'll find in a AAA title. Enemy AI is pathetic and the terms "bullet sponge" and "spawn closet" are given enhanced definition. And there's something completely "off" about the aiming. Melee is clunky and repetitive, and given far too much emphasis in the game. All sense of flow has been lost, and the action is constantly being interrupted by scripted scenes. To be fair, the second half of the game is much better than the first half, but by the time the game begins to hit its stride, it's all over. C

Edited May 11, 2013 by Christophero Sly

[NightSprinter]

Beat the "RPG Mode" of Pinball Quest earlier tonight. Gotta say, once one has the Devil Flippers, Permanent Bumpers, and some center bumpers it becomes kinda hard to lose.

[+thegoldenband]

It's been a while since I've posted in here, so time for a big update:

 

16. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Sega Genesis)

 

Licensed platformer had some promising ideas, but cheap hits, respawning enemies, and ill-conceived stage design drag it down. C-.

 

17. Pac-Attack (Sega Genesis)

 

Tetris ripoff has a decent puzzle mode, and the inclusion of Pac-Man makes a surprising amount of sense. Good soundtrack too, but that's not enough to elevate the middling gameplay. C+.

 

18. Mickey’s Ultimate Challenge (Sega Genesis)

 

Shovelware aimed at kids, with dull, repetitive gameplay. Decent graphics, though. D.

 

19. Fatal Labyrinth (Sega Genesis)

 

The roguelike-with-a-tiny-ROM gets a lot of flak, but I think it's basically a successful effort, despite the horrendously repetitive music. B-.

 

20. Chester Cheetah: Too Cool to Fool (Sega Genesis)

 

Sketchy controls, poor design, surprisingly crisp/clear graphics. It could be worse. D.

 

21. Growl (Sega Genesis)

 

Beat-'em-up gets some points for the goofy theme and high onscreen enemy count. But the lack of a 2P mode is lame, and it's way too easy (1 LC'd the game the first time playing it, and then did it again on Hard!) and repetitive. C-.

 

22. Wimbledon Championship Tennis (Sega Genesis)

 

Once you figure out that Manual control is unplayable and switch to Semi-Auto, it's a decent little tennis game for a while, but the difficulty curve is stupid -- the enemy AI is either pathetically easy or inhumanly difficult, with no in-between. And the game's implementation of overhead smashes has nothing in common with real tennis, which ruins the gameplay against the strongest opponents. C.

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys:

 

Panic Restaurant. NES

 

 

Anthony...

[doomwaves]

27. Raiden - Atari Jaguar

 

Excellent port! One of the main reasons I invested in the system, and was most definitely not a let down! I must say, this seems a bit slower than say, Raiden Trad on the Genny, but still very enjoy able. Personally, I am a fan of the Jag controller, so I found it very comfortable to play!

 

Honestly tho, I haven't played a port of Raiden that I didn't like. Now, to find a copy of The Raiden Project on the Playstation!

[doomwaves]

28. Iron Soldier - Jaguar

 

Whew! This one was tough for me.. Nothing like a big boxy mech blowin stuff up! Fun experience! Anxious to play 2, then 3 on the Playstation!

[+thegoldenband]

23: Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls (Genesis)

 

Never having played this before, I 1cc'd it to an Easy Incomplete (i.e. "now try a harder level" instead of fighting the Shadow Master), beat it on Normal using 1 continue, and 1cc'd it on Hard and Pro. All this was achieved on my first try (in each playthrough), and all using Jimmy Lee. Beating the game on Hard qualified me for the "good" ending, and Pro gave me an extra code at the end.

 

Total trash that blatantly rips off Street Fighter II and can't even get it right. But at least it's not actively unpleasant to play, and I can imagine it having some small amusement value in 2P mode. D.

[doomwaves]

29. New Super Mario Brothers - Nintendo DS

 

I love this game!! Excellent, "back to roots" style 2D Mario game.. Hard as nails in parts, but there were so many 1 ups, power ups & coins that it was easy enough to power thru! I spent about 8 hours in this game, real time. This is including all of the deaths (which were quite frequent). Recommended for anyone who like platformers with a DS

 

Can't wait to try the Sequel!

[doomwaves]

30. Dust: An Elysian Tale - Xbox Live Arcade

 

Fantastic hack-n-slash/action/platformer with RPG elements. There. Is that enough genres for you?

 

Available only on the Xbox Live Arcade as far as I know. Its a wonderful game. Very Metroid-vania, in that there is a lot of exploring to do, and lots of treasures & side quests. Absolutely beautiful colors & animations. Fantastic Voice acting, and a very well put together story!

[Cybergoth]

Just finished all 5 levels of Space Invaders Extreme on the 360

[onmode-ky]

Just finished all 5 levels of Space Invaders Extreme on the 360

 

I don't know if the Xbox 360 version differs from the originals, but my PSP version of the game has Darius-style level branching. So, while one run of the game is 5 levels long, there are other levels not played in that run. Assuming the 360 version didn't change that, did you make it through every actual level or just one path? I was never able to beat the hardest path's final level. In retrospect, it might be doable for me if I start a new session and play well enough (quitting and restarting levels as necessary) so that I reach that final level with several more lives than in my "current" save. However, that would probably be more quitting and restarting than I could tolerate.

 

onmode-ky

[doomwaves]

31. Super Mario Brothers: The Lost Levels - SNES (Allstars)

 

Brutal, but fun! No explanation necessary.

[Christophero Sly]

Bioshock (360)

 

The first half of Bioshock is amazing. Until somewhere around the midway point, I was utterly engrossed in the game. Unfortunately, in the second half, the narrative falters badly, and the gameplay rapidly turns stale, repetitious, and conventional. I can almost pinpoint the moment the game ran out of steam, and from that point on it stumbled to reach the finish line. In the final few chapters, the game really began to drag and I just wanted it to be over. Bioshock doesn't live up to its epic billing, but it's still a good game with unique ideas and a superb first half. I give it a B.

[Cybergoth]

I don't know if the Xbox 360 version differs from the originals, but my PSP version of the game has Darius-style level branching. So, while one run of the game is 5 levels long, there are other levels not played in that run. Assuming the 360 version didn't change that, did you make it through every actual level or just one path? I was never able to beat the hardest path's final level. In retrospect, it might be doable for me if I start a new session and play well enough (quitting and restarting levels as necessary) so that I reach that final level with several more lives than in my "current" save. However, that would probably be more quitting and restarting than I could tolerate.

 

Hm... I'm sorry, I don't think I saw anything that looked like a branching path to me. I think you can get different ranks for each level though, maybe I just wasn't good enough to unlock a different path. Basically I just played the normal game until I got the credits rolling

[Cybergoth]

Almost forgot, during vacation I finished Ghost Trick for the DS. Nice little game, albeit much more story than challenge

[doomwaves]

32. Super Mario World - SNES

 

The Mario streak continues.. This is a masterpiece! My favorite so far... SMB3 may be next, just so I can compare them and get an honest opinion as to which is truly better.

[doomwaves]

33. Super Mario Brothers 3 - SNES (Allstars)

 

I am really torn. Can't decide the victor between this one, and SMW... Both are really brilliant. Onto SMB2..

 

34. Legend of Zelda - NES (Played on 3DS)

 

Beaten this one several times before, although is is probably the most complete run to date. 6 hours, all items, hearts & swords. Now, onto the second quest!

Edited June 4, 2013 by doomwaves

[doomwaves]

35. Super Mario Brothers 2 - SNES (Allstars)

 

Least favorite Mario.. Still a good game tho.. I found this one to be a lot harder..

[Segataritensoftii]

Rayman Origins (PC Windows)

 

Ethay Ubblebay Eamerdray eakspay biubay ubbiday. Ellway alancedbay, allengingchay, nterestingiay, adnay eryvay, eryvay unfay. Etsgay itequay ardhay ybay ethay ndeay.

 

Thube Bubububle Drubeamuber spubeaks Ubububi Dubububi Wubell Bubalubanced, chuballubengubing, Ubintuberubestubing, uband vuberuby, vuberuby fubun. Gubets qubite hubard buby thube ubend.

 

The Bubble Dreamer speaks Ubbi Dubbi. Well balanced, challenging, interesting, and very, very fun. Gets quite hard by the end.

 

Edited June 5, 2013 by Segataritensoftii

[Segataritensoftii]

14. Frogger (PlayStation)

 

I'd unlocked the final level (Tropical Trouble) a while ago, but last night I got the rest of the yellow/golden frogs, and opened up the temple gates at the end of Tropical Trouble to access the FMV ending. I could have called it beaten there, but I went back and beat the three levels I hadn't completed, all of which were in the Sewer Zone (including the aggravating Uncanny Crusher).

 

I consulted a walkthrough a few times -- once to tell me where the yellow frog in the Desert Zone was, and twice when I reached obstacles that seemed physically impossible to overcome -- but those were very late in the game, when I was sick of replaying the same levels over and over just to get a 5-second opportunity to figure out where I was supposed to go. Then just for my own amusement, I beat the overall high score of 250k, but the game crashed before I could save it.

 

Most criticism of this game seems to revolve around the controls, but outside of the slippery ice/running water areas, they're fine -- only once in a great while did I feel like Frogger wasn't responding to my input. Instead, the game's terrible misstep is its repeated, misguided habit of denying the player enough visual information to make informed decisions.

 

This starts even from the first level, in which turtles give you no visual cue before diving underwater. Since all the turtles look alike, you have no way to quickly judge whether you can safely jump on a turtle's back, and no warning before it kills you instantly by diving. Compare the original Frogger, where they change color for a second or so before diving.

 

And this sort of thing happens over and over again: forced, tight zooms on the game's camera, ensuring that you can't see more than a step or two in front of you. Landscape objects that come between the camera and the player, so that you can't see enemies coming or can't see where Frogger is. Automatic camera rotation that suddenly changes the entire control scheme, leaving you little time to react. Unclear Z-axis placement in levels where you're expected to navigate complex, multilevel pathways or pull off huge jumps...

 

The list goes on and on. Combine that with utterly unforgiving collision detection and you've got a game that depends mostly on memorization and, more often than not, is intensely frustrating.

 

And that's a real shame because I actually think there's a very good, even great game buried under the frustration here. The stage designs are smart, and the process of figuring them out is rewarding -- but too often you have to replay the same segments over and over again just to get a crack at figuring out where you're supposed to go next. Ultimately, that's just no fun.

 

Dock a few more points for the mediocre documentation, the stupid absence of autosave (you have to remember to manually save after beating a level/before turning the game off, or you get to do it all again!), the lack of an immediate "Retry?" option (forcing you to manually re-select each level from a long menu), and the insufferable, near-unskippable "GAME OVER" tune that adds insult to injury, and you've got yourself a D.

Have you tried the sequel, Swampy's Revenge? It apparently fixes a lot of issues with the first game.

[+thegoldenband]

^Yep, I actually beat it before the first game! Swampy's Revenge is a significantly better game for sure, though it has its share of frustrations too.

[Cybergoth]

Just finished my fourth Fire Emblem title, "Path of Radiance" on the Cube. Two more to go, with "Shadow Dragon" already sitting on the shelf

[+thegoldenband]

24. Dead Heat Scramble (Game Boy)

 

Half-pipe racer has some promising ideas, but the gameplay doesn't really go anywhere, the controls are iffy, and your fate is far too dependent on random item drops. At least it's got unlimited continues, but on a portable system where battery life is an issue, why not just have passwords? D+.

 

25. Saint Sword (Genesis)

 

Not a bad little action-platformer, but it's too easy, and I was able to 1LC it on Hard within a couple days of first playing the game. The Ghosts 'n' Goblins move of forcing you to beat the game twice is bogus, and the animal transformations are underutilized. But it's still kinda fun to play. C+.

 

26. Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (3DO)

 

Played through this, uh, "game" with my fiancée tonight. It's kind of pointless to talk about how awful it is: that's a given, as is its grade of F. That said, we were even more amused than we expected to be. There are plenty of dull stretches, and it sucks that you can't skip ahead in (most of) the cutscenes slideshows, but there's a certain bizarro Dadaist sensibility to it which made us laugh our butts off on several occasions.

[Segataritensoftii]

Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (Playstation)

 

I always liked how the Spyro games made the collection part of 3D collectathon platformers palatable and even fun. This game is no exception, although the orb challenges tend to get pretty frequently annoying. I forgot how much I hated the speedways in Spyro and then ended up remembering that they weren't so bad after all. I kept thinking how interesting it might be to have multiplayer Spyro battles while playing the Ripto fight.

[+chicgamer]

I finally finished playing through Tomb Raider: Legend earlier this week. I'm working my way through Tomb Raider Underworld now.