The 2024 Backlog Challenge

[Brickman | 4,008]

32 minutes ago, Sumez said:

That's higher than what I'd give BB  And I love the game obviously

It’s lower than what I’d give BB and I love the game 

[Philosoraptor | 468]

Over the weekend, I beat Klonoa: Door to Phantomile for the PS1, which included rescuing all the villagers and beating the secret level.

Aside from the somewhat hit and miss controls when grabbing and then immediately jumping with the enemy in midair, this is a very, very solid 2D platformer. Even then, the control issues don't really show themselves until the secret level, which is a timed challenge. The game oozes charm, has a really good OST, and has great level design. None of the levels overstay their welcome, and, while there are some harder to find villagers/NPCs, they're never so hard to find that you need to look up a guide to find them.

You can grab enemies and throw them down to double jump, forwards and backwards to attack at greater range, or towards or away from the screen to hit switches or other things in the foreground and background. Doing so much with one mechanic is what really makes this game shine. Story-wise, it's good. What narrative they do weave into the game is well written, and there are some surprises along the way.

Overall, it's a fun game that has aged well. 9/10

Edited January 25 by Philosoraptor

[T-Pac | 7,581]

04/40 - Sonic the Hedgehog [Sega Genesis - 1991]

Finished: 2024/01/21

Caveats: I used save-states at the Secret Zones and level checkpoints. Collected all the Chaos Emeralds to get the best ending.

[T-Pac]

[twiztor | 855]

Super Princess Peach (Nintendo DS)

i'd heard surprisingly little about this Mario spinoff title, but it caught my attention for being the only game to star Ms. Toadstool (until the upcoming Switch game releases).

i enjoyed this game, but it's pretty shallow as far as platforming games go.  interesting if underutilized emotion mechanics. level design that wasn't as intuitive as i expected (you have to "rescue" all 3 Toads in each stage, but it's generally unclear if a warp pipe/door is the actual path forward or a side path to find said Toad. i had to do a decent amount of backtracking). difficulty is nonexistent (akin to the mainline Kirby games).

post-game opens up new stages. haven't given them a play, but i'm vaguely interested. i mainly played this during my downtime at work, knocking out 1 world per day. a decent time killer, but significantly less addicting than the Mario vs DK series.

[Lago | 221]

53 minutes ago, twiztor said:

Super Princess Peach (Nintendo DS)

i'd heard surprisingly little about this Mario spinoff title, but it caught my attention for being the only game to star Ms. Toadstool (until the upcoming Switch game releases).

i enjoyed this game, but it's pretty shallow as far as platforming games go.  interesting if underutilized emotion mechanics. level design that wasn't as intuitive as i expected (you have to "rescue" all 3 Toads in each stage, but it's generally unclear if a warp pipe/door is the actual path forward or a side path to find said Toad. i had to do a decent amount of backtracking). difficulty is nonexistent (akin to the mainline Kirby games).

post-game opens up new stages. haven't given them a play, but i'm vaguely interested. i mainly played this during my downtime at work, knocking out 1 world per day. a decent time killer, but significantly less addicting than the Mario vs DK series.

One of the things about the backlog challenge I like is seeing all the different games people are playing.

A downside is I’m usually learning about games or remembering games I had forgotten, which does not help my backlog at all.

[greenthunder | 115]

I'm past the halfway point in Harvestella and things have been getting very interesting.

Spoiler

Chapter 4 really started peeling away the medieval fantasy setting with a giant, high tech castle and finished with a big, dramatic 2 phase boss fight against the antagonist up to that point. Chapter 5 was very short but was set entirely in a futuristic shelter named Abandoned Eden, which led into a very Xenoblade 2 esqe reveal of the ruined predecessor planet (which hasn't been explicitly named as Earth). Chapter 6 so far has been going across the ruined superhighway Abandoned Eden opened out to, an amusement park and now a massive research facility where the setting and backstory of one of the characters is slowly being revealed. There's even been hints of the medieval fantasy setting being enforced by the robots on the behalf of old humanity, which is definitely different.

Harvestella doesn't have too many sidequests compared to other JRPGs, but they're a lot more involved (stuff like go here, talk to 3 npcs, go here to talk to another npc, go here, go here to claim your reward). I'm glad they were mostly frontloaded in chapters 2-4, because I'm definitely a lot more invested in going through the dungeons to see where the plot is going. Early game my ingame days tended to look like deal with farm -> knock some sidequests out -> maybe do a chunk of a dungeon, but now it's more like deal with farm -> jump straight into the dungeon for more plot.

 

[Lago | 221]

Finished Like A Dragon: Ishin tonight.  The game takes forever to open up.  I almost put it down because of that and a couple of bugs that almost stopped me dead in my tracks.

Glad I didn’t though.  I ended up enjoying the game and the story. Fun times.  Going for something a little lighter next.

[Gloves | 11,816]

I've started playing Baldur's Gate 3, finally in the mood for it. Ended up committing to doing so via multiplayer with my wife, and we've been having a ton of fun so far. Still on Act 1, which I've played a number of times during the beta, and I started a whole new character for this. I didn't jive with the Druid I made when the game released, which didn't help me keep playing. Now I have my classic "Dwarf with big sword" RPG character and I'm loving it.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Since my last update, I've only played a small amount of Oblivion (though I may play a bit shortly).  All I've done is acquire the next key item, the armor of Tiber Septim (can't remember it's in game name, but that's functionally what it is).  I'm not sure if I'm gonna get the next step or knock off a few Oblivion gates first so I can mix it up a bit, but regardless, not much to report there.

On the NES front, I've kept my streak alive for the month, with four new additions (one for each day), the final of which is relevant to this thread (in addition to being my 300th US completion).  First was Totally Rad, which was a lot easier than I had expected and was actually pretty good overall.  The only hard part was the mini boss you fight just before the final boss, but other than that I really enjoyed the game.  It's highly recommended to anyone!  Second, I did Tennis, albeit on the lowest difficulty.  You have to win 2/3 sets against two opponents to win.  Not terribly difficult on the low difficulty, but I don't know if I like the game enough to go higher.  I also only played the singles mode, as I couldn't be arsed to play Doubles mode for no real enjoyment.  Then came Volleyball, which was a bit of an effort, having to win 3 out of 5 sets.  There's a bit of a learning curve, but after figuring out a way to cheese points off the serve roughly 60% of the time, I managed to pull off the victory.  Finally, the relevant-to-the-thread update - I knocked off Desert Commander.  I was simultaneously impressed and disappointed by it.  Impressed because there is a surprising amount of depth to it.  Disappointed because the AI was absolute trash, and you could cheese it with a few fighters and a crapton of bombers.  The last two missions I took a couple AA guns as well, with both being crucial to me getting the extra hits I needed on the enemy HQ.  I feel like it would've been better with more competent AI, but it's a solid effort nonetheless.  I could see myself playing it for fun, maybe making some challenges for myself to beat levels with different unit combos, etc.  But for now, it's back on the shelf.

So now I'm looking to finish off January with a completion on my list for each calendar day, and then from there I'll decide how far to continue pushing the streak based on what I feel like firing up.  I do want to knock off some longer/tougher games, but I also don't want to just arbitrarily end the streak.  We'll see how far the will to continue takes me come February 1

[JamesRobot | 5,819]

Just finished Mega Man Dr. Wily's Revenge.  I was fairly surprised at the challenge and completeness of this game.  Mega Man doesn't really suffer from the limited real estate of the Game Boy screen and feels right at home with its contemporary NES counterparts.  I'll be diving more into the handheld Mega Man games in the future.  Also really dig the Pinball Neon Matrix filter that the Analogue Pocket offers.

 

 

[T-Pac | 7,581]

05/40 - Ordyne [NEC PC Engine - 1989]

Finished: 2024/01/27

Caveats: I used turbo fire for my playthrough. I also practiced the final level with save-states, then went back and beat the whole game without them.

[T-Pac]

[greenthunder | 115]

I ended up getting invested in the story of Harvestella and binged it super hard, oops. I ended up beating it the other day. It was fun putting together all the pieces the game was dropping about where the plot was going.

My opinion of the combat didn't really change through the game. It definitely felt on the weaker side, especially coming off of another action RPG. Most regular enemies don't have tells and there aren't defensive options, so I ended up just eating a lot of hits and spamming items to heal. Something also annoying is the FEAR enemies having a fairly short aggro radius, which is nice when I'm just running past them after messing up a puzzle, but rough when I'm actually fighting them and take one step too far away, causing them to instantly despawn. On the flip side, the music is excellent. The only other game I've heard Go Shiina's music is Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy and he composed some of my favorite tracks there, so no surprise I like his work here. Man likes his choirs.

But overall, I enjoyed it. I think now I'll go for completing all the fairy tasks and the encyclopedia, then decide what to play next. Part of me really wants to pick up Rogue Galaxy and start that, a 2nd part of me is debating if this is the year I finally beat Dragon Quest 9, while yet another part of me says I should probably go for something on the backlog list.

[Sumez | 2,988]

21 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

I'll be diving more into the handheld Mega Man games in the future

Don't get discouraged by the second one. For the third game forward they want back to the contractors who made the first game - they definitely knew what they were doing, one of the best examples of a nes to gb conversion out there. 

[Foochie776 | 1,061]

Burning and turning this year. 2 games before the end of the month! 
 

Pikmin 3 is done! 
 

I really love this series and can’t wait to play more. I have to say the challenge was substantially less in this one which I wasn’t sure if it was the immense learning curve I encountered from playing and learning the first game or if it’s just easier overall. 
 

I didn’t get the “best” ending but I enjoyed it enough to where I’ll return to it and clean it up. Overall, very happy and I will return to it. To keep the Pikmin streak alive… Pikmin 2 is next! 

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

Oblivion update: In the interest of moving things along quickly, as well as being frustrated at losing an hour to the game not automating for some reason, I decided to rush through a couple more Oblivion gates.  I also did the mission to acquire the Great Welkynd Stone.  There are two gates remaining, Skingrad and Leyawiin, but I may skip them in favor of just getting on with finishing it.  I like the game, but I am about ready to move on to something else.

My NES streak also continues after knocking out Roundball: 2-on-2 Challenge.  I think as far as basketball games go, it's somewhere in the middle of the pack.  It's neither exceptionally good nor absolutely terrible.  Just average all around.  I did find it pretty easy overall, with the worst part simply that it takes three wins to knock it off.  I could see myself playing it again sometime, but likely only for easy points in the NES completions thread

[Lago | 221]

I wasn’t sure how to count this but I thought it’s a game on a compilation disc that I own. So, in the end, I decided I would count it.  With that being said I completed (played until I felt sufficient)JetPac a couple of nights ago. Jumped back in and played long enough for the picture.

It is on Rare Replay for XBox One.  It was originally released in the arcade in 1983.  This was the first time I had heard of it. As per the times the goal was high score.

If I would have seen it in the arcade I’d have put a couple of quarters in.  

 

Edited January 30 by Lago

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

1 hour ago, Lago said:

I wasn’t sure how to count this but I thought it’s a game on a compilation disc that I own. So, in the end, I decided I would count it.  With that being said I completed (played until I felt sufficient)JetPac a couple of nights ago. Jumped back in and played long enough for the picture.

It is on Rare Replay for XBox One.  It was originally released in the arcade in 1983.  This was the first time I had heard of it. As per the times the goal was high score.

If I would have seen it in the arcade I’d have put a couple of quarters in.  

 

I probably would've too, but it was never released in the arcade.  It's honestly a pretty sweet game, but I'm so damn bad at it.  Only reason I got through all 16 stages was because of the in game cheating that Rare Replay allowed.  Still, it's such an awesome game...just a pity it never really got any attention here.

[Lago | 221]

13 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

I probably would've too, but it was never released in the arcade.  It's honestly a pretty sweet game, but I'm so damn bad at it.  Only reason I got through all 16 stages was because of the in game cheating that Rare Replay allowed.  Still, it's such an awesome game...just a pity it never really got any attention here.

Thanks for the info!  Was it released in the UK arcade?

 The thrust kept getting me.  Sometimes I’d take off like a rocket, heh. Other times not so much.

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

9 minutes ago, Lago said:

Thanks for the info!  Was it released in the UK arcade?

 The thrust kept getting me.  Sometimes I’d take off like a rocket, heh. Other times not so much.

It was only released on the ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro, and the Commodore VIC-20.  While the VIC and Spectrum both existed in North America, they were nowhere near as popular as they were in Europe.  And with Ultimate Play the Game (now Rare) being a British developer, it's just a case of "it never made it over here."  I do recall playing it in high school, but it could've been a freeware "port," an emulation, or some other thing that was prolific in the '90s.  Since I didn't have my own computer at the time, I just had whatever people downloaded on the school computers

But yeah, no arcade release whatsoever.  Just a few British computer releases, and the Rare Replay release.  Oh, and it's also on Jetpac Refuelled from the Xbox Live Arcade (coincidentally, also part of Rare Replay) as bonus content. 

[Lago | 221]

9 minutes ago, the_wizard_666 said:

It was only released on the ZX Spectrum, the BBC Micro, and the Commodore VIC-20.  While the VIC and Spectrum both existed in North America, they were nowhere near as popular as they were in Europe.  And with Ultimate Play the Game (now Rare) being a British developer, it's just a case of "it never made it over here."  I do recall playing it in high school, but it could've been a freeware "port," an emulation, or some other thing that was prolific in the '90s.  Since I didn't have my own computer at the time, I just had whatever people downloaded on the school computers

But yeah, no arcade release whatsoever.  Just a few British computer releases, and the Rare Replay release.  Oh, and it's also on Jetpac Refuelled from the Xbox Live Arcade (coincidentally, also part of Rare Replay) as bonus content. 

Now every time a game on Rare Replay says arcade I am going to question it.

My minimal computer game knowledge is limited to the C64 and Apple IIe.  Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Lemonade Stand for the win.  

[the_wizard_666 | 1,325]

2 hours ago, Lago said:

Now every time a game on Rare Replay says arcade I am going to question it.

My minimal computer game knowledge is limited to the C64 and Apple IIe.  Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Lemonade Stand for the win.  

It could be referring to Xbox Live Arcade, which is what they called the online store.  Jetpac Refuelled was an XBLA release.  I'll have to fire up Rare Replay again to see the context.  But the only arcade games I can recall on the disc are Battletoads and Killer Instinct. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,572]

These boss ships are assholes

[koifish | 557]

Just now, Reed Rothchild said:

These boss ships are assholes

legend you say?

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=RxgdaMZRgRo

[Philosoraptor | 468]

For the first time in 8 years, I booted up my Wii U to beat Castlevania Judgment. I'm honestly surprised my Wii U still worked since it's been sitting so long. I guess that's the good news.

The bad news is that Castlevania Judgment felt more at home being compared to the PS1 fighters I've been playing than any of its 2009-era contemporaries.

As a Soul Calibur-esque fighting game, this game came out after SoulCalibur IV, meaning it had plenty of other good examples that came before it. What we got, though, was:

• A mostly two-button fighting game with a comparable moveset to PS1 fighters.
• Characters with one special move, which is executed with a single button press after a bar is filled up.
• A fighting game that seems to have been made for the Wiimote and Nunchuck combo, with somewhat baffling button assignments on the classic controller and Gamecube controller.
• Poorly balanced characters.
• Arena hazards that your character will lock onto if they're closer to them than the opponent, including zombies that follow and damage you.
• An...interesting, Hot-Topic-adjacent redesign of some of Castlevania's most beloved characters.

Other Wii fighting games, like Guilty Gear XX Accent Core, added Wii motion and still provided comparatively deep fighting systems, but that's not what you get here. Other gripes are that the story mode plays like an arcade mode, and Arcade mode plays like the story mode minus the opening cutscene. More or less, the cutscenes are the same in both and little is added in Story mode.

Overall, while this is certainly a better and more polished effort than say, Dynasty Warriors on the PS1, the 12 years between their release makes this game much more disappointing. The contemporary reviews more or less got right. It's a 5.5/10 for me.

Edited January 30 by Philosoraptor

[Brickman | 4,008]

Did you know the GBA has a The Nightmare Before Christmas game? Did you know it’s a metroidvania? I certainty didn’t but that’s why I love this library, I’m always discovering something new. 

This game is set before the movie and the plot line is pretty thin. I think they could have done a bit more with this. Especially considering the source material. 

It looks very nice though and they did a great job trying to stay with the style of the movie while working with the limitations of the GBA. I love the way Jack walks around (if a bit slow at times).

Overall, the metroidvania aspect of it is done well and there’s back tracking, weapon upgrades and useless treasures to find. I do wish they had put in a teleport room because some of the back tracking can drag on. 

There are some hard to look over things though. The games music is rather annoying. I’m not expecting Danny Elfman level music but it’s just so repetitive and not in a catchy way. 

The difficulty is a bit up and down. It is clearly aimed at kids but then they throw in some really challenging sections only to bring it back down to easy mode. A bit more gradual consistency would have been better.

The game feels sparse at times, the enemies are repeated and most of the time they really don’t offer any challenge. The bosses range from dull to quite interesting but nothing that will ever try to do too much. The Oogie fights are probably the most interesting in the game. 

I went back and forth on what score to give this game. At times it felt like a solid 8 then it would dip to a 7. I ended up settling on a 7.5. It’s well worth a play but it does have a few things holding it back from being great.