Games #1-20
Games #21-40
New post to celebrate hitting my next milestone. Slowed down a lot recently, but pleased that I should confidently hit the target by the end of the year.
41. Sparkle 2 (Vita) - Beaten:
18/05/18 - Time Taken:
~30 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
Christ alive. I spent thirty hours playing Sparkle 2.
It's essentially Zuma with a few extra power ups, and a score by a Danny Elfman wannabe. I've been desperate to play almost anything else on the Vita, but every time I woke the console from sleep it was there crying 'just a few more levels, we're almost finished!'.
42. Crackdown (X360) - Beaten:
31/05/18 - Time Taken:
~15 hours (Ending, 500/500 Agility Orbs)
Me and my brother are quite close, despite having little to nothing in common outside of a shared sense of humour. While I spent the majority of my free time playing games as we grew up, he turned to sport and became football obsessed. There were however, occasions when he would get hooked on certain games outside of Fifa or Pro Evo. Crackdown was one such game. We beat it in co-op together in about 2011 when I was at uni going through a break-up and he was at his own respective uni having a break-down, and ever since that point we've tried, almost with annual regularity to collect all 500 agility orbs.
Every attempt has failed due to one of the following: corrupted save files; stolen console; poor mapping; lack of interest. This year, for reasons beyond either of us, we decided to give it another bash. My brother lives a short distance away from me and my partner, so every couple months we'd get together with the express intention of making progress through Crackdown. I played the cartography role, marking each found orb on an expanded map in Photoshop, and my brother would follow my directions from rooftop to rooftop, taking out gang heads as we went.
Yesterday, after a mammoth 8 hour play session, we hit 500/500 and gasped a massive sigh of relief as a challenge we've been attempting for almost a decade finally drew to close. We've discussed going for the 300/300 hidden orb achievement in the summer, but we'll see!
43. Kitten Squad (PS4) - Beaten:
01/06/18 - Time Taken:
~3 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
Another Luc Bernard joint, though this time developed in co-operation with Peta. Kitten Squad riffs on the format of Binding of Isaac but with infinitely less finesse, asking the player to navigate through single room combat challenges to free orcas and dolphins from Sea World, and sheep from intensive farming.
The message of the game managed to rub me up the wrong way, despite me being a ethical vegetarian who is generally very sensitive to animal rights issues, but even ignoring the premise, the game just isn't that good. Mecho Tales suffered from Turrican style design - that is give the player lots of health as the majority of enemies and projectiles are unavoidable, and here, a couple years prior, Bernard's team were making the exact same mistakes. The dual stick control system feels incredibly imprecise for what should be an analogue, granular input method, and its frustratingly easy to get your character jammed amongst enemies which often leads to unavoidable damage and death. All enemy pathing is assigned as 'head straight for the player character', and just like in the more recent Mecho Tales, collision detection is wonky, with player shots often absorbed by a wall immediately as they're fired if the chunky character design / designer set hot spots have combined awkwardly with the scenery.
Not hugely fun.
44. Unearthing Mars (PSVR) - Beaten:
16/06/18 - Time Taken:
~3 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
One of the real powers of VR in my mind is its ability to elevate a pretty average title into something much stronger purely through its inherent immersion.
Unearthing Mars is a clunky narrative title, that suffers from being an early release on the platform (from a resolution and technical standpoint its WEAK by a small team with a limited budget.
The game is split into 10 vignettes, each lasting between 10-20 minutes. Some are more enjoyable than others, some jump the metaphorical shark quite remarkably. BUT, even with its problems, being *there* made me want to press on.
Worth a play for those with PSVR.
45. Pinball Arcade: Xenon (PS4) - Beaten:
17/06/18 - Time Taken:
~8 hours (All Wizard Goals / Top of Local Leaderboard)
A big driver for my collecting and gaming habits is a foolish 'fear of missing out'. I already owned the first two seasons of The Pinball Arcade on the PS4 as they had received retail releases (at least in Europe), and I'd always enjoyed digital versions of pinball tables, whether they be accurate emulations like The Pinball Arcade, or more outlandish creations like Zen Pinball's output for the last few years.
When I heard that Farsight Studios had lost the license to Williams / Bally pinball tables and that The Pinball Arcade would be gutted of around 75% of its content by the end of June 2018, my brain process zipped from 'that's unfortunate'; to 'I need to buy every table likely to be delisted IMMEDIATELY' in the space of about 15 minutes. As I was selling a stack of games on eBay anyway to finance my ongoing addiction to boutique limited physical releases, I set aside enough money to purchase some PSN credit, too advantage of an eBay coupon code that skimmed some of the price of the digital currency, and then set to work installing the array of tables listed for the chop.
Normally I consider a game beaten when I reach the credits, or unlock all trophies / achievements, but in the case of The Pinball Arcade, I needed a new approach. With such a dizzying amount of content suddenly available to me (having stumped up the dosh for 5 seasons of tables on top of the two retail discs I already owned), I decided I would work more methodically, learning a table at a time. The Pinball Arcade features standard and 'Wizard' goals for every table (essentially amounting to ten goals for each board) as well as local and online leaderboards for each. I decided that I could call a table 'beat' when I achieved all ten goals and topped the local leaderboard.
Choosing Xenon as my first table for no reason other than the fact it was the top of the list when working Z-A, I played a few hours each day this week, until finally topping the leaderboard on Sunday morning. Xenon was a great first table in that it wasn't too complex, yet still offered enough intricacy to need strategy and skill to succeed. Built around 1979, the table oozes a sort of retro sci-fi cool, and whichever table I migrate to next has a lot to live up to given how much I enjoyed this one. My final score places me in the top 2,000 players according to the online leaderboards, though still a staggering 295,000,000 points off the top spot.
46. Pinball Arcade: Fireball (PS4) - Beaten:
19/06/18 - Time Taken:
~4 hours (All Wizard Goals / Top of Local Leaderboard)
Wow, that was a slog. I had a chunk of time this evening and thought it would be a good chance to start learning a new table. Fireball was again chosen largely arbitrarily, though from the table image I could tell it was a simpler 70s style design rather than a flashy, contemporary Stern machine.
Lots has been written about how pinball has a clear lineage to modern videogames, and the trudge I felt playing through this table absolutely put me in mind of a tedious boss battle in an action game. Much of my play time came from learning how best to manipulate little tricks in order to tip the odds in my favour. Where Xenon felt mostly fair, Fireball relies A LOT on chance. There are strategies to help the player, like being able to abuse the 'close flippers' target to allow free, reasonably safe shots on high scoring areas of the table, as well as the ability to store balls in the two multi-ball locks to allow second chances in specific scenarios. However, these only go so far in mitigating the comically large outlanes that combine with the spinning centre piece to make each and every shot and fall a potential danger. One Wizard goal asks you to score 40k with one ball, and even when I had a good grasp of the table this still took the majority of my play time to achieve.
With my reasonably paltry score of 110k, I'm currently sat at 335 on the global leaderboard, so I gather not many persevere with this table!
47. Metropolis: Lux Obscura (Vita) - Beaten:
15/07/18 - Time Taken:
~3 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
A match-3 RPG-lite inspired by Frank Miller's Sin City.
The gameplay itself is less Bejeweled, and more 10000000 / You Must Build a Boat, where an icon can be dragged across its constituent column and row in order to make a match across either axis. At the end of each battle you are offered a selection of upgrades that persist for that particular playthrough that can help in later battles where the odds are stacked against you.
Writing is a bit adolescent (though to be honest this is true of a lot of Frank Miller's later work too!), but I actually quite liked the art style of the game. The nudity can be a bit childish, but they fit the graphic novel / noir context the game, so I gave the weird female figures and accentuated nipples a pass.
Took a decent few hours to see all endings, and was pretty enjoyable throughout.
48. Super Destronaut DX (Vita) - Beaten:
16/07/18 - Time Taken:
~45mins (All Trophies [PSN])
A Space Invaders clone. Not as good as the Decimation X series that used to be on Xbox Live Indie Games, not as good as Space Invaders Extreme, not even as good as the original Space Invaders to be honest.
Super speedy platinum trophy though. The game is published and ported to Vita by Ratalaika Games, a team becoming synonymous with a) vehemently supporting Sony's handheld, and b) deliberately luring punters in with cheap price points and extremely achievable trophy lists..
49. Senran Kagura: Bon Appetit! (Vita) - Beaten:
17/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
18 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
I'm a big fan of rhythm games. Bon Appetit! however, is a very average rhythm game.
Note charts feel utterly esoteric even at the highest difficulty, with none of the choreography of the Hatsune Miku games, none of the visceral physicality of the Guitar Hero / Rock Band games, none of the challenging simplicity of the Drum Master games, or the finger gymnastics of the DJ Max series.
Story mode offers a unique narrative for each character that ranges from twee, through heartwarming, to creepy, but even with these distinct pathways, the game feels repetitive due to its limited soundtrack. Certain songs appear to repeat more than others, yet even tracks that you are forced to play five, ten, fifteen or twenty times across the course of a platinum trophy completion remain wholly unmemorable.
There are MUCH better rhythm games on the Vita.
50. Actual Sunlight (Vita) - Beaten:
18/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
60mins (All Trophies [PSN])
This is a pretty hard one to respond to and quantify. A narrative game (almost like a micro visual novel?) about depression and suicidal thoughts.
It goes really hard and heavy, features unique, if not always great or consistent writing, and presents its sobering narrative using a mixture of 16-bit style sprites and painfully beautiful stills.
What I appreciate about a title like this is its existence. This is an hour long, deeply personal and challenging game created by, in essence, a single developer. And it had a proper paid release on a digital store front curated by Sony, one of the biggest players in videogames. It almost doesn't matter what I or any other reviewer says about a title like this. The availability of a work of this stature through mainstream channels shows that games are growing up, and I'm excited to see how this young medium continues to progress.
If you can stomach the themes the game tackles, absolutely give it a shot. It won't necessarily make you feel good, but it will certainly make you feel
something.
51. North (Vita) - Beaten:
19/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
90mins (All Trophies [PSN])
Now this is a weird one. Another narrative game, but this time one that's about asylum, cultural and linguistic barriers, and exploitation.
What was interesting to me outside of the theme itself, was the treatment that game got in being ported (or maybe co-developed) alongside its PS4 sibling. Although ostensibly the same game, the games look nothing alike with the Vita port being stripped of geometry, texture, light sourcing and resolution to the point that the whole experience becomes uncomfortably oppressive. Things are meant to feel alien, but even basic navigation becomes a real chore due to the visual choices / compromises made.
I can't say I enjoyed North, but if nothing else I found the condition of the game's release on the little handheld really interesting.
I don't think the message of the game works that well, at least when played on the Vita, but as with Actual Sunlight, it makes me excited to see creators really trying to push the boundaries of what we understand games to be and be for in 2018.
52. Sonic 3D Blast DX (MD) - Beaten:
22/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
4 hours (True Ending, All Collectibles)
What a joy this project has been to follow. Last year, Jon Burton, founder and former lead programmer at Travellers Tales launched a YouTube channel called
GameHut where he detailed some of the more impressive tricks employed in TT's 16/32bit output. Burton's passion for this early work was clear, and towards the tail end of 2017, he completed a total overhaul of Sonic 3D Blast that tackled almost all issues and criticisms the game had been met with in the ensuing decades since its initial release.
Playing the product of this work in 2018 is quite astounding. Everything from physics, to graphics, to game progression and replay incentive has been tweaked, and the work genuinely elevates a so so game (though one that I loved at launch purely because gaming as a kid meant making the most of ANY title until you were able to afford a new one some months later), to a great one. Movement in particular has had a massive overhaul, and this, coupled with some genuinely smart camera and playing tracking overhauls makes the game a) feel more like a Sonic title due to increased speed and handling, and b) lets the game's sense of exploration really shine.
Sonic 3D Blast was always a strange game, and a clear outlier from Sonic's other 16bit entries. However, experiencing it in this form has been a real joy, with clever design refinements allowing the things that made it stand out from its siblings to really be showcased. Games often receive player made or fan patches which improve issues present in early cartridge releases like this. It's very possible however, that without the input of the original designers, aspects may be changed that actually water down the original vision.
What's lovely in this case is that as a sanctioned 'Director's Cut', Burton allows Sonic 3D Blast to retain its original quirks and charm, whilst also bringing it up to date to more modern standards. One of the highlights of my gaming year to date.
53. Sonic 4: Episode 1 (X360) - Beaten:
27/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
4 hours (All Emeralds)
Hated it on release. Hate it marginally less all these years on. Woof.
Things about Sonic 4 that I dislike: the soundtrack (some of the most grating synth lines of all time); the instrument balance (it's great that you've got that Mega Drive percussion in there, but could we calm it on the faux snare?!); the level design (why are some acts almost 9 minutes long on first play?); the act structure (3 stages and a separate boss stage is too much of any one theme); the level gimmicks (this isn't Mario - I don't need to play through a whole level where every other screen has 55 canons in it); the physics (why am I standing completely upright but at a right angle to a vertical wall?); the reliance on Sonic Adventure style homing attacks (lazy, lazy design which makes certain sections become certain death if you don't perfectly home in on a row of six badniks).
What a game to 'complete' my 52 games challenge with.
54. Midnight Deluxe (Vita) - Beaten:
28/07/18 - Time Taken: ~
2 hours (All Trophies [PSN])
A mix between Angry Birds and Desert Golf. Sadly, Midnight Deluxe takes none of the relative precision and wealth of content from the former, and none of the razor sharp mobile design of the latter.
Very finicky in places, with weird difficulty spikes throughout the 60-odd stages you're tasked with beating. Very average.
55. Shaq Fu: A Legend Reborn (PS4) - Beaten:
01/08/18 - Time Taken: ~3 hours
(All Trophies [PSN])
The game's physical release is already experiencing deep discounts of 50%+ at some retailers.
A serviceable brawler built around edgey 4chan humour circa 2014/15. There are celebrity parodies that make little to no narrative sense (Justin Bieber, Mel Gibson?) used to construct a vapid narrative. Combat is tedious, the game is frequently glitchy (on places requiring level restarts), and content is thin on the ground. Presentation is a mixed bag.
This game raised almost half a million dollars on Indiegogo and has delivered on almost none of its promises. Promised modes like co-op and versus nowhere to be seen. Unlockable characters totally absent. Customisation non-existent.
I didn't hate the time I spent with Shaq Fu, but my oh my, this is one reboot we really didn't need.
56. Barack Fu: Legend of Dirty Barry (PS4) - Beaten:
02/08/18 - Time Taken: ~2 hours
(All Trophies [PSN])
A free mini campaign available to owners of the retail release. More of the same.
The writing is actually a bit better than the main game, and the voice work is a marked improvement as it doesn't have to rely on Shaq's questionable delivery.
Still repetitive, but the two stages here actually present more variety than the main game, with Barack's alt-form a lot more fun to use than either of Shaq's.
57. WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames (GBA) - Beaten:
05/08/18 - Time Taken: ~20 hours
(All Achievements [RA])
Absolutely, and I'd argue almost indisputably, one of the games of all time.
If nothing else, it sits firm in my own personal top ten: one of the best handheld titles on any platform, and one of the most important handheld titles *period*. It's an anarchic, punk game. It's a genuinely laugh-out-loud funny game. It's a game of startling prescience and foresight able to critique trends of the future, whilst simultaneously drawing from trends of the past.
WarioWare is frequently challenging, always entertaining, and never, ever dull. I beat the game 100% in my early teens, and now, over 15 years on have done it again. I loved it even more this second time through as I was able to view it within the context of gaming as its shifted and undulated.
Startlingly good.
58. Tachyon Project (Vita) - Beaten:
07/08/18- Time Taken: ~3 hours
(All Trophies [PSN])
A Geometry Wars knock off that runs terribly on the Vita. A real shame, as GW3 showed how capable the handheld was at running this sort of game when shown a bit of love.
The game has a hackneyed 'hacking' storyline, customisable loadouts, and a few nice additions like a challenge mode, etc. I beat the game on the PS4 last year and fancied something bitesize and arcadey to play on the train - I'd recommend everyone to play the game on the home platform though if possible. It really is a shoddy port.
59. Art Style: Cubello (WiiWare) - Beaten:
10/08/18- Time Taken: ~8 hours
(Every stage beaten)
A really great pointer-based matching colours puzzle game. The 'Cubello' refers to a cube in the centre of the play field that is surrounded by other coloured blocks, which you need to clear by making matches of 4 or more like coloured blocks. Depth comes from each 'shot' you take spinning the entire play field in the opposite direction, as well as your well of cube projectiles only being refreshed and topped up when you make a match. Additionally, in
not taking a shot, the structure begins to loom closer to the screen - if it reaches the extremities of the play space you'll lose some of your precious shots.
A combination of these simple additions to what is otherwise a sort of 3D Zuma, gives the game a physicality that lots of games of this ilk are missing. Using the Wiimote to 'fire' through small breaks in the cuboid structure can be really satisfying when it makes a successful match and then spins the cubes back towards you opening up further large matches.
Some of the later levels got pretty tough and unfortunately would sometimes begin in a nigh on unbeatable state because of the angle of the structure and the coloured blocks you were given to work with. However, overall, frustration was pretty minimal, and I had a great time working through the 36 stages over the last week or two.
60. Um Jammer Lammy (PS1) - Beaten:
12/08/18- Time Taken: ~4 hours
(COOL rating on all Lammy and Parappa tracks)
Um Jammer Lammy pisses all over Parappa. Presentation, content, songs, mechanics: it's just so much
better.
The storyline is great, Lammy is a much more layered character than Parappa, and the songs (in both their rock and hip hop versions) are amazing.
Its been over 15 years since I last played Um Jammer Lammy and I'm sad that I've deprived myself of a return to this experience for this long. Go and find a way to play this game if you haven't already. A fantastic experience from start to finish.
Games #61 onwards