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Games Beaten In 2020.


Charlie Cat

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Adventures of Lolo (NES)

 

This game is a classic NES puzzle game. The funny thing is that when this game was released, I had no interest in playing it. I would recommend using save states or passwords to complete this game. There are some really good puzzle games for the NES that I have enjoyed this past year, Fire N Ice being another one of them. I'm trying out some of the Adventures of Lolo hacks and some of the puzzles are extremely difficult, which in a certain way makes it interesting to me.

Edited by Nintendo64
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60. Wagyan Land (Famicom)

 

Not going to grade this because the word game that serves as the closing boss battle may have been messed up in translation, making it almost unwinnable (I used savestates to help me do so, after playing the rest of the game legit). I've always liked the crisp, simplistic graphics, though. n/a

 

61. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Master System)

 

The first half of this game is grindy, but kind of fun and relatively straightforward. The second half is a long slog through a huge tower, but the game designers didn't bother to use any visual cues to differentiate between the different floors, and the level cap is so low that all combat has already become pointless by this point.

 

It's an irritating slog, complete with obscure triggers and lengthy backtracking, that nearly ruins the game -- but one thing helps mitigate the damage: you can save anywhere, anytime, and there are five slots. That's what you call "class". C.

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62. Ghostbusters (Master System)

 

Far superior to the disastrous NES game, and in many ways, this is a textbook example of how to do a computer-to-console port right. And the feature allowing you to keep your extra money after a failed run? Love it.

 

But I still remember an old Electronic Games feature on Ghostbusters, ca. 1985 or so. Though supportive, it noted that the gameplay was ultimately a bit "cut-and-dried". Unfortunately that's true here as well: once you've got the routine down, there's not much left but a middling endgame. C+.

 

63. Altered Beast (Master System)

 

Meanwhile, this arcade-to-console port plays like a computer game, in the worst sense: the graphics chug horribly, almost as though the SMS had no hardware sprites and was doing everything via framebuffer. (Maybe the whole thing is done with background tiles, like Golden Axe?)

 

Meanwhile the controls are laggy and eat inputs constantly, especially when the action gets hectic. Plus, despite the system's vaunted color palette, you get a lot of the same pink-and-green graphics that plague too many Master System titles.

 

And remember, this is all based on one of the most unforgiving games of its kind, with no health pickups, no way to earn extra lives, and level design that expects memorization. Yet the porting process only made it more unforgiving, as you can easily burn through an entire health bar by getting hit once and being juggled by crowds of enemies.

 

Oh, and the special wolves that give you those crucial power-up balls? Yeah, sometimes they don't bother to spawn if the screen's too crowded.

 

So Altered Beast is kind of an abomination, really, and probably it should never have been released. The choppy gameplay indicates that they wanted something that would look good in screenshots, gameplay be damned, but why this game (or Golden Axe for that matter)? It could only have undercut the Genesis and disappointed Master System owners.

 

All that said...after a day's worth of trying (and a whole lot of swearing), I gradually went from getting my butt handed to me, to 1CC'ing the game and feeling like I'd overcome a real challenge in doing so.

 

And that experience is the epitome of Altered Beast -- so I guess this port can't be quite as bad as I wanted to think it is, since it really is Altered Beast on the Master System. D.

 

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On 7/12/2020 at 12:50 AM, Nintendo64 said:

That's a good suggestion, but does this game really have unlimited continues though? It seemed like you got unlimited lives and continues when i played Strider 2.

Yeah, it's got unlimited continues. It wouldn't have been bad if you started back at a reasonable check point like the original.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Breath of Fire (Super Famicom)

I've been on a bit of a JRPG kick lately, and have only barely played any games in this series so decided to start from the beginning.

The game seems to have a reputation as a brutal combat-focused game with little story, which is exactly the type of game I was in the mood for!

 

Unfortunately, it's not a great game.  There is hardly any variety with a very limited set of enemies and background tiles (towns all tend to look alike, and dungeons vary only mostly by color).  You end up fighting the same handful of enemies throughout the entire game, just with a different color palette and more HPs.  Combat is pretty much brain-dead; besides the first hour or so where you are unbelievably weak, the game is a complete cakewalk and I spent the entire game (including most bosses) just using the auto-battle command.

 

The insane encounter rate just makes it more tedious.  You seem to get into a random encounter every 5-6 steps whether in dungeons or traveling the world.  You also don't get reliable overworld transportation until the very end, making it a chore to explore.  This is a huge shame, because one of the good things about BoF is all the hidden stuff you can find by exploring the map and making use of exploration abilities you gain as the game progresses.

 

The dungeons are actually pretty decent, which is a surprise considering most 16-bit console RPGs aped the linear dungeon design (full of treasure chests with potions and tiny amounts of gold) of Final Fantasy IV.  Instead, BoF has genuine mazelike dungeons with treasures that are often actually worth going out of your way to find.

 

I had heard criticisms that the story was non-existent.  If only that were the case.  The characters are all pretty lame and the story couldn't get more generic, even though the game tries act like a big boy and pull a SURPRISING TWIST at the end.

 

I'm glad I finished it, partly because I didn't really enjoy the last 15 hours of it or so, but mostly because the game I really want to play is BoF3 and now I'm one games closer to that!

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Akumajou Dracula X: Gekka no Yasoukyoku (aka Symphony of the Night) (PSX)

I completed this one back in the day, so it was fun to revisit it some 23 years later!

There's very little to say about this game that hasn't been said already.  For better or worse, it completely transformed the series from unforgiving hardcore side scrollers to Metroid-like exploration games, but has never been bested by any of its seemingly endless GBA/DS sequels.

 

Gekka was clearly made with love.  The 2D art is some of the best ever in a game full of beautifully animated sprites even with their own unique death animations.  Granted, many of these are just ripped from Rondo of Blood, but there are still plenty of unique enemies and animations.  There are TONS of secret things to discover that are completely optional, and your choice of weapon can completely change how you play the game.  This time around, I forced myself to stick with the fast but short-range knives, which made me rely a lot more on my sub-weapon (usually holy water) for more difficult enemies.

 

Having said that, Gekka is pretty poor as an action game.  Like Metroid, much of the "level design" is completely flat corridors full of just one or two different enemies repeated over and over.  Platforming consists mainly of tower-like vertical shafts with evenly placed platforms that are mindless to navigate.  Finally, the upside-down castle, while a nice surprise, requires you to constantly use the bat or mist to get around as the castle was clearly not designed to work both rightside-up and upside-down.

 

However, the exploration makes it all worth it... especially during the second-half of the game, where the entire castle is pretty much available to you for some exciting non-linear exploration.  Besides, with such an amazing soundtrack from beginning to end (almost... that vocal track during the credits is embarrassingly bad) you almost don't mind running down all those boring flat corridors.

Edited by newtmonkey
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5) Old School Musical (Switch)

 

A true love letter to the 8/16 bit era, with a few new-school gags for good measure. A great run for anyone with any sort of interest in chipmunk music. Fairly short story-wise, but gains a lot of added playtime via chicken murder (this will make more sense once you play it!)

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6)Ape Out (Switch)

 

I picked up this on sale a couple months ago & largely ignored it. Which was a mistake on my part. This is great fun, & the music is incredible- the improv jazz backing creates a rhythm game without rhythm, for lack of a better way to put it.  Highly recommended! (Also glad I never have to play 'Wreck' again- that stage took me nearly as long as the rest of the game!)

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Super Mario Land (GB[SGB])

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I had a few minutes to spare and didn't want to do anything more substantial, so I finally decided to just get this game over with.

 

A few minutes later I had completed the game with 18 extra lives in reserve.  It's a very short and easy game; I played it using the Super Game Boy and it almost felt like cheating.  I think any difficulty this game had was due to playing it on its original hardware.

 

It's somewhat a mess of a game.  The platforming is pretty awful as the game begins filling its stages with moving and dropping platforms around halfway through, but you are forced to deal with them with a slippery and inaccurate jumping mechanic.  You can get used to the controls, but they never feel comfortable.  The shooting stages are simple but are actually a lot of fun; in fact, I would have preferred that all of the X-3 stages were shooting stages, as it would have broken the dull platforming up a bit.

 

Graphically, it's nothing great.  When it was first released it was amazing to see a handheld game actually scrolling and looking somewhat like what you'd play on the NES.  In hindsight, the humble Game Boy was capable of MUCH more and the fact of the matter is that, while the simple backgrounds can be forgiven on handheld, Super Mario Land can't use the hardware as an excuse for its poorly drawn sprites.

 

It's got some decent tunes but there's simply too few of them for a 12-stage game.  I really like the sound effects in this one (especially the enemy death sounds) with one major exception... the sound that plays when you collect coins is extremely shrill and annoying!

 

Overall, it's a fun enough game that's worth playing and should only take you around 10-15 minutes to complete.

Edited by newtmonkey
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64. Phantasy Star (SMS)

 

It's good! I get tired of opening chests all the time, mind you, and money doesn't mean much for the last 25% of the game. And it'd be nice to have some way of recharging magic points while on the road, or getting non-garbage item drops from enemies.

 

But considering how early an effort this is, it's remarkably slick, polished, and user-friendly, and that last 25% is much less of a hassle than I'd expected. A.

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65. Quartet (SMS)

 

Has its charm, but the reversal of jump and fire buttons -- something that doesn't usually bother me -- turns out to be a real annoyance in this one, as does the relentless, ceaseless respawning of enemies.

 

Also, you get the feeling that whoever put the manual together realized that Japanese-style "to win, you must uncover obscure secrets with zero clues" gaming wasn't going to fly in the US, as the booklet gives away just about all of those secrets.

 

Without that to pad its length artificially, Quartet is really quite slight, and not really that tough once you learn the levels and location of health power-ups. I beat it in well under 2 hours, after only having played it briefly once or twice before.

 

Perversely, there's a streak of real fun in there -- much more so than in, say, Vigilante or Kung Fu Kid or ESWAT, but still not as much as there should have been. C-.

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7) Yakuza 0 (PS4)

I genuinely wish

I had found this series 

Back in the PS2 days

 

Seriously- I played Kiwami, took a lil' break, and jumped into Zero. Now I will take a lil' break then start Kiwami 2. While I shop around for the remastered collection & song of life. I feel like I'm basically binging these games & I'm  COMPLETELY FINE WITH THAT!

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On 7/27/2020 at 10:23 PM, Nintendo64 said:

Adventures of Lolo (NES)

 

This game is a classic NES puzzle game. The funny thing is that when this game was released, I had no interest in playing it. I would recommend using save states or passwords to complete this game. There are some really good puzzle games for the NES that I have enjoyed this past year, Fire N Ice being another one of them. I'm trying out some of the Adventures of Lolo hacks and some of the puzzles are extremely difficult, which in a certain way makes it interesting to me.

This is a great game!
I remember I bought it back when I was a kid based solely on the screenshots on the box, because I thought it would be like Zelda lol.  Instead of being disappointed that it's actually a puzzle game, I got very addicted to it and had a great time completing it.  It's good to see it getting some love here.

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Contra (FC)

I do believe this is the first time I've finished this without the 30 lives code, back when I was a kid!

I ended up continuing twice, with several lives spent on developing some good boss strategies... so I think with a bit of practice I could get it down to a one-credit clear.

 

It was fun playing through the Famicom version, as it has added background animation effects in a few levels.  It also shows a map screen in between levels, which is nice I guess, but doesn't really add anything.  I think I prefer the pacing of the US version, which just sends you right to the next stage after a brief score screen.

 

This is really a great game, and at 8 stages the length of the game is just perfect.  The "behind the back stages" are a nice way to break things up, but I think two is enough.  I also like how each stage offers something a bit different, with some stages focusing more on shooting and others more on platforming.  The bosses are all extremely fun to fight and you really feel badass when you develop a winning strategy for each.

 

Graphically, even though it's a somewhat early release it looks great even now.  Easily one of the better looking NES/FC games, with the FC getting the slight edge with its animated backgrounds.  It's got a great soundtrack, too.

 

---

 

I just received the 8bitDo N30 2.4g, so I thought this would be a good test of it.  It passed with flying colors!  No noticeable lag, excellent dpad, and it looks (and feels) VERY close to the original NES pad.  The dpad feels a bit slippery, though, and would have been better with a matte finish.  I think the dpad is ever so slightly better on the RetroUSB 2.4g controller, but you can't go wrong with either controller imo.

Edited by newtmonkey
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66. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (NES)

 

Some unusual decisions went into this action platformer -- right down to the inclusion of a 99-continue code in the manual (!), which I obviously didn't use. One wonders if the designers started out with the intention of making a tough and challenging game, but backed off and ended up offering lavish health power-ups and easy boss fights.

 

Anyway, it plays well, looks good, and doesn't offer much challenge at all once you get on its wavelength. Funny thing is when I first played the game, I had a hard time with it, but once I sat down on real hardware I beat it on my second attempt. B-.

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Last Alert (Turbo)

 

A really fun run n' gun for the for Turbo/PCE!  Decent graphics, a great CD audio soundtrack, and some of the best worst voice acting of all time (in the US version anyway).

 

Across 20 or so missions you'll shoot hundreds of guys, save hostages, and plant bombs (but mostly just shoot hundreds of guys).  It's a nice variety of levels, though I would have liked a bit more variety, as only a handful of the levels involve anything other than running from one side of a base to the other whilst murdering every single person.

 

Holding the fire button allows you to continue to fire in that direction while moving in another direction, so you always feel like you are in total control.  You've also got some special weapons you can collect along the way, though these are mostly only useful during boss encounters.  One interesting thing here is that you character actual gains experience and levels up, which gets you a longer life bar and upgraded weapons.  I would have loved to see these RPG aspects expanded (different classes? earning money from missions for upgrades?) in a sequel, but alas the series ended with just a single game.

 

I have just two complaints. First, at 20 stages long it feels ever so slightly long, though the game saves your progress after every cutscene.  Second, it's WAY TOO EASY.  The game has unlimited continues and even refills your life bar completely if you continue, though you do lose your special weapons.  Having said that, not every game needs to be a challenge, and Last Alert is fun enough that the lack of difficulty doesn't ruin the experience.

 

Highly recommended, but make sure you play the US version to enjoy that horrible dubbing!

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Edited by newtmonkey
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On 9/6/2020 at 11:22 PM, newtmonkey said:

This is a great game!
I remember I bought it back when I was a kid based solely on the screenshots on the box, because I thought it would be like Zelda lol.  Instead of being disappointed that it's actually a puzzle game, I got very addicted to it and had a great time completing it.  It's good to see it getting some love here.

For some reason the game just didn't resonate with me when I was a kid. I don't ever remember playing it, but I remember seeing it in Nintendo Power. It was just after I starting playing Fire N' Ice, when I wanted to start looking for other puzzle games for the NES. This series is a great one, and if you get a chance try looking for the remakes and hacks of this game because they are all quite well done too.

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8: Parappa the Rapper 2 (PS2)

Nothing super notable here- it's more Parappa gameplay, but the tracks aren't nearly as memorable as the first game. I was more surprised at how hard it is to get a reasonably priced copy right now! I ended up buying the case/manual and game separately to get it under 40 bucks. Weird spike, or is this becoming rare? Guess we'll see!

 

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