Tantalus

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense is done. Thankfully the final 3 unlockable characters are not playable in Quest mode - playing through it 15 times was more than enough for me.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages. I've had this game since it first came out. I played it then, but got stuck about halfway through. Picked it up again about 10 or 11 years ago and made it through to the end, but I haven't touched it again until now and I'm not sure why. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. It's been a few years since I played Seasons, but I remember it to be good, but not quite great, whereas Ages is a fantastic game.

Indy Racing 2000 is done.

I cleared out the Arcade mode of Rally Challenge 2000 - first place in all of the regular and mirror stages. Not a good game by any means, but once I started to get the hang of the handling, I actually had some fun with it. I'm hoping to finish up Indy Racing 2000 in the coming days. I also started on Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense - one character down and looks like 14?! to go. This one will be a while.

There were a few times where I wasn't sure I would be able to get through it all and was close to giving up. I do recommend doing the licences, as they give "CP" which are what unlock new races, cars and parts. The right tires seem to have the biggest impact on races, though obviously other upgrades also become necessary. I'm also convinced that there's some glitches in the programming. I was struggling with the snow races so I compared my set up to this guy's (he's been playing through the entire N64 library, including Japanese titles, and played Top Gear Rally 2 a few weeks ago): https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1861733765?filter=archives&sort=time (starts with Mario Maker, then goes to Top Gear Rally 2 after the first hour). With the exact same car and parts, he was able to drive at ~115 on the snow, and I was stuck at ~85, though I could actually drive faster uphills and through corners than I could on straightaways. The snow tires were working only slightly better than road slicks. I tried multiple setups with multiple cars and nothing was working. I did the other races and eventually I unlocked the final car, upgraded it, and I could suddenly get traction in the snow and could finish those races.

I've had some extra time over the past few days. I probably could have put that to good use, but instead I decided to spend way too much of it playing through Top Gear Rally 2. I can see why it's worth as many points as it is. One of those games that feels harder than it should to artificially stretch out the playtime. Credits are available from the menu at any time - but I did get all the licences and got first in every race in every cup, which apparently unlocks a few extra cars for the versus mode. Hooray. With that, I've played through every Top Gear game on the SNES and N64 this year. Not quite sure what to make of that, but I can say that the SNES ones are much, much better than the N64 ones.

My Mega SG finally arrived yesterday, so it's time to explore my rather limited Genesis collection. First up was a nice and easy one that seemed appropriate for a Saturday morning. Desert Demolition is done. I ended up playing through as both the Road Runner and as Wile E. Coyote. Took about an hour in total. A fun little romp that was so much less frustrating than trying to get through the Road Runner game on the SNES.

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals is done. I've been picking away at this one for a while. I got distracted partway through by the ancient cave and then had a hard time getting back into the main part of the game. It's a good game, but not quite a great game. I appreciate the more puzzle-oriented dungeons and the ancient cave could just about be a game unto itself, but there's not a lot of very memorable set pieces or story bits along the way. I would put it in the top 10 RPGs on the SNES, but not the top 5.

Finished up a play through of Top Gear Rally. I'll keep trying to chip away at some of the racing games - there sure are a lot of them for the 64.

The beginner circuit is tracks 1-4, forwards and backwards (8 races) Intermediate is tracks 1-5, forwards and backwards (10 races) Expert is tracks 1-6, forwards and backwards (12 races) Extreme is tracks 1-6, forwards, backwards, mirrored forwards, and mirrored backwards (24 races) The only circuit unlocked on a new file is the beginner circuit and the others are all unlocked one by one. So all that being, said, I don't think the mirrored variations are enough to justify having to beat the extreme circuit and I would be inclined to call it good after beating the beginner, intermediate, and expert circuits.

Well, I decided to just go ahead and do the extreme circuit. After a total of four circuits and fifty-four races, here was my prize. San Francisco Rush 2049 is done. No credits to be found. Not sure what the requirements should be going forward. It's better than the first game, worse than the second. I enjoyed it for the most part, but could've done without that final circuit. The soundtrack has a few great tracks, along with a few that are just fine.

What's the criteria for San Francisco Rush 2049? I've played through the Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Circuits, only to unlock the Extreme Circuit. I'll play through it if I have to, but I'm not exactly excited to do another 24 races on top of the 30 I've already done, especially since I have no idea if there's a credit roll afterwards or not.

Thanks. That's a bit disappointing to hear as one of the things I like about Sands of Time is how compact and tightly paced it is. Oh well. I decided to go ahead and order a copy off eBay anyway. I probably won't play through it right away, but I'll get to it eventually.

I didn't think to take a picture, but I finished up a play through of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time this week. I played it through a few times upon release, but haven't gone back to it in probably 18 years. It has a few issues (the combat in particular can feel like a chore at times), but I thoroughly enjoyed it overall. I never did play the second game, Warrior Within. I'm thinking about finally picking up a copy of it, but the tonal shift seems...jarring to say the least. Does anyone have any experience with it?

I just finished up Top Gear Overdrive. I enjoyed it for the most part. It's by no means a long game, but it certainly could have used a couple more tracks as I did get tired of the same tracks over and over again. I played through it a couple of years ago, so I probably won't re-visit it again for a long time.

Wrapped up Rush 2 a little sooner than I expected. Not yet sure what the next one will be.

I'm just over halfway through Rush 2, so I may as well put in a claim for that one now. I'll hopefully be able pick away at it and wrap it up in the next week or two.

Forgot to take a picture, but Donkey Kong Land 2 is done. I'm sometimes hard on this game because I would have preferred something more unique/original rather than what feels like a greatly scaled down DKC 2 port. However, it is still impressive what they were able to do with the Game Boy hardware and it is a solid game. The graphics fit the limitations of the hardware much better than the first Land game and the hit detection and controls also seem greatly improved. It was also nice this time around to scratch the DKC 2 itch with a game that I don't know quite like the back of my hand to the same degree as the SNES game.

Completed all six "seasons" of Top Gear Hyper-Bike. I first played this one for this thread a couple years ago. In so many ways it's a very mediocre game, but I actually quite enjoyed my time with it then and I can say the same now, too.

Decided not to wait that long with Top Gear 3000 after all. I played through it on hard difficulty as that is the only way to play all of the tracks. The first half was fairly easy, but the second half was much more difficult. The last quarter or so in particular I found quite brutal. I had to go back to an old password at one point and go with a slightly different upgrade path. Even then, I feel like I barely squeaked this one out. It's the most refined of the three games and I used to think this was my favourite of the bunch. After replaying all three games this year though, I have to say that I actually prefer the second game overall.

Played through Automobili Lamborghini. I don't love the handling and am generally not big on pit mechanics in my racing games, but I still had a decent time with this one.

Top Gear 2. It's a solid game overall, though a little on the long side. There are 16 countries/regions with 4 tracks each, so 64 races in total. I played through it on the hardest difficulty, but the difficulty curve is not all that balanced. The first quarter or so was the hardest until I could earn enough cash to put together a few upgrades. I had a fully upgraded car by about halfway through and it was incredibly easy, until the last quarter of the game when things suddenly got harder again. Music is good, but not quite as good as the first. Initially I was going to play all three games in relatively quick succession, but I think Top Gear 3000 is longer than this one and I think I need a bit of a break before diving into that. So it will have to wait for a bit.

Al Unser Jr's Road to the Top is done. Mediocre at best. At least it's short, so it doesn't overstay it's welcome too badly.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is done. I've only ever played this game on the PS2 and Gamecube, so it was interesting to see how they managed a port to a previous gen console. Not a bad take on it, though definitely not my preferred version of the game. @Splain it does take 3 golds to get the credit roll, so you can update the requirements.

NHL Blades of Steel 99. You were right, @Nugfish, this is the worst of the N64 hockey games.