The 52 Game Challenge 2015

[Conando]

Mega Man (CAPCOM NES) Cleared

Legacy Collection? No, Virtual Console. It's Mega Man, or the Rainbow Battle Kid if you prefer. I liked how in the older games, most of the times hitting the weakness meant the boss was going down in only a few hits rather than just getting them caught in a loop. Fuck the Yellow Devil to this day, though. I will never fight him without the pause trick.

[Agie]

Conker's Bad Fur Day (Xbox One, new version released in 2015) Developed by Rare. 100 percent, I think. Got all achievements including multiplayer ones, so I guess it qualifies.

I took photos of other games I beat throughout the year, but I'm lazy, so I'll just start with the most recent one.

I was playing this via Rare Replay, which is why I mentioned the Xbone. Honestly, this is one of Rare's finest games, and it's a damn shame I never played it until now. The humor is well-written, the platforming is top-notch, and it's just a joy overall.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I entered, I admit. As a kid, I was vehemently against playing this because I knew Conker as a kid-friendly character. Then my cousin praised this, and I started warming up to the idea of playing it. Then I actually did play it. Now I wonder what went through my kid self's mind.

My only gripe is that the shooting controls are a tad wonky. You can get used to it...but good luck doing so without being killed by zombies first. That was annoying...

Otherwise? Amazing. Definitely one I'll be revisiting down the line.

Edited October 14, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Conando]

Twofer.

Mega Man X4 Zero All Clear

 

Now this, I'm going to kick myself for missing out on this one since I didn't have a PSX. Though it's too early to call it the best in the series (I haven't done them all yet), it certainly will place high at least. Since this is the first game that actually lets you play as Zero, I decided to go with him. I know in later titles you can switch, but I like the idea of there being 2 different modes. Now, the voice acting is seriously the most amazingly terrible thing I've ever heard. It's so bad that it's almost good, I swear Capcom had developers from their Japanese office do the ENGLISH voice overs. Also, X sounds like a little girl.

[Conando]

Yeah, I did another.

One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 Legend Log Clear (PS4, Omega Force)

 

That took me longer than expected, and then it dawned upon me why. In Legend Log you play most of it as the pre-timeskip Straw Hats and they kind of suck. Really, you're going to be getting the best out of this game if you play Dream Log too, because that's when you have access to whatever version of the characters you want (and some are only exclusive to it such as Sabo and Shanks). I'll have to dig more into Legend Log and Dream Log later, but with a huge game like this I don't think 100% is in the cards if I want to finish this 52 game challenge.

Edited October 14, 2015 by Conando

[Agie]

Battletoads Arcade (Xbox One, version released in 2015) Developed by Rare. 100 percent. Beat the game, and got all he stamps and achievements for this one.

Another one I played via Rare Replay. Never found a place with an arcade cabinet in its vicinity, or at least if I did, I have absolutely no memory of it, so Rare Replay was my first time I even witnessed a method of playing it, let alone actually doing so.

It's amazing. It's very, very 90s and I love it. The crude humor is funny, the sprite graphics are amazing, and the beat-em-up gamelay is fun. This is so much better than the original.

That said, though, I don't know how anyone could have beaten this on the arcade unless they either had loads of quarters or caught it on a day where they could play it for free, because I used a lot of continues. And I mean a lot.

The sound emulation was also initially off, though they released a patch that fixed it only a few days ago. It was never a deal breaker for me, but I'm glad they fixed it anyways.

Edited October 14, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Agie]

Star Fox Adventures (Nintendo Gamecube, 2002) Developed by Rare. 95% Complete. Never did get all the cheat tokens. Once you reach a certain point, you can't...

Played it on my old Mickey Mouse TV, because older games tend to look crappy on newer TVs for some reason.

Anyways, as you all know, this was Rare's last game working with Nintendo. I feel this was a good send-off, since it has their usual charm and such.

The gameplay was amazing. I'm not usually fond of Zelda games, yet despite this being a Zelda clone, I loved it so much more. I have no idea why. I was just more immersed.

I will admit, the writing wasn't so great, with plot holes, and some other nonsensical scenes (Andross is barely foreshadowed, for one). Still, it was an amazing experience, and one I will revisit one of these days.

The Arwing segments were also surprisingly fun. They're short, but I loved them, and they do make some sense.

Overall? Loved it. It's just sad that Rare left Nintendo after being done with this game...

[Agie]

I probably shouldn't triple-post. This device really isn't the best for this sort of thing, though. But I'm gonna risk it anyways. I'll try to cram in as many games as I can in a single post (though it won't be all of them yet; let's just say I've got plans), editing it after each game.

Star Fox: Assault (Nintendo Gamecube, release in 2005) Developed by Namco.

My absolute favorite Star Fox game so far. I love the continuity nods to Star Fox 64, and it, to me, seems to give Adventures a proper place as well. The aparoids are amazing villains, and I do hope they get a second chance one day.

The gameplay was satisfying. The arwing gameplay feels like a natural evolution of 64's gameplay, and the on-foot segments were surprisingly fun.

I do wish Namco had become a regular developer for the series after this, especially considering it seems some concepts may never be revisited...ah well. At least it was fun.

The game is too short though. Still, quality over quantity, right?

Next up?

Kirby's Avalanche (Wii Virtual Console) Developed by Compile and HAL Laboratory. 100%, I guess.

A fun puzzle game featuring Kirby and friends. It's actually an altered version of the original Puyo Puyo. I'm...not sure how I feel about that. Oh well, it was the 90s, where that sort of thing was at least excusable, unlike now...

Fun game, though. Sad that we never got the original version of the original game...

Next?

Killer Instinct Classic (Xbox One) Developed by Rare (the original version) and Code Mystics (port).

This is a really cool game...but I suck at fighting games. Massively. This game in particular was handing me my ass several times. I can't remember combos to save my life.

The kicker? I had this on Extra Easy, the lowest difficulty I possibly could have it. It was still handing me my ass. I had to be persistent and lucky. Beating Eyedol as Riptor was pure luck. Needless to say, 100% is definitely not on the cards.

Still, I enjoyed it immensely. The characters have that Rare charm, and the graphics are amazing for their time. Plus, it's fun playing with friends. Overall, cool game, but definitely not for beginners.

Alright, this is probably gonna be it for the day.

Sly Cooper and the Theivious Raccoonus (Playstation 3) Developed by Sucker Punch (original version) and Sanzaru Games (port). All trophies, though I doubt I got 100%. Wanted to move on to other games as well.

The game's a true classic. It's not as good as its sequels, but it's still a strong platformer on its own, and definitely a good start to a great series.

The story is also fun, and is definitely gonna make you happy if you like cartoons.

As for the porting, it's not a bad port, but it's not perfect. Some sounds are off, and sneaking sounds sometimes play where they didn't in the original version. Not a deal breaker, and I still enjoyed the port, but it is weird.

Still, if you haven't played this before, do so. Now.

EDIT: Since nobody else posted, I'll add another game to this post.

Star Fox 2 (Super NES) Developed by Nintendo EAD and Argonaut.

Good game. Sad that it was never officially released. Can definitely see some stuff that would later be implemented into Star Fox 64 and Star Fox Zero.

I liked it enough, though it should be longer. Though one of the original programmers said that even the patch that fixes issues doesn't provide the complete experience. Maybe this will one day get an official release...though emulation (and possibly legal) issues need resolving, because that's preventing not only an official release, but an re-release of the original as well. I got the cart of the original, though.

EDIT: Unless I've reached the forum's limit for images per post, I'll be updating this post until either reaching the limit or someone else posts.

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (3DS Virtual Console) Developed by Compile. 100%.

 

This was my very first Puyo Puyo game. Played a port of the Genesis version on the Sonic Mega Collection, and I think it may have sparked something...just took years for it to get anywhere.

Now, the Game Gear version is the inferior release, and in this day and age, there are devices far more reliable than the Sega Nomad that will let you play the Genesis release on the go. Still, I bought the 3DS VC release.

It's a fun puzzler. I still wish we got the unaltered version of the original, but I can't bring myself to be mad at this. Maybe it's nostalgia. Maybe it's the fact that many Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog characters got a chance they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. Whatever it is, I feel like I should be mad, but I'm not.

Having Scratch, Grounder and Coconuts is an automatic plus in my book. Now, if they felt the need to alter Puyo Puyo Quest, they should have at least altered it into a sequel to this. Would I still be mad that they changed Puyo Puyo Quest at all? Maybe, but at least I'd be less mad, since there'd at least be stuff to mitigate the anger.

Edited October 17, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Ryannumber1gamer]

100% Complete Game No.52/Game No.68: Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves (PS Vita) - 100% Complete

Proof: http://psnprofiles.com/trophies/2600-Sly-3/ryannumber3gamer (Plat Date: 18/10/15)

So this one is going to require some backstory. Originally, I played through the first episode back in 2014, when the collection first released on Vita, but after playing through the first two games, I got so burnt out that I just quit after Episode 1, and decided to wait a while, and start over from scratch. So cue last week or so, I decided to start over again on a clean save, and got so much more enjoyment out of this game once more. Playing through the game from beginning to end after letting some time pass really allowed me to gain a lot of fun out of the third Sly entry. I had originally played it on PS2, and now having completed the game on PS2, PS3, and Vita, it works pretty well, but the problems, are the pixelated cutscenes on Vita which scream of laziness and nothing else, and the fact some sections just really didn't play well on Vita.

And with that, I have finished 68 games this year, 52 of which were completed 100%!

 

Edited October 18, 2015 by Ryannumber1Scarer

[Agie]

Super Puyo Puyo (Super Famicom, 1993) Developed by Compile.

 

Allow me to explain; I wanted the original Puyo Puyo. Bad. But I had no legit  means of doing so, and I already vowed to make my experience with emulators extremely limited.

Fortunately, I didn't have to despair; there was Retro-Bit's Super Retro Trio. That made it easier. That way, I wouldn't have to worry too much about which version would work on the thing, because both the Super Famicom and the Mega Drive versions would work fine.

I picked Super Puyo Puyo because it was the cheaper version, and my research indicated no significant difference between it and the Mega Drive release.

And it was glorious. It feels so good playing the game unaltered after having Mean Bean Machine for so long.

The characters are wonderful, and the cutscenes, despite me being unable to read the text, were fun to watch.

I wish we had gotten this version of the game instead of Kirby's Avalanche, at least...ah well. I'm glad Retro-Bit allowed me to play it, intentionally or not.

You played Mean Bean Machine and/or Kirby's Avalanche? You need to play this. You won't regret it...at least, I don't think you will.

But there's still more...but that will be for another day.

Edited October 18, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Adamis]

I've finished Sonic Heroes on XBox today !

[Badnik Mechanic]

Kung Fu Rabbit --- Vita --- 100%

This was... really disappointing. 

For starters, the title makes it sound like you'll be some kind of kung fu fighting bunny? Well you're not. you're jumping and sliding down walls collecting carrots, yes there are enemies, but you literally walk into them to kill them, you don't actually fight them.

Everything about the game feels cheap, it feels like it was made using an android/iOS game maker engine then they just clicked 'Vita' on the compiler.

Very disappointing game.

[Ducktor Naldush]

I'm in a hurry, I updated the board for everyone bar SurrealBrain. I'll get to you as soon as I can, mate.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I'm in a hurry, I updated the board for everyone bar SurrealBrain. I'll get to you as soon as I can, mate.

Didn't Episodic stuff count as one game per episode?

[Agie]

Well, I've got one more to add. Now this is something that probably won't seem like much to you, but it's very special to me...

Puyo Pop Fever (Nintendo Gamecube, 2004) Developed by Sonic Team.

Let's get the description of the game itself out of the way, shall we? This game is amazing. Almost all of the characters are likeable (in fact, the kid Frankenstein is probably the only one I didn't like), and the story is...admittedly stupid, but I loved it anyways, since it's so full of charm. The dialogue is well-written, and while most don't like the English voice acting, I like it, and I think it suits the game perfectly.

I wish the game sold better, though. Ah well.

This isn't where it ends, no, This game introduced a certain character to the world. A character I grew to be very, very fond of. Who is this, you may ask?

Well, no more dancing around it; her name is Amitie.

She is adorable. She is kind. She's a ditz, and at times clumsy, but she usually means well. I can't quite pinpoint why I love her so much...but you know what? I do anyways!

I am so glad she appears in games after this one. Such a shame she has yet to be a playable character is a Sega Superstars game...maybe some day! Who knows?

And with that, it's time for me to switch back. Wow, that wasn't terribly extensive...ah well.

[Conando]

It continues! Though there was a slight detour into Pokemon.

Pokemon Puzzle Challenge (Intelligent Systems, Game Boy Color) Clear

 

The Pokemon skinned ones were actually my first experience with Panel de Pon/Puzzle League, so they kind of hold a special place in my heart. Actually, this was my favorite when I was kid (more so than the N64 one), for the fact that I couldn't see what the opponent was doing. Yes, I considered that a good thing because I could just focus on what I was doing rather than worrying about what the CPU was stringing together.

Mega Man 2 (CAPCOM NES)

Mega Man's back! Also, his game is better this time save for Wily Fortress 4 which is dumb (because of the Crash Bomb requirement which leads to suiciding if you don't have careful management of your energy). The funniest thing about this game is still how Metal Man is weak to his own weapon, in fact it 1 shots him. I don't know if they intended for that to be a joke, but it's one to me.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Thus, my Metal Gear run is at an end.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX/PS3) - 100%

A HIDEO KOJIMA GAME. What an improvement huh? So much better to control and heck, we can see the seeds of story beginning to sprout! Sure, it's a long way from where it'll go but it's still a lot of fun. That's me played all the main series Metal Gear games now (though Rising doesn't count, I'll give it a pass) and I want to thank Kojima for all this. It's been a blast buddy.

[Conando]

Mega Man X5 (Capcom, PSX) All Clear

So I heard this was the intended final game in the series, and it shows. There's a lot of finality to it, especially right from the start with the premise that the world is freakin' screwed. This had the potential to be the best, but unfortunately it has some level design issues that hold it back from topping previous titles in the series. Also, the charged special weapons kind of suck this time around, something I noticed when using the Ultimate Armor and them not actually doing more damage than the regular weapons for a severely reduced ammo bar in return. Also, this one was clearly meant to be played as X even though the story is pretty much all about Zero.

[Conando]

I'm double posting and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it!

Mega Man Xtreme (GBC, Capcom) Cleared

This one is...I don't know. It's ok, I guess? They did a pretty good job of porting the experience to the small screen, but there's some serious issues with progression in here. You can only fight certain Mavericks on replay, and Serges is back and he's a massive piece of shit that's even harder to handle because he has NO weakness anymore (this is baffling because they redid weaknesses for other bosses). I hear Xtreme 2 is the better one, so I'll have to give it a whirl.

[Conando]

What's that you say? A triple post? Well, this asshole is doing it.

Yoshi's Woolly World (Good Feel, Nintendo EAD. Wii U) Cleared

 

WOOLLY WORLD. YOSHI'S ISLAND IS FINALLY BACK. Nintendo of America can fuck right off for making me wait for this game, because it's one of my contenders for GOTY. It's no secret that I love platformers, so of course this was right up my alley. However, Good-Feel finally recaptured the magic of the original Yoshi's Island, no weird dual screen or multiple baby gimmicks here (in fact NO BABY), or a simple retread. Like the original Yoshi's Island, it's all about getting from the start to the finish, with each level having its own obstacles between that. Since these gimmicks come and go stage by stage, one never outwears its welcome. If you choose to be a good person and not use mellow mode, then you're also treated to an honest platform challenge after the game eases you into it, especially if you want to get all the Smiley Flowers and Wonder Wools (which knit together new Yoshi colors to play as). Only complaint I have is that the Fortress bosses are the same boss over and over, something akin to what Nintendo's been doing with their Mario platformers so far. Still, all the actual Castle Bosses are all new, even with returns like Burt the Bashful and Navel Piranha (they don't fight anything like they did before).

Edited October 23, 2015 by Conando

[Agie]

Mega Man II (3DS Virtual Console) Developed by Biox.

Would not put this on my list of favorite Mega Man games...but maybe it's just me, but I actually don't think it's terrible. Sure, it has its fauls, and the music is beepier than usual, but I...actually had fun.

It is easier than others, but I feel it's harder than people give it credit for...or maybe I just...suck...that much... :/ *shrugs*

Either way, I actually had fun with this one. Still, approach with caution, and I do see why Inafune mght not have liked it as much, and this, why Biox wasn't given another shot. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

EDIT: Nobody's posting. Already triple-posted, so I'll update this instead.

Donkey Kong Land (3DS Virtual Console) Developed by Rare.

The handheld equivalent of the Donkey Kong Country series. This one was fun enough.

It does have annoyances, though; the camera can't always keep up, so it treats the bottomof the screen as a death pit. It can pop up in the SNES games...but it's even more noticeable here.

Still, the game is fun, and it's unique enough from its console brother to be worth checking out for any Donkey Kong fan. Overall, a decent game.

Edited October 24, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Conando]

The end draws near

Mega Man 3 (Capcom NES) Completed

Insert Protoman theme. A huge step forward in terms of presentation and control, also the point where the bosses aren't complete pushovers if you have the weakness. There's the thing though, a lot of the special moves in 3 kind of suck, Top Spin being the most obvious. However, Top Spin does have the hilarious hidden ability of completely destroying Gamma once Wily's pod is exposed.

[Agie]

Puyo Puyo Fever 2 (Nintendo DS, 2005) Developed by Sonic Team.

I love this. I love this so much. The gameplay is unchanged, but in my opinion, that's not bad. There's more story here than in the previous installment, and of course, the characters are always loveable.

I chose not to skip the cutscenes. Good choice, because they're worth a view even if you don't know a lick of Japanese. Don't worry, the visuals give you a general idea of what's going on.

Do you have a DS (or 3DS), PSP, or a modded PS2? Play this! This is actually my favorite Puyo game so far, too!

'course, if you know me, you'd realized I missed something; Amitie's design here.

She's as cute and wonderful as ever, and of course, her design isn't bad. It's a modified version of her design from the first one, with added sleeves and different shoes, and a different belt, to name a few. They suit her very well, and I love 'em. Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary keeps this design, though later games give her different ones. I'm planning on getting to those at a later date.

Edited October 24, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Conando]

Well, I did it. I probably could have ended on a way better game, but it's not like I'm not going to play games for the next 3 months.

Mega Man 4 (NES, Capcom) Cleared

 

I should have cleared this one before the one coming up after this bit, MM4 is a respectable game unlike the other one. Holy shit is this one far more difficult than MM2 and 3 though, but on the bright side all the special weapons this time have their uses and work pretty well (a favorite of mine is Pharaoh Shot). Not to mention this game has the twist of Wily supposedly not being the bad guy for once, of course everyone knows how that goes but it's cool to have someone new to fight.

Mega Man X6 (NES, PSX) Cleared

You're damn right it's over, and nothing you can do will make me replay this game. What the hell happened? I know quality of the X series dropped after 5, but this is insane. This game is a chore to play, absolutely irritating in every possible way you could imagine. I was up for 2 extra hours stuck in the goddamn Gate stages because of the obtuse requirements, if you want to play as X (and you do if you don't Black Armor code Zero). Spikes everywhere in the first stage? No problem, just bring the Shadow Armo-Oh wait, the boss of the stage is literally impossible to dodge with that armor. Time to bumble around until I can find the Jumper part so I can clear the spikes using Blizzard Wolfgang's block weapon. Then you know, there's High Max. The guy that has the absolutely predictable slow ass boss attacks, but is a major pain due to needing to be one-twoed with a full buster shot, and then a special weapon, and his tendency to get stuck in an infinite loop of shielding himself in the second goddamn fight. Gate can go fuck himself too. Funnily enough, Sigma might have been the absolute easiest boss in the game (except for maybe commander Yammark). It's not just the final stages too, it's junk like Heatnix's stage where it's literally just fighting a bunch of slow moving minibosses that take up most of the screen and pelt you with lasers when you try to jump over it. Avoid this one at all costs, I can't even imagine the supposed low point of 7 is worse than this. Play X8 or Command Mission instead.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Conando

[Agie]

I had an itch to play my old Xbox 360 all of a sudden. Downloaded some games to it, and beat two of them (they weren't that long anyways).

Garou: Mark of the Wolves (Xbox 360) Developed by SNK.

Fun fighting game. Can definitely see why people would like this one. I enjoyed it, but I still suck at fighting games. Man, I really ought to build my SNK library more.

Triggerheart Exelica (Xbox 360) Developed by Warashi.

A fun shoot 'em up. The graphics are nice. The gameplay is fun, but hard; I used a lot of continues. Sadly, this isn't the best version; that would be the PS2 release...but this version is the only one released outside of Japan. Ah well. The characters are interesting, too.

Edited October 29, 2015 by SurrealBrain

[Mando-Whirl-Wind]

Beat Jak and Daxter 100% a few days back, I'll get a pick when I can, always a pleasure to replay it, one of my all time favorite platformers, and I've gotten good enough to not have to repeat any areas to get the orbs or power cells.