A Winner Is You! (2012)

[The Jackal]

Sonic: Before the Sequel

Awesome, kickass fangame. This is what Sonic 4 SHOULD of been. Highly inventive and absolutely addictive gameplay. Just beat the game, earning the Normal ending. Seriously, you NEED to play this; you can grab it here if you're interested: https://sites.google.com/site/sonicbts/





Now, just need to replay it to get the Good/Super Sonic ending...

[green.eyes]

Gamecube- Luigi Mansion
Wii- Skylanders Spyro's Adventure (including fully leveling up all 37 characters)
Game Gear- Crystal Warriors

[goldenband]

49. Shamus (Game Boy Color)

I'm told this port of the Atari 8-bit game -- which plays like a cross between Berzerk and, say, Temple of Apshai -- is actually relatively faithful, though it offers certain amenities that weren't in the original, e.g. a password system. Once I realized that mapmaking was essential, I was able to quickly progress through the game and reach the ending.

But not the best ending: that would require, as it turned out, 3000 points (which hasn't before been noted on the Internet, AFAIK). And that's pretty close to the absolute maximum that you can score in the game.

(The game offers you a series of taunts at lower scores, at roughly 500-point intervals; if you get more than 2500 but less than 3000 points, it simply says "Oh dear.")

So what seemed like an easy (and extremely repetitive) port is, instead, a rather challenging (and extremely repetitive) port, because it's quite hard to make 3000 points. You get 1 point per robot slain, and a 10-point bonus for clearing the room of enemies, so over the course of ~128 rooms you can earn around 2500-2600 points, plus another 500 or so from certain (non-random) bonus items.

But if your character dies, if you leave the room and re-enter, if you touch any items in the room, or (I assume) if you take too long, then you get no further points from that particular room. However, the enemies still respawn when you leave and re-enter; you just don't get any points from killing them.

You can only afford to screw up three or four times during the entire game; otherwise you simply won't have enough points at the end. And passwords don't preserve your score, making that whole functionality essentially pointless: you have to play through the whole thing in one sitting.

So it turns into something more like Pitfall! -- a marathon of a game that requires near-perfection -- but unlike Pitfall!, which is always the same, the enemies are placed randomly in Shamus and that can easily screw you over. Add to that the game's control issues; a certain enemy's habit of teleporting through your shots; and the fact that the game itseif is dark and hard to see (at least on a GBA), and you end up with a seriously rage-inducing task.

Ultimately, I managed to get 3045 points and the best ending (which was just a couple lines of text, like all the others). But even though it didn't take that long, beating Shamus was a frustrating process that just wasn't much fun. 3/10.

BTW the game has a few interesting quirks: a valid password is automatically triggered once all digits are correct (which is unexpected, but has its charm); the pause mode is triggered by the START button, but can be canceled by any other button (which is a bad idea); and the in-game credits list two developers, both of whom are female!

[QuickSciFi]

9. Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance - PS2



I would rate it a 3/10, and I'd be extremely generous. The difficulty level is all over the place. You can't tell which level is next unless you memorize the last entrance (which is nearly impossible, because this game is ridden with impossible camera angles and auto-rotation that will drive you insane!). You can tell someone watched Gladiator (The Movie) and a quasi-good idea sprung-up in his mind, but that was the end of it. Broken gameplay, sub-par graphics for a 2003 6th gen game and extremely dull execution (no pun intended); so dull it feels like an early PS1 game that has been blurred to look like an N64 title. I wouldn't be surprised if this game could be flawlessly downported to the N64. The game lacks in every aspect of production (except voice acting; which went to the shitter anyways because of terrible sound editing). If this game has any real difficulty it's because of its broken gameplay that brings you cheap deaths. You could be fighting an enemy and all of the sudden you loose control somehow (or the character lags tremendously). I thought it was my wireless controller at first, but I changed my batteries and that was not it. Just about the only real enjoyment was fighting the bosses. It's the only time you see any real dynamicity in the gameplay. Even the "puzzles" (if you can call them that) were as plain as could be (seriously, it's like a five year-old was in charge of level design).

Excuse me now while I print this IGN Review and wipe my ass with it.

[The Jackal]

Freedom Planet (Demo)


Yeah, it's only a demo, but what a demo! The game is a mix of Sonic and Rocket Knight, with some Ristar added in for good measure. One to watch out for.

[NeoZeedeater]

and the in-game credits list two developers, both of whom are female!

That depends on your definition. I'm assuming Cathryn Mataga (the original's creator) is one listed. She was born a dude.

Freedom Planet (Demo)

That looks so choppy. It looks like it has potential, though.

[The Jackal]

That looks so choppy. It looks like it has potential, though.

It lags in a few places (pushing blocks for example), but it is a demo build after all, it'll be fixed. Also, that video I posted, I didn't recorded right (I'm still pretty new at recording/capturing); here's a new vid I made a little while ago, which I *think* corrects the FPS issue with the first video:

[goldenband]

50. After Burner III (Sega CD)

Beat Easy and Normal yesterday, and Expert today. I'll post some thoughts in the review thread, but I'd give it 4/10, though oddly enough I think it's a slightly better game than the review (which gives it 5/10) makes it sound.

That depends on your definition. I'm assuming Cathryn Mataga (the original's creator) is one listed. She was born a dude.

That seems to happen a lot! Oh well, at least there was one...

[N.Saibot]

Attachment 5296

I have beaten Wonderboy in MW today. This game is so good! Especially towards the end once you get the best sword. One of the best endings too. I'd give it a 9/10, just because of the last hour of gameplay.

[goldenband]

51. Terra Cresta (NES)

It feels a bit strange to claim to have "beaten" a game that loops endlessly, but by beating the full cycle of bosses I met AdamL's criteria for victory, which are the standard they're using for the "beat every NES game in a year" drive over at NA.

Actually the game doesn't "just repeat from the beginning" after the last boss, in that it's harder on the second loop and new enemies are introduced. But the bosses follow the exact same cycle, and I have no reason to doubt that the game loops endlessly. In any event, I made it to the end of the second loop -- in fact, I got through most of the loop on one ship! -- but missed out on a golden opportunity to KO the final boss, so I didn't quite loop it twice.

Anyway, it's a fun if simplistic shmup; though marred by disappearing bullets and repetitive stage layout, the basic gameplay is pretty good. 6/10.

[QuickSciFi]

10. Evolution: The World of Sacred Device - Sega Dreamcast


Finally! I've been waiting to play this game since it was first announced prior to the Dreamcast's release; nearly 14 years now. This is definitely my first RPG with randomly-generated dungeons. I had always had a preconceived notion that without a set layout, I might loose the nostalgia factor that is involved in memorizing the dungeons; but at least with this game, the dungeons are easy enough to traverse without any help (unlike any other RPG I've ever played). This sure opens-up a world of possibilities for me. Already I have a couple of DS RPGs I've been putting-off just for this; now I can't wait to see what they're like.

I beat it in exactly 20 hours (level 75), then I went-on for another 15 hours revisiting the dungeons and trying to pay-off my debt. This is definitely my kind of game (turn-based RPGs in general). I could play them for hours on end. To be honest, it was a really easy RPG (very minimal grinding, until you get to the "final boss"). I ended up at level 93 (which was a nice touch to be mentioned-upon by one of the characters on the sequel; very neat touch ). It was also a nice surprise to see that virtually all (if at least 95%) of the enemies and battle system took its inspiration on the Medical field. At any rate, not to spoil it or anything, but this first part (at least) is not over until you beat one final dungeon and pay-off another "incurred" debt (part of the game's design). I found it very endearing, so I went on to revisit every dungeon all over again. It worked-out perfectly (I managed to pay-off the whole debt by the second dungeon run). I can't say I'd be doing the same for other RPGs, though; but this one was just awesome. It was simple and on the easy side (I finished with the highest ranking of "S"); but then again, I was pretty thorough on this one.


11. Evolution 2: Far-Off Promise - Sega Dreamcast


As can be expected with any sequel, several changes took place in the controls and overall layout, but these were subtle-enough not to feel too invasive. The first game was very simplistic , so part 2 felt a bit more refined in some areas (the only part in which I thought it lacked from the first one was the Dungeon design. Part 1 had beautiful, individualized layouts (the crystaline dungeons were particularly awesome). In part 2, however, it feels like they had a preset engine and simply changed textures all around (although, at the same time, these new dungeons do look and feel easier on the eye overall and much easier to traverse).

I beat it at level 63. I really didn't expect the final boss to be that easy (the one before that one was the only real hard fight, actually. I had to go back and level-up from 43 to 52 just to beat it). I also finished the tower; but I don't think I'll be replaying the entire game all-over again, though (unlike the first one where you can continue playing one extra dungeon and also the rest of them to pay off a debt, you don't get to keep your level on part 2 after you beat the final boss. It's more of an alternate ending type thing in Far-Off Promise, so I don't really feel I'm missing-out on much). What can I say? I loved this game. Although, I think I may have enjoyed part 1 a lot more. They're no Skies of Arcadia or Grandia II, but I still enjoyed both of them very much. And, to be honest, they're both great games. I'm glad I got to play them

[goldenband]

52. Alleyway (Game Boy)

I'd like to say I had fun with this Breakout clone, but the truth is, it's a drag. Between the repetitive gameplay, the lack of bells and whistles, and the tedious stage designs, there's really not much to enjoy. In order to finish it, you have to play it for 90 minutes straight, and by the end my eyes were giving me hell. It's the kind of game where success gives you little feeling of accomplishment, and failure (i.e. losing a life) just makes you feel stupid and/or mad at yourself.

So as they say in Tomcat Alley when a missile misses the mark, "no joy". But at least the controls work well. 3/10.

[QuickSciFi]

12. From the Abyss - Nintendo DS



This game was ultra simple, and that's probably why I enjoyed it very much. It somehow reminded me of the time I played through Crystal Warriors on the Game Gear. From the Abyss is an action RPG with similar gameplay format as the Evolution games on the Dreamcast (including randomly-generated dungeons). The only real difference, apart from being a different game with a different plot, is that, in town, you have a set screen in the style of old text adventures (except here you also have some faces to accompany the text, kind of like in Shining in the Darkness on the Genesis).

After Evolution 1 and 2, this was exactly the kind of game I wanted to play. I actually would've preferred a turn-based style of gameplay, but this game turned out to be thoroughly enjoyable. Although, I must put it in my list as the easiest action RPG I've ever played in my life (also very short). But it was beautiful and lots of fun. Its sheer simplicity is probably what warrants its less-than-quality reviews. Honestly, there's a game for every occasion and mood, and this is exactly what I wanted to play atm. Heck, I'm still in the mood for another fun, easy, quick RPG like this one. It may be a while till I buy another of the sort.

The real fun is in the gameplay, and this game is non-stop, "casual" fun. A definite must, imo.

[goldenband]

53. Altered Beast (Genesis)

Beat this on Hardest difficulty with 5 lives and 5 health bars today (after beating Normal and Hard first). I may revisit it later to try to get down to the default 3 lives/3 health bars, but whenever a game gives you the option of going down to ridiculously low numbers, then I stop caring about trying to beat it on the toughest settings.

(In this case, that would be 1 life/1 health bar, which would basically mean you have to no-hit or one-hit the entire game. Actually I've no-hit the first level, and can imagine doing the same for most levels, but doing it for all of them consecutively is not an interesting use of my time.)

As for a grade, I dunno...the game's camp value probably outweighs its short length and slightly wonky collision detection, but I really don't like the fact that there are no health powerups, because it puts the player in a negative mindset. That is: since you can't recover from any errors, the game is about avoiding failure, not embracing success. So, call it 5/10.

BTW I still haven't found a good pattern for the Level 4 boss -- that's where I would lose more health & lives than anywhere else. All the others are super-easy as long as you execute properly, especially the Level 2 & 5 bosses who are practically mindless to beat.

EDIT: Now I've beaten Hardest with 4 lives and 5 health bars, but I only used 1 life + 3 health bars, so I used 8 health bars total. Since you get 9 health bars in the default 3 lives/3 health, I think that's that. Actually, I can totally see no-hitting this game, particularly now that I've figured out that a cautious approach works quite well against the Level 4 boss. Certainly, a 1LC with 3 health is absolutely possible.

EDIT #2: And now I've beaten Hardest/3 lives/3 health, using only 1 life + half the next life's health. I didn't lose a life in the first four levels.

[NeoZeedeater]

The Darkness II
Digital Extremes tweaked Starbreeze's formula with improved combat and pacing. Good for a 6 or so hour action fix.