Some would say that could be the game's tagline lol
yeah i have to say after finishing yooka-laylee, i'm disappointed overall
Archived M2K2 Forum
Dood Trigger™
Day 15 - Resident Evil 7 » Done!
Normal difficulty, no unlockables used. Not terribly proud of this run, but I'll take it. I wish enemies didn't sway so much when you shoot them. I've never been good at FPS aiming, but still. Basement took a few tries because I kept forgetting about old spawns that I left behind. Eventually I got pissed off and killed everything down there, haha. Ended up not having enough ammo for Scissor Jack, went upstairs and explored 2F. That's something really cool about RE7, how backtracking/going out of your way always pays off, and there's usually a noticeable trade for doing things in a certain order.
I used my Madhouse strat against Marguerite, pretty smooth fight. But overall this playthrough made me not want to revisit Madhouse for a while, even though I greatly enjoyed my time with it. There are just so many intense parts, and I'm not even good at them on Normal yet.
The game is awesome. Still feels like a simplified classic RE to me, but in that context RE7 does pretty much everything well.
Clear time: 4:32
Normal difficulty, no unlockables used. Not terribly proud of this run, but I'll take it. I wish enemies didn't sway so much when you shoot them. I've never been good at FPS aiming, but still. Basement took a few tries because I kept forgetting about old spawns that I left behind. Eventually I got pissed off and killed everything down there, haha. Ended up not having enough ammo for Scissor Jack, went upstairs and explored 2F. That's something really cool about RE7, how backtracking/going out of your way always pays off, and there's usually a noticeable trade for doing things in a certain order.
I used my Madhouse strat against Marguerite, pretty smooth fight. But overall this playthrough made me not want to revisit Madhouse for a while, even though I greatly enjoyed my time with it. There are just so many intense parts, and I'm not even good at them on Normal yet.
The game is awesome. Still feels like a simplified classic RE to me, but in that context RE7 does pretty much everything well.
Clear time: 4:32
I recently beat Arc RIse Fantasia on Wii.
One of the better RPGs I have played these years. Too bad it got totally overlooked - it's a better game than any of the recent JRPG releases.
One of the better RPGs I have played these years. Too bad it got totally overlooked - it's a better game than any of the recent JRPG releases.
I like turtles.
Got my PS4 from Amazon, installing Uncharted 4 now. I'm excited to finally play it, have actually managed to avoid all spoilers (apart from knowing about the Crash cameo). I also picked up inFAMOUS: Second Son, Kingdom Hearts 2.8, and Ratchet and Clank along with a pre-order of N. Sane Trilogy. Out of pocket I only paid a bit over the price of the console by itself, thanks to a stockpile of gift cards. Next on my "hit list" are FFXV and probably KH1.5+2.5.
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Day 16 - Banjo-Kazooie » Done!
I could have waited longer to play this, as Yooka was done only two days ago... but I had time today, and BK is one of the last big runs of the marathon.
I replayed all N64 Rare platformers recently in anticipation of Yooka-Laylee, yet BK didn't feel tiring at all today. This game has a pretty nice balance between platforming and collecting. Getting each Jiggy doesn't require a ton of platforming, but the worlds in Banjo-Kazooie are compact and they cram as many platforms, alcoves and uneven surfaces as possible. So while traversing the areas you're constantly performing BK's moves and timing jumps. Plus the game is so charming, it's really hard to get sick of it.
You can finish with 94 Jiggies and 810 Notes minimum, and I did just that. Still too many IMO. The requirement should have been more loose like in SM64. I skipped the Mr. Vile mini-game which is pretty annoying, plus 4 Jiggies in Click Clock Wood to speed things up. Totally underestimated how hard the final boss is when you don't have 2x ammo and a ton of health. That fight is epic.
Still my favorite collect-a-thon. I like Super Mario 64 better, but I see SM64 as more of a pure platformer than a treasure hunt.
Clear time: 4 hours
I could have waited longer to play this, as Yooka was done only two days ago... but I had time today, and BK is one of the last big runs of the marathon.
I replayed all N64 Rare platformers recently in anticipation of Yooka-Laylee, yet BK didn't feel tiring at all today. This game has a pretty nice balance between platforming and collecting. Getting each Jiggy doesn't require a ton of platforming, but the worlds in Banjo-Kazooie are compact and they cram as many platforms, alcoves and uneven surfaces as possible. So while traversing the areas you're constantly performing BK's moves and timing jumps. Plus the game is so charming, it's really hard to get sick of it.
You can finish with 94 Jiggies and 810 Notes minimum, and I did just that. Still too many IMO. The requirement should have been more loose like in SM64. I skipped the Mr. Vile mini-game which is pretty annoying, plus 4 Jiggies in Click Clock Wood to speed things up. Totally underestimated how hard the final boss is when you don't have 2x ammo and a ton of health. That fight is epic.
Still my favorite collect-a-thon. I like Super Mario 64 better, but I see SM64 as more of a pure platformer than a treasure hunt.
Clear time: 4 hours
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Day 17 - Ninja Gaiden 3 (blind) » Done!
Okay, so I wasn't technically blind to NG3... I've seen speedruns and I watched a blind playthrough a couple years ago. Still, my first time playing.
JP version is pretty easy. I actually finished without using continues, which makes me wonder if I could've jumped right into US NG3 (biggest difference is that US has limited continues). Compared to previous NGs, this game is relatively forgiving. I don't even think enemies respawn after you kill them. Levels are more deliberately paced, power-ups are pretty much located right where you need them, and when you get hit the knockback is almost none.
One thing they nerfed in NG3 is how much damage Ryu can do to bosses. That is, exactly 1 HP per hit. You can spam ninpo, but it doesn't shave off like 3 points per hit like in previous games, and there's no spin slash or ninja clones here to cheese everything. That said, the bosses are slow and their patterns are obvious for the most part.
I like the sword upgrade that increases range. The new power-up that hits above and below is also quite useful. Music is great too.
Loved it.
Clear time: 45 minutes
Okay, so I wasn't technically blind to NG3... I've seen speedruns and I watched a blind playthrough a couple years ago. Still, my first time playing.
JP version is pretty easy. I actually finished without using continues, which makes me wonder if I could've jumped right into US NG3 (biggest difference is that US has limited continues). Compared to previous NGs, this game is relatively forgiving. I don't even think enemies respawn after you kill them. Levels are more deliberately paced, power-ups are pretty much located right where you need them, and when you get hit the knockback is almost none.
One thing they nerfed in NG3 is how much damage Ryu can do to bosses. That is, exactly 1 HP per hit. You can spam ninpo, but it doesn't shave off like 3 points per hit like in previous games, and there's no spin slash or ninja clones here to cheese everything. That said, the bosses are slow and their patterns are obvious for the most part.
I like the sword upgrade that increases range. The new power-up that hits above and below is also quite useful. Music is great too.
Loved it.
Clear time: 45 minutes
Dood Trigger™
Day 18 - Mighty Gunvolt (blind) » Done!
Bought this to replace Street Fighter x Mega Man. It was made by Inti Creates in the style of 8-bit Mega Man, and stars characters from other Inti/Comcept titles. You can play as Gunvolt from Azure Striker Gunvolt, Beck from Mighty No. 9, and Ekoro from Gal*Gun.
The vanilla release of Mighty Gunvolt only has 5 levels, but you can buy 4 additional DLC levels that get absorbed into the main game. Feels weird to pay extra to have a barely whole thing. At least the game + DLC combo was cheap.
Finished with all 3 characters. I haven't played any of the games that these characters come from, so their abilities were completely new to me. Gunvolt has a double jump and a multi-directional charge beam. He reminds me of Bass. Beck can do those weird dashes from MN9 and fits into slideable spaces. Ekoro floats in the air à la SMB2 Peach and recruits enemies to fight on your side for a short while. Level design is Mega Man Lite, though I hear they're more of a retro demake of Azure. Either way, Inti developed Mega Man 9-10, so they're clearly very comfortable designing this. There's a "stage select" but the order of main levels is linear (you can do the DLC ones in any order and they're optional). There aren't new powers or anything for beating the boss. The bosses are really cool, though.
For $5 there are better Mega Man games out there (and games in general), but I had a pretty decent time. A sequel to this game actually just came out a few days ago, and apparently it's way more fleshed out.
Clear time: 50 minutes first time through as Gunvolt (w/ DLC), then about 15 minutes as each of the other two characters (w/o DLC)
Bought this to replace Street Fighter x Mega Man. It was made by Inti Creates in the style of 8-bit Mega Man, and stars characters from other Inti/Comcept titles. You can play as Gunvolt from Azure Striker Gunvolt, Beck from Mighty No. 9, and Ekoro from Gal*Gun.
The vanilla release of Mighty Gunvolt only has 5 levels, but you can buy 4 additional DLC levels that get absorbed into the main game. Feels weird to pay extra to have a barely whole thing. At least the game + DLC combo was cheap.
Finished with all 3 characters. I haven't played any of the games that these characters come from, so their abilities were completely new to me. Gunvolt has a double jump and a multi-directional charge beam. He reminds me of Bass. Beck can do those weird dashes from MN9 and fits into slideable spaces. Ekoro floats in the air à la SMB2 Peach and recruits enemies to fight on your side for a short while. Level design is Mega Man Lite, though I hear they're more of a retro demake of Azure. Either way, Inti developed Mega Man 9-10, so they're clearly very comfortable designing this. There's a "stage select" but the order of main levels is linear (you can do the DLC ones in any order and they're optional). There aren't new powers or anything for beating the boss. The bosses are really cool, though.
For $5 there are better Mega Man games out there (and games in general), but I had a pretty decent time. A sequel to this game actually just came out a few days ago, and apparently it's way more fleshed out.
Clear time: 50 minutes first time through as Gunvolt (w/ DLC), then about 15 minutes as each of the other two characters (w/o DLC)
Dood Trigger™
Day 19 - Streets of Rage Remake (blind) » Done!
This may be the most impressive fan project I've seen. They managed to fit all Genesis SoR games into one, and added an insane amount of new content. There's like 40 levels in SoRR, multiple routes based on the Genesis games, tons of characters and unlockables.
The customization is remarkable right off the bat. Along with the usual tweakable options found in these games, you can play with a CPU partner à la Final Fight 3 and adjust the partner's aggression level. You can also choose the way weapons, combos and jumps work based on the mechanics of each Genesis SoR. Combat is faithful and the visual presentation is the same as in SoR2-3 (which means they essentially remade the entire first game in SoR2-3 style). Also, I'm not sure if they got the music remixes from an official album or if fans actually made these tracks, but wow. The quality is amazing.
I get the impression that they nerfed Axel... I understand why they'd tone down Grand Upper because that move is OP as hell in SoR2. But he seems kinda meh in general. I switched to Adam and he was way easier to get into. Speaking of Adam, damn, they did a great job adapting him to SoR2-3 gameplay. He's just so much fun. There are close to 20 playable characters in SoRR, including multiple versions of the main cast. You buy most characters in the shop with in-game currency (you can buy a ton of cool stuff, from GoldenEye-style cheats to extra modes). There's even a level editor. The replay value in this is pretty crazy.
Clear time: I beat the SoR1 route twice in about 2.5 hours total (one failed attempt)
This may be the most impressive fan project I've seen. They managed to fit all Genesis SoR games into one, and added an insane amount of new content. There's like 40 levels in SoRR, multiple routes based on the Genesis games, tons of characters and unlockables.
The customization is remarkable right off the bat. Along with the usual tweakable options found in these games, you can play with a CPU partner à la Final Fight 3 and adjust the partner's aggression level. You can also choose the way weapons, combos and jumps work based on the mechanics of each Genesis SoR. Combat is faithful and the visual presentation is the same as in SoR2-3 (which means they essentially remade the entire first game in SoR2-3 style). Also, I'm not sure if they got the music remixes from an official album or if fans actually made these tracks, but wow. The quality is amazing.
I get the impression that they nerfed Axel... I understand why they'd tone down Grand Upper because that move is OP as hell in SoR2. But he seems kinda meh in general. I switched to Adam and he was way easier to get into. Speaking of Adam, damn, they did a great job adapting him to SoR2-3 gameplay. He's just so much fun. There are close to 20 playable characters in SoRR, including multiple versions of the main cast. You buy most characters in the shop with in-game currency (you can buy a ton of cool stuff, from GoldenEye-style cheats to extra modes). There's even a level editor. The replay value in this is pretty crazy.
Clear time: I beat the SoR1 route twice in about 2.5 hours total (one failed attempt)
Dood Trigger™
Day 20 - Super Mario Crossover (blind) » Done!
Not so much a new game as this is literally Super Mario Bros. 1, with the option to play as other iconic characters from that era. Level design is the same, warps and all. But the game definitely feels fresh with the new characters. You have to approach levels much differently depending on who you pick.
Finished once warpless with Bill (Contra guy), then as Ryu Hayabusa with warps. Also available: Simon Belmont, Samus, Mega Man, Bass (MM10), Link and Sophia III (the tank from Blaster Master). Before the game starts you can pick each character's weapons/items to replace mushroom and fire flower. They didn't program every single weapon, but the choices you have are pretty distinct, such as Bomb vs. Bow for Link. This is still a game where a lot of the challenge is timing jumps, but you run into some interesting 'combat' situations because the non-Mario characters can't stomp enemies. Also, each character was brought to the Mushroom Kingdom with their own physics and moves, so while Ryu's jump doesn't cover a great distance, he can climb walls just like in Ninja Gaiden.
It's really fun to fire your gun/slash your sword and destroy all bricks in front of you. I even discovered hidden blocks I had no idea of (assuming they copied this stuff as is). In Ryu's case, bricks also drop ammo for ninpo, and I imagine it's the same for Simon and others. No better proof that NES Ninja Gaiden makes you feel like a ninja than using Ryu's movement in a Mario game. He just tears through these levels.
The presentation is mostly what you'd expect, but they also included a crapton of skins for levels and characters. You can play as Mario from SMB1, 2, 3, World... and have the backgrounds look like, say, Zelda 2. Some of the character skins even have slight alterations in their abilities, like higher jumps and faster attacks. It's also interesting how they chose the music for each stage type. Like, if you play as Contra guy, the daylight land stages play the first level music from Contra, then underwater levels play the waterfall theme, which is pretty fitting.
Very cool game. I would've played more tonight if I didn't have to use the keyboard. Don't wanna ruin my hand again.
Clear time: something like 1:40 total
Not so much a new game as this is literally Super Mario Bros. 1, with the option to play as other iconic characters from that era. Level design is the same, warps and all. But the game definitely feels fresh with the new characters. You have to approach levels much differently depending on who you pick.
Finished once warpless with Bill (Contra guy), then as Ryu Hayabusa with warps. Also available: Simon Belmont, Samus, Mega Man, Bass (MM10), Link and Sophia III (the tank from Blaster Master). Before the game starts you can pick each character's weapons/items to replace mushroom and fire flower. They didn't program every single weapon, but the choices you have are pretty distinct, such as Bomb vs. Bow for Link. This is still a game where a lot of the challenge is timing jumps, but you run into some interesting 'combat' situations because the non-Mario characters can't stomp enemies. Also, each character was brought to the Mushroom Kingdom with their own physics and moves, so while Ryu's jump doesn't cover a great distance, he can climb walls just like in Ninja Gaiden.
It's really fun to fire your gun/slash your sword and destroy all bricks in front of you. I even discovered hidden blocks I had no idea of (assuming they copied this stuff as is). In Ryu's case, bricks also drop ammo for ninpo, and I imagine it's the same for Simon and others. No better proof that NES Ninja Gaiden makes you feel like a ninja than using Ryu's movement in a Mario game. He just tears through these levels.
The presentation is mostly what you'd expect, but they also included a crapton of skins for levels and characters. You can play as Mario from SMB1, 2, 3, World... and have the backgrounds look like, say, Zelda 2. Some of the character skins even have slight alterations in their abilities, like higher jumps and faster attacks. It's also interesting how they chose the music for each stage type. Like, if you play as Contra guy, the daylight land stages play the first level music from Contra, then underwater levels play the waterfall theme, which is pretty fitting.
Very cool game. I would've played more tonight if I didn't have to use the keyboard. Don't wanna ruin my hand again.
Clear time: something like 1:40 total
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Day 21 - Aladdin (GEN) » Done!
A couple years ago in this marathon thing I did the SNES version, which is a totally different game. Shinji Mikami was the designer of that version and he stated in an interview that he prefers the Genesis one, mainly because Aladdin has a sword. I think the Genesis version is definitely cool, but I still like SNES Aladdin a little better. I just really enjoy the platforming, jumping on enemies, grabbing ledges and gliding with the cloth. My ideal Aladdin game would be a mix of both.
The animation on the Genesis game is insanely good. It was done by Disney themselves IIRC. The sword is pretty sweet as well, although I end up throwing apples more often because it's safer. Can you even touch the final boss with the sword?
I think I got a weird glitch in the magic carpet lava stage... I failed it a couple of times and on my third try I ran into a rock, fairly early into the level, but instead of the death screen it said "Nice try!" like the bonus mini-game. And then the game jumped straight to the next level. I dunno if there are warps in this game but that was strange. Not that I was complaining because that rug ride is kinda hard... >_>
Clear time: 1:20
A couple years ago in this marathon thing I did the SNES version, which is a totally different game. Shinji Mikami was the designer of that version and he stated in an interview that he prefers the Genesis one, mainly because Aladdin has a sword. I think the Genesis version is definitely cool, but I still like SNES Aladdin a little better. I just really enjoy the platforming, jumping on enemies, grabbing ledges and gliding with the cloth. My ideal Aladdin game would be a mix of both.
The animation on the Genesis game is insanely good. It was done by Disney themselves IIRC. The sword is pretty sweet as well, although I end up throwing apples more often because it's safer. Can you even touch the final boss with the sword?
I think I got a weird glitch in the magic carpet lava stage... I failed it a couple of times and on my third try I ran into a rock, fairly early into the level, but instead of the death screen it said "Nice try!" like the bonus mini-game. And then the game jumped straight to the next level. I dunno if there are warps in this game but that was strange. Not that I was complaining because that rug ride is kinda hard... >_>
Clear time: 1:20
Gonna take note that I should play the SNES version too sometime. The glitch you came across almost sounds a debugging leftover, or I imagine it might have been an emulation bug.
Just started Rockman & Forte. Good impression so far. Intro stage and Cold Man's stage were great. Bosses a bit too easy with their simple and repetetive patterns. Ground Man's stage is ok, problem is the part with the drills continuously removing the ground. Ground man had a more varied and more difficult pattern than the other bosses, but I found him to be near impossible to dodge successively. Got a gameover on him, so I'll try another stage next time.
Just started Rockman & Forte. Good impression so far. Intro stage and Cold Man's stage were great. Bosses a bit too easy with their simple and repetetive patterns. Ground Man's stage is ok, problem is the part with the drills continuously removing the ground. Ground man had a more varied and more difficult pattern than the other bosses, but I found him to be near impossible to dodge successively. Got a gameover on him, so I'll try another stage next time.