[EVENT] The Sonic Stadium 52 Game Challenge 2024! - New Prizes every week! Current Prize: Sonic Heroes Profile gift!

[Sean]

Not much to report, been playing Anno 1404 all week.

[Gavvie]

Game 13 Finished / Game 5 Completed - Final Fantasy VII (PS4)

I wasn't going to do this so early, but it's leaving PS+ in a couple of weeks so I moved it ahead of schedule (I wanted to complete the numbered FF games in order).

It's actually the first time I've finished this game (I know), mainly because it's not one of my favourites (I KNOW), but I'm glad to have finally done it now.

For the sake of being transparent, a mixture of the X3 and God Mode boosters were used to aid in Trophy hunting.

Going to move onto FFIX now - 17 days until it also leaves PS+ so here's hoping!

[Tornado]

If you have been to a pawn shop in the United States for the past 30 years you have seen this smiling visage:

 

I believe every Genesis ever made for the first two years must have come with a copy because they are everywhere. So many questions to ask.

 

Why does the title screen have that as its logo...

But the boxart has that logo?

Is that the Bubsy font?

 

 

Has anyone ever actually played this game? Even Longplay YouTube channels have things like this appended to them:

Why did I play this game?

 

 

This game is super exploitable, too. Maybe the developers (more on that in a second) thought themselves that nobody would ever play it. Pitching is extremely weak. Batting is way more powerful, but even more powerful than that is just letting the AI get hits and throwing them out or catching fly balls. The AI also doesn't manage pitcher strength very well, so in longer games they sometimes just start throwing Balls that they meant to curve but the pitcher is too fucked to actually control it. So you can easily manipulate games into joke games:

Typical random mid-season baseball game experience

Or mathematically the worst possible experience this game allows; where there are no hits for 12 innings and then one pitcher walks 4 batters seemingly just so everyone can go home.

Eventually, as the games pile on in the season, you just start hurling baseballs at people:

You start just destroying the fabric of the game to amuse yourself:

 

You convincingly throttle random teams through exploiting the AI:

And all you can see is stuff like this:

 

Rather than focus on any of the riveting baseball gameplay.

Pictured above: Riveting baseball gameplay.

 

And you play 30 games of this before you get into the playoffs. Your eyes glaze over as you stumble to scenic... Minneapolis..

You ask the most important question of all:

What has become of my life?

You wonder... who would pay in real life to watch this shit? Is it because of this:

 

They actually showed up the second game.

And they scared me for the third, but then:

It almost was competitive.

Time for the WORLO SERIES.

New York vs THE ANGEL. Yankees vs the Dodgers. Could this be the most hated finals in baseball history?

 

This is the point where I just started throwing it straight across home play every time and not even trying to get strikes. Just let the OP as fuck infielders take care of everything.

It worked.

Not every time.

But it did so enough and the games went by *way* faster. The last game I decided I wouldn't even swing the bat unless my 4 good hitters on the team were up. Pitching straight across the plate with a pitcher on 0 Strength, and not even bothering to swing the bat unless the 4 guys who could reliably hit home runs were coming up to bat. Focus all my energy on defense. How did that work out?

Oh.

The New York are the Worlo Series Champions!

This credit sequence is pretty cool. Especially for a console game from the 80s. I imagine that art burned up a ton of the cartri-

 

 

lmao.

 

As you can see from the title bar that reports the ROM header, there was a Japanese version of this game.

No, I'm not playing that to chronicle the differences between it and Tommy Lasorda Baseball.

It also had a sequel that the US also got (in enhanced form as Sports Talk Baseball):

No, I'm not playing that either.

[TitansCreed]

It's that time of the week again, where I tell you what Sonic (fan)games I have been playing (if you're not keeping up with the CC blog.

Firstly on the block, we have our weekly dive into Speed Simulator:

While the Eggman Boss Battle is very clearly labeled next to the Emerald Hill world, I didn't want to attempt it until we actually got to Emerald Hill. Obviously we unlocked Movie Knux and Series Knux and... you know, no. I'm not happy with the accumulation method for Knux. At least with Movie Sonic and Tails they were tasks to do while playing the game. The fact we had to stop at 5 dumbells to hand in absolutely infuriated me. Let me pick up as much as I can, and I don't even care if takes me down to 1 speed, I'd rather do that and learn my tolerance level than be forced to do 5 only per time.

Phew, with that rant out the way, I think we're moving into New Yolk City next week, but I know the new rockstars event has dropped, so we'll probably peek at that also.

That being said, we FINALLY finished Sonic Superstars this week:

I tried to keep the thumbnail particularly ambiguous as I know some folk who watch the content haven't played Superstars either. It was... ok, I guess?

I dunno, personally, if I had paid full whack for Superstars at launch, I'd be pretty miffed at the content it offered. Trip's story shouldn't of been "hard mode" and should of been more akin to Knuckles' story from S3K. Alternate paths and chasing the Egg Robo boss. Such a crazy difficulty curve, or maybe I'm just old and tired...

Finally this week, we are back to fangames as we have been challenged by our friend Sonic Yoda of SEGA Driven to tackle Sonic Frenzy Adventure, of which the latest (today's) episode has launched:

Tails' once again proving he is the worst boy. But in all seriousness, Frenzy Adventure is most definetely not like your average fangame and has a very steep difficulty curve and while the many, MANY deaths are frustrating, the autosave mechanic is not. We'll see how this goes in the next week or so...

Finally, while not game related, this lovely bit of fan merch arrived today. Adding a third sonic song themed pin and a new tee...

Until next week friends...

[Gruffin]

Weekly Check-In : Sonic Adventure DX (Steam Release, Modded)

I completed Knuckles' route this week, and it was enjoyable! I liked the treasure hunting stages in SA2, and I liked them here. Surprise, surprise.

As with Sonic's stages, Knuckles' stages in SA1 are a lot easier than his stages in the sequel. The radar is better, with the ability to track all three emeralds at once instead of one at a time, and the emeralds are just...well, easier to find. They're placed in more accessible areas, in stages with (generally) less gimmicks.

Because of that, I found myself spending more time finding the levels themselves than hunting for the emerald shards. Most of the time, the NPCs were kind enough to direct me where to go, but other times the game expects you to remember from past routes. Well, my memory is terrible and I wait several days between each session, so I ended up more like this:

It wasn't too bad though. Having a map in the menu helped.

 

As for the story itself, it's pretty good! Knuckles is shown a lot more visions than Sonic and Tails were, meaning more lore. They only seem to confuse the poor guy though, making this route unintentionally hilarious because it's mostly Knuckles stumbling around fixated on the emerald shards as Tikal is desperately trying to show him what happened to his ancestors.

The ending made me laugh because it was basically him going, "Well that was weird! I don't need to know tho." about something that he VERY MUCH needs to know. Don't want to check in on those visions of disaster, buddy? Not even gonna tell anyone about them? Okay.

You gotta love the guy. He put the refusal of the call at the end of his hero's journey and then the story just ends.

 

Side note, I've been messing with the first-person camera this week, and took a ton of screenshots to use as desktop backgrounds. Here's a few of Tikal's shrine:

Just imagine Knuckles running around with a camera as Tikal questions why she's bothering with him.

...And what's this? A cozy 1 bedroom 0 bath with rustic charm, a mailbox, and a fantastic view?

I'd make an offer, but I'm short on rings and couldn't bear the draft. Makes for a great background though!

[Rabid-Coot]

3 hours ago, Gavvie said:

Going to move onto FFIX now - 17 days until it also leaves PS+ so here's hoping!

Good luck either doing the 1,000 jumps or getting the autohotkey script right.

[Danj86]

Registered Games

Spoiler

1. Fan Game: Sonic The Hedgehog: Triple Trouble 16Bit - Complete

2. The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown  -  Complete

3. Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series P1 - Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

4. Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series P2 - Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil

5. The Pedestrian - Complete

6. Another Code: Recollection P1 - Another Code: Two Memories

7. Another Code: Recollection P2 - Another Code: R - A Journey into Lost Memories - Complete

8. Touhou: Luna Nights -  Complete

9. Afterimage - Complete

10. Yohane The Parhelion -Blaze in the Deepblue- -  Complete

11. Metroid Dread - Complete

12. Mario vs Donkey Kong (Switch Version) - Complete

13. Metroid Prime Remastered

14. Tevi - Complete

15. Princess Peach Showtime! - Complete

16. The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog - Complete

17. Grim Guardians: Demon Purge - Complete

18. Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons - Complete

19. Gensou Skydrift - Complete

20. Penny's Big Breakaway - Complete

21. Pikmin 3 Deluxe - Complete

New Additions

Hate to admit it, but the novelty of this challenge might be starting to wear off. It's not even the challenge itself that is starting to feel grating. It's the games themselves. I mean, I was originally looking forward to the Paper Mario Thousand Year-Door Remake but as the weeks went by, that hope changed to contempt. Why am I looking forward to an old game I can already play when I damn well please? It would be different if I didn't own the original. I feel like a moron.

Anyway, enough stalling. Time to get to the point.

22. Pikmin 2 - Complete

Spoiler

Pikmin 2 is easily the one game with the most Pikmin deaths. I expected my performance to be the worst in the first game, but I surprised myself. I...also played the entire game expecting a Smokey Progg to turn up at some point, because I never saw one in 3 Deluxe. Turned out I wasn't going to see one in 2 either, they only appear in Pikmin 4 and 1. All that anxiety for nothing...

Some enemies can be taken out by sneaking up on them and throwing Pikmin at 'em. A perfect viable strategy in Pikmin 3 Deluxe, it wasn't so viable in Pikmin 2. Maybe I was doing it wrong. I did often miss the red Dwarf Bulblax, allowing them to chomp on a Pikmin or two before I finally get a direct hit. I could never defeat a Bulbear without losing Pikmin either and did reach a moment when a good number of enemies were Bulbears. Now, when I said I could never defeat a Bulbear without losing a Pikmin, the smarty pants out their are no doubt laughing at me and saying I should've attacked them while they were sleeping. But no. That was the way I was attacking them. They'd usually be able to wake up, turn around and chomp on a Pikmin before I could kill it.

It was issues like this that got me determined to have Olimar, Louie and The President to defend themselves more often than not. If you don't have Pikmin with you and press the throw Pikmin button, whoever you control can punch. Naturally, you also have to be good at dodging because those creatures aren't going to just stand and let you murder them. I did pretty well with this strategy. Coming close to death at one point with the President at one point. I did die with Olimar in one game, but I ended up abandoning that attempt and leaving. So I wouldn't count it. Not that it matters.

Anyway, to fully complete the post game, required going through several long gauntlets of caves, facing tough enemies or straight up previous bosses. This is all because Olimar managed to somehow leave Louie on the planet and then the doofus managed to get himself stuck sleeping on top of a creature that is using several treasures as weapons. I want the 100% so I need to steal those. In my first attempt, I ended up having about 5 Pikmin. You need at least 30 to steal the treasures. I was able to save Louie but had to leave the treasure. Also, bosses respawn in this game. Yay? My second attempt was better but I still didn't have enough Pikmin to carry any treasure. So I had to fight the post game final boss three times. And after completing this game, I'd learn that the Pikmin community consider Pikmin 2 to be the hardest. Yeah, I can see that.

23. Pikmin 1 - Complete

Spoiler

I shocked myself even more here. The time limit was something I was always concerned about when it was time to move on to Pikmin 1. Olimar has a wife and children to get back too and if you don't get enough parts by 30 days, he....doesn't survive.

But the truth is, possibly through my training in playing Pikmin backwards, I had no issues getting all 30 with a decent amount of days left to spare. Pikmin still perished sadly. Though my heart was hardened after the horror of Pikmin 2 so I had gotten used to it by now. With not much else to add, I'll say a couple of things that aren't that important. I hate snagrets.

• Last year, upon completing Pikmin 4, I lost 461 Pikmin. Oh, that's more than I thought it'd be. I guess I wasn't considering the Glow Pikmin. They look more like ghosts so I was pretty careless with them. Especially when the Smokey Progg showed up.
• In Pikmin 3 Deluxe, I lost 150 Pikmin. Wow. That is pretty good. Before I actually looked, I would've assumed that number would've been my Pikmin 4 run.
• In Pikmin 2, I lost 1644 Pikmin?? Yeah...that sounds about right.
• In Pikmin 1, I lost 474. Huh, more than I though, again. But I've somehow gone full circle, getting a number very close to what I got in Pikmin 4.

24. Fan Game: Sonic 3D in 2D - Complete

Spoiler

This game was used for my Knuckles challenge and was tough than I expected for completing it. Despite this game being a 2D take on Sonic 3D, it does pretty will in translating some of the more annoying aspects from the original game. Such as actually getting lost and going round in circles on later levels. I would've been annoyed by the mandatory need to have your character spinning to smash specific walls in Rusty Ruins but because of the Knuckles challenge, I was playing my run as Knuckles and he can walk through those annoying walls without an issue.

Speaking of issues, when I previously played a fan game, I didn't have any. It was perfect. Or close to perfect a video game can be. 3D in 2D is not the same. The Special Stages move faster than they do in Sonic 2, the game the Special Stages are based on. The controls are also slippery so it's not about reaction time to get these Chaos Emeralds. You have to rely on memorization and luck to earn them. If you are successful in getting them all, you'll eventually learn that those slippery controls also go to your flying super form, which is optional in one boss and mandatory in the very final boss. What makes it worse is the mandatory fight is a new second phase for the 2D version of the final boss from 3D. Which maintains it snail like pace. It's also worth knowing that the second phase boss battle isn't very generous with rings. You just have to learn that the rings switch from being in a line near the top of the screen, then alternating to the bottom, then repeat. Yeah, it's a simple pattern that is easy to memorize, but the slippery controls will still mean you miss or get hit by an attack and lose the chance to get any rings at all.

Apart from that, the game is...okay. I did unlock Amy after completing it with Knuckles and she plays like she does in Sonic Advance 1. So she's basically hard mode.

Finished: 24

Completed: 20

Edited May 5 by Danj86

[WorksOfMagic]

Haven't finished any games this week, though I've started playing through the latest iterations of the mobile remakes of Sonic 1, 2 & CD through Sonic Origins Plus, with the added bonus of playing that game's version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Considering the difference in game feel, the added widescreen, QOL improvements and added jankiness introduced due to both the Retro & PathTracer engines, I thought these would warrant a post separate from their Genesis originals for me. Plus, I already went through playing one of Sonic 1's remakes, in the form of the god awful Sonic The Hedgehog - Genesis remake on GBA, so I might as well play all of these games one last time through their latest remakes.

Expect a completion post/review of all remakes sometime next week.

[Gavvie]

14 hours ago, Rabid-Coot said:

Good luck either doing the 1,000 jumps or getting the autohotkey script right.

Oh, I'm not even going to try doing the Platinum trophy for FFIX because of that one! I'm just going to be happy if I can finish it.

[NegaMix]

Checking in! Progress has finally been made on Spyro 2, with the first batch of worlds completed. The worlds in this game certainly feel bigger and longer than the first game, what with the sprinkling of various mini-games and extra objectives you need to fulfil for that 100% completion, not to mention some backtracking that's required due to some ladders that Spyro can't climb until a visit to everyone's favourite greedy grizzly, Moneybags, in the second hub world.

This is starting to feel like how the earliest Ratchet & Clank games play out - worlds introduced via a short comedy clip, some backtracking required after gaining a new ability later on, progression being blocked off by an in-game pay wall etc - and while I appreciate the game building on the foundation of the original and giving more utility to some items... I dunno, a part of me kinda misses the simplicity of Spyro 1's progression.

Even so, I'm having good fun with Spyro 2 so far.

[Covskin]

 

I've wanted to use this gag for months

I've got two games on the go at the moment. On my PS4 I've spent the last month playing Crisis Core Reunion. I never owned a PSP so this is my first time play the game, up to Chapter 9 at the moment. Only 35% missions completed though, which is where the real grind will be.

On Switch, I've started Breath Of Fire 2. There are a few differences from the original but I'll get into them another time. Currently at Farm Town (I will say this - the translation and many names are atrocious).

Edited May 5 by Covskin

[niaco]

Whoops! Maybe I missed last week? Maybe this counts as the next? Either way...

The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog

This is probably my fourth playthrough of this game, lol - last week I spent two sessions with friends (them, playing blind) voice acting the title and each of the characters. It was a lot of fun, even if playing Shadow ended up destroying my voice... I adore this little romp and I hope we get more like it. It's basically an IDW oneshot. No notes.

Sonic Dream Team

Yeah... It's, uh...

I have a lot of feelings coming out of this game. The gameplay is pretty good at best and extremely frustrating or boring at worst. The voice acting, too, is pretty good at best (Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles) and extremely disappointing at worst (Eggman, Rouge, Cream...). The hype around this release really baffles me - I understand the excitement about having a more multi-character, Adventure-style collectathon and boost game, but in practice I came out of this pretty bummed, and thankful it was over.

If you're thinking about playing this game, you really ought to have an Xbox or Playstation wireless controller. Don't bother with the touch controls, and no, a Switch Pro controller will not work (because of Bluetooth protocol shenanigans). This experience wouldn't be worth the cost of Apple Arcade if we didn't already have it. For the most part, it's pretty damn polished - but it's been polished past the point of being interesting, and it makes it characterization come out incredible flat. This isn't a game that fans of the characters should bother with. :(.

Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers

Niaco's "Does This Actually Count" special bonus! A standout hit this year for me, this game is a ton of fun. I'm finally not quite so hooked by it, but a few weeks back I completed the basic 16 cups, and have been gunning for the chaos emeralds and character unlocks ever since. So... you do see the credits after beating both the Sonic cup and the Egg cup, and you don't unlock any more cups outside of emerald hunting, so I would argue that I have "beaten the game", but it's a weird thing to say for a racing game. You don't beat Mario Kart or F-Zero, not really. If this doesn't count for anything, then I will at least be happily placing it here to log as my biggest timesink these last two weeks.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Game 10 - Star Wars Jedi Starfighter (PSN) campaign complete

I always remember seeing this on shelves as a kid, never tried it. Its fine, Star Wars knows how to do a decent flight sim. Its held back by kinda samey missions. Glad I played it after all these years though.

[ShadowXeldron]

Status update that I'm being rushed into!

I'll start with Persona 5 since that's been my main focus right now. I've beaten Kamoshida's Palace and I think I got up to Mementos.

Next I'll bring up Dreamcast games. Sonic Adventure has just beaten Casinopolis and I did a few missions in Soulcalibur. I did try Jet Set Radio as well, but I couldn't get the hang of it.

On a final note, the Dreamcast controller is way more comfortable than it looks! And I need to replace the CMOS battery, which I am NOT looking forward to.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

WEEKLY CHECK IN: SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER: IN PROGRESS

 

Got a new game earlier this week! I've been wanting to try this game out for some time and I finally got it.

The games in the New Super Mario Bros series were decent enough games. Simple, Safe, and everything you come to expect from a mario gmae.... but in the end that was pretty much the biggest problem, Simple, Safe, and everything you came to expect from a Mario game. I admit, I had New Super Mario bros for the Switch, and I ended up getting so bored, I haven't really touched it in a while.

So when Super Mario Bros. Wonder was announced, I was pretty curious but not sure as to how much different it would be from the NSMB series. Sure it had a new art direction, some new powers and an interesting gimmick with the wonder flower, but at the time I wondered how different it would be from New Super Mario bros.

Playing through it, I have to say, I've been having a lot more fun with the game. It's fun to experiment with the badges, as they offer a new way of traversal, the elephant power-up, (while a little bit cursed) is still a fun power up, along with the new powers such as the bubble flower and the drill hat. But what really makes this game stick out are the levels and the wonder flowers. So far in the game, each level has had something unique in it, whether it be introducing a new enemy, a different way of platforming, and of course, the Wonder Flowers. There's at least one hidden in every level and if you grab it, you either transform into one of the game's enemies, or the level itself transforms into something very trippy. Whether it be your torso turning long, the platforms growing eyes and becoming sentient, one of the level's main enemies turning giant and pursuing you, there's always a surprise with each level you go to.

At the moment, I only have two worlds left, but I should be able to post my full thoughts on the game by the end of the week!

[TheKarmaCollector1994]

Games Finished/Completed So Far:

1. Power Wash Simulator (XBOX One) - Finished 25/02/24
2. Unpacking (XBOX One) - Finished 07/03/24 - 100% Complete (All Achievements Unlocked)
3. Tecmo Bowl (NES (Switch Online)) - Finished 09/03/24 - 100% Complete
4. Sonic the Fighters (XBOX 360) - Finished 10/03/24 - 100% Complete (All Achievements Unlocked)
5. Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario All-Stars Version) (SNES (Switch Online)) - Finished 21/03/24 - 100% Complete (Star Worlds Included)
6. Donut County (XBOX One) - Finished 24/03/24 - 100% Completed (All Achievements Unlocked)
7. Open Roads (XBOX One) - Finished 31/03/24 - 100% Completed (All Achievements Unlocked)
8. Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy (Switch Online)) - Finished 13/04/24 - 100% Completed (Extra Game Completed)
9. Sonic Spinball (SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis (Switch Online)) - Finished 14/04/24 - 100% Completed
10. Super Mario Bros. 2 (Super Mario All-Stars Version) (SNES (Switch Online)) - Finished 28/04/24

Hey Guys!

Time for my weekly check-in once again. Although this week has seen me make progress in some areas, I unfortunately stalled in a few other areas with other titles. Whilst I have completed one of the Mario titles I was working through (the Mario 64 run has taken a bit of a backseat for the moment, but will be finished eventually), and I have been playing through some of the LEGO games (particularly those based on Indiana Jones), as well as finishing off Knuckles’ story in SA1, I haven’t been able to get round to completing the point-and-click adventure that I have been teasing for a couple of weeks now. I tried to start a run through of that particular title, but ultimately I ended up being so confused about what to do that I gave up on it - if I find a guide that tells me more clearly about what to do, I will probably give it another try. Aside from that, I will also think about potentially playing through some Star Wars based titles from next week onwards, but I will have to see how busy I will be for next week.

Nonetheless, on to the sole new addition to the games finished/completed list!

Game 11: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy (Switch Online)) - Finished 30/04/24 - 100% Completed (All Bonus Levels Completed)

Now this is a really nostalgic title for me, going back to the days when I was very young, and my first gaming experiences came from the tiny screen of the Game Boy that my parents had. Sadly, said Game Boy no longer works, but playing titles such as the Super Mario Land games as well as the Game & Watch Gallery were tons of fun when you wanted to play games but you only had a short time in which to do so. Whilst I do have more memories of playing the original Mario Land, its sequel isn’t a game that should be overlooked, as it not only improves upon the graphics from the original, it provides a much more fulfilling gameplay experience, with plenty of secret areas and paths to explore once you get the hang of the level layouts. Try to keep an eye out for the secret exits in some levels as you unlock secret paths in the majority of the six worlds you play through, and try to ensure that you reach the bell at the end of the main levels, as that will unlock the bonus minigame where you could gain powerups, extra lives and so on.

As for the story itself, well… I will say that it has more going on than just “rescue the princess” as is to be expected from most Mario games, as this time you are needed to traverse the six worlds in the game to collect the Golden Coins mentioned in the title, as these are required to open the entrance to Mario, er, sorry… WARIO’S Castle! Yes, that dastardly arch-rival of the mustachioed plumber made his debut in this game, and has overtaken Mario’s castle, and it is your job to defeat the bosses of each world to gain the coins that you need to enter the castle and take it back.

Although the bosses are not difficult, as they are taken down in just three hits most of the time, the final battle with Wario comes in three stages, where he uses three different powerups: the Super Mushroom, the Hare Carrot (which is similar to the Raccoon Mario suit in Mario Bros. 3 in that it allows Mario to fly/glide in the air), and the Fire Flower. It is more difficult as a result, but not that much more compared to the other bosses. Regardless, going through the final level avoiding the traps in Wario’s Castle was a slight challenge, as it is easy to make a mistake that can cost you your power up/a life, but it was so satisfying to make it to the end and boot Wario out of the castle for good. Super Mario Land 2 may be a bit shorter than other Mario titles, due to most Game Boy games being shorter than those on other consoles, but I consider it to be an essential title for anyone looking to build up their Game Boy collection. (Even though I played it through the Switch Online service… but still, nostalgia does funny things sometimes, doesn’t it?)

(Side note: Nintendo, why do you have SML2 on the Switch Online service, but you don’t have the original Super Mario Land as an available title?! I know you like to concentrate on adding titles every now and again, but how come this gem isn’t there alongside the sequel? And why is there no Wario Land on Switch Online either?)

Sorry, just had to get that short rant off my chest. Anyways, apologies that I didn’t have more games to add to the list this week, but hopefully next week brings more completions to add to the ever-growing list. Until the next time!

Games Finished: 11

Games 100% Completed: 10

Edited May 5 by TheKarmaCollector1994
Sorry, for some reason I didn’t need that last photo below the game count. Don’t know what happened there.

[Winston]

I didn’t really have the time to finish any games this week, had a lot of plans since my birthday was on Thursday and I had to work all weekend. But I did start a few things and get closer to finish some others.

I am almost done with this season’s Battle Pass, I am level 83. Thanks to the quest bundle for levels I bought, it’s helped a lot. There is also a new Star Wars event going on with missions, and it also helped get me further along in the Battle Pass. I don’t think a full completion will happen this season, but very likely I will be able to wrap up a finish for the BP.

I am enjoying the new Star Wars stuff too, lots of cool things now for weapons. Chewie’s weapon, a storm trooper weapon, and Vader’s saber along with the Greek mythology items and avatar bending scrolls. A very interesting assortment of items to use in the battlefield. Also Lando is finally in Fortnite, and he’s my favorite original trilogy character. Now I can finally be happy, and thanks to Ryan for gifting him to me.

Another game I recently started up again is Jak and Daxter. I’ve never beaten this game for some reason, don’t know why. I hope I’ll be able to finish this time, but I always start it and forget to go back to it. I am having a lot of fun with it this time, a lot more than I thought I would. I’m really hoping I can finally get this series finished fully, and then move onto Sly Cooper. For some reason out of all the PS2 mascots from Sony, I only ever played the Ratchet games. I have played Jak and Sly before, but never too much. 

I did like three levels though so far, and I haven’t fully completed any of them yet. I might try to finish every objective in a level, but as of now, I’m having run just casually going through it. If I like it enough, I might go for all the trophies and the completion but I’ll just have to see how much free time I have. I still need to get back to FFVII Rebirth and Pikmin.

That about sums up my update for this week. No new games finished, but started another new game and I am getting closer to finishing the Fortnite Battle Pass. Thanks for reading!

[Lady Marie]

This week, I was able to finish two games and complete one of them!

Game #5: Virtue's Last Reward (Finished & Completed):

This one took me forever, but I'm glad it's finally over. If you want (most of) my thoughts on this game, I wrote a blog post on it last week:

TLDR; this game got on my nerves towards the end, the narrative becomes a jumbled mess, and the puzzle aspect takes a backseat to longwinded monologues that say so much while saying nothing at all.

Despite my feelings on it, I don't regret completing it. I would've been more upset by doing most of the endings but not all of them. It was definitely more annoying to get all of it done compared to the first game in the series, but I'm so glad there are a lot of guides online (I have no idea how the game expected me to remember ten different things spread across so many different branching paths) and that you can jump around in the flow chart really easily. Otherwise, I would've given up.

Game #6: Fortnite Season 2 BP (Finished):

I'm really happy I was able to get to level 100 in this BP when I did. I got all of the Avatar stuff, which is what I was really aiming for. I've gotten a lot more comfortable with doing BR by myself and prioritizing quests to get the most out of every match. I'm hoping to complete this before the BP ends. I'll be cutting it close, but if I stay on track, it's definitely doable. 

Been making some solid progress in FFVII Rebirth as well. On Chapter 7 at this point, and the story's really starting to pick up. The amount of minigames is starting to get a bit tedious. I know I could skip them, but I'd rather just knock out all of the achievements while I'm going. 

Midnight Suns and Baldur's Gate 3 are still on hold, but with VLR done, I can dedicate more of my time to them. Might also start another game here soon, something easier to pick up and put down without having to keep track of long narrative arcs.

Finished: 6

Completed: 3

[Fireluigi1225]

So funny story, current game is taking longer than id hope so im prob gonna double up with SMB and it next week. I have my game & watch ready so I can at least have so unique points there, maybe.

[Failinhearts]

WEEK 17: FAILIN'S POSTGAME

GAME 62: SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG RELOADED (GAMECUBE): 100% COMPLETE

This was probably my hardest writeup yet. For whatever reason, I couldn't muster up the thoughts to properly write down what I thought of Shadow the Hedgehog as a game. But I do have some pretty interesting thoughts of how the mod fundamentally altered the game itself. Here's my review of Shadow the Hedgehog: Reloaded.

GAMES FINISHED: 62

GAMES COMPLETED: 57

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Got my own check-in to do, and we've got a Sonic marathon on our hands at the moment! I'm still writing up my full blog posts for the last two entries, but feel free to check out the three I've got done!

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Game 37: Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 2 (100% Complete):

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/1452-sonic-the-hedgehog-4-episode-ii/ryannumber3gamer

Thoughts: 

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Game 38: Sonic the Fighters (100% Complete):

Thoughts:  

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Game 39: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (100% Complete):

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/851-sonic-the-hedgehog-2/ryannumber3gamer

Thoughts:

 

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Game 40: Sonic CD (2011) (100% Complete):

https://psnprofiles.com/trophies/1227-sonic-cd/ryannumber3gamer

Thoughts:

TO BE ADDED

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Game 41: Sonic R (100% Complete): 

Thoughts:

TO BE ADDED

[Iko]

I like the idea of this challenge, though I prefer to play games more freely without necessarily having to write a report or take screenshots, so I don't think I'll make much progress in it. Though, as long as I'm not too late (cause it's the last day and I'm very late indeed), I'd like to post something for the Sonic Advance 2 profile gift.

A few days ago I finished Pepper Grinder, here's the evidence:

A 100% savefile,

(a bit spoiler):

Spoiler

the final boss defeated,

(heavy spoilers):

Spoiler

every sticker and song collected (which also means that I've done gold in every time attack challenge),

(medium spoiler):

Spoiler

every wig and every picture purchased (including the final wig that's unlocked after... I'm not sure probably after you defeat the final boss).

The game is great, I've did some status updates about it.

This gimmicky platformer is a weird mix of Drill Dozer and Sonic's drill wisp, and it works very well! The artstyle is excellent, simple and pixelated, but great.

Gameplay-wise, the button mapping (despite being simple) is a bit confusing and requires some getting used to, but once you adapt to it, it's very fun. The level design is awesome, even though there are a couple of design flaws in a few levels around mid game (and the first boss). The game has just a few levels but every one of them is unique and introduces new gimmicks... they range from your typical Mario-styled platforming gimmick, to piloting vehichles.

The gameplay is very fast paced with a lot of flow, and the levels are designed for speedrun... in fact, the game requires you to beat some time attack challenges if you want to collect everything... I completed all of them in a few attempts at worst, except one level with some snow mobiles, for that one I had to use an option that allows you to slow down the time and do precise movements (it's kinda like cheating but it's an option in the game so I suppose it's allowed); regardless, the times for gold are usually strict and require a lot of precision and skills.

There are some hidden collectables (big gold coins), but most of them are very easy to see or to get. There are a few well hidden ones, but they're still easy enough, you won't need much backtrack, they are all on the main path more or less.

It's a bit too short, but I had a great time with it.

 

[Spin Attaxx]

GAME #12: SONIC MANIA (Knuckles) - 100% Complete

Until this challenge, I hadn't played Sonic Mania in a long, long time. Put it this way, the last time I played it, Metal Sonic had a different final phase. I had a run with Knuckles years ago, but never bothered to go past Press Garden, so this gave me the incentive to actually beat the game with him for the first time. (I've never attempted a run with Tails.)

Something I've found while replaying this game is that I enjoy the levels a lot more when I'm not poking around every pixel looking for Special Stage rings, but instead, like. Playing them like actual Sonic levels. But I'm a completionist, I have to get those emeralds, and my pride wasn't going to let me accept getting a Bad Ending the first time around just so I can save-scum Green Hill in New Game+. So I cracked and looked up level maps to find out where to go for them, because I'm working on a video game, I've got shit to do, ain't got time, ain't got time. And good thing I did because those Special Stages are... well, put it this way, a lot of times, I kept asking myself, "Are these actual garbage? Or am I just bad at them?" And playing these stages with the knowledge that by doing them you're not doing something more important is probably not a good idea. But generally I found finding the Special Stages at all to be a bigger pain than the stages themselves. Still, never doing them again.

(I'd have put a "Knuckles has all the Chaos Emeralds" screenshot here, but I forgot what the screenshot key was at the time. No I'm not redoing them just to get one.)

Anyway, as for the actual game, because I haven't played Mania in forever, there was a lot of stuff that was brand new to me as a player. There was stuff I knew of, like Mirage Saloon Act 1 being completely different, Knuckles fighting Heavy King in Hidden Palace, and Metal Sonic's fight being changed in an update. But there was other stuff I was seeing for the very first time; chiefly the level transitions for the levels that previously lacked one, at least as far as Knuckles is concerned. Some of them, I'm not sure if they were always there or not, like the transition from Metallic Madness to Titanic Monarch.

I've always heard Knuckles has had a lower jump than Sonic, but I don't think I ever truly felt it until this playthrough. I couldn't count the number of times I tried to jump up to a spot, failed, tried to climb a wall up there, couldn't, and ended up landing in some hazard or other like a ninny. In general, I can't tell if there were any appreciable level design differences for Knuckles outside of the ones explicitly designed for him - again, there's so much of Mania I just forgot about, like Oil Ocean Act 2's gimmick. But there were a number of parts I did better than I thought I would at. Oil Ocean Act 2's boss, I went in with no rings and fully expected to die, but I ended up beating it my first try. I don't even think I died all that much in Titanic Monarch; certainly less than I did against Metal Sonic.

So almost seven years after Mania's release, I'd say it still holds up as a good Sonic game. Probably not the best thing to play when you're hyperfocusing on finishing a project and trying to get as much done as you can while you can, but one I'm happy I did, and with a character I'd never beaten it with before.

(Turns out I'd never gotten Debug Mode until I beat this; I forget what the requirements are for that, but I did still have my original Sonic/Tails save file.)

Edited May 6 by Spin Attaxx

[Dreadknux]

(Getting my last week's check-in done cheekily on the Monday :D )

Not much progress this week, been a busy week preparing for a week off on holiday (which I'm now on), but I plugged through some Mario's Super Picross on SNES and forgot that there's a Special Bonus series of puzzles to do after you complete Level 10. 

I want to get through a lot of my backlog this week while I'm out of the house, and the Switch is in my hand as I speak, so I'm going to maybe pick off some Mega Drive titles I've had my eye on and try completing those. :D

[Failinhearts]

On 5/5/2024 at 12:23 PM, niaco said:

Whoops! Maybe I missed last week? Maybe this counts as the next? Either way...

The Murder of Sonic The Hedgehog

This is probably my fourth playthrough of this game, lol - last week I spent two sessions with friends (them, playing blind) voice acting the title and each of the characters. It was a lot of fun, even if playing Shadow ended up destroying my voice... I adore this little romp and I hope we get more like it. It's basically an IDW oneshot. No notes.

Sonic Dream Team

Yeah... It's, uh...

I have a lot of feelings coming out of this game. The gameplay is pretty good at best and extremely frustrating or boring at worst. The voice acting, too, is pretty good at best (Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles) and extremely disappointing at worst (Eggman, Rouge, Cream...). The hype around this release really baffles me - I understand the excitement about having a more multi-character, Adventure-style collectathon and boost game, but in practice I came out of this pretty bummed, and thankful it was over.

If you're thinking about playing this game, you really ought to have an Xbox or Playstation wireless controller. Don't bother with the touch controls, and no, a Switch Pro controller will not work (because of Bluetooth protocol shenanigans). This experience wouldn't be worth the cost of Apple Arcade if we didn't already have it. For the most part, it's pretty damn polished - but it's been polished past the point of being interesting, and it makes it characterization come out incredible flat. This isn't a game that fans of the characters should bother with. :(.

Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers

Niaco's "Does This Actually Count" special bonus! A standout hit this year for me, this game is a ton of fun. I'm finally not quite so hooked by it, but a few weeks back I completed the basic 16 cups, and have been gunning for the chaos emeralds and character unlocks ever since. So... you do see the credits after beating both the Sonic cup and the Egg cup, and you don't unlock any more cups outside of emerald hunting, so I would argue that I have "beaten the game", but it's a weird thing to say for a racing game. You don't beat Mario Kart or F-Zero, not really. If this doesn't count for anything, then I will at least be happily placing it here to log as my biggest timesink these last two weeks.

Hey, there! Clarify for us, are Dream Team and Ring Racers 100% entries, or just chalk it up as a simple Finished games?