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

[ShadowXeldron]

Gotta get this in quickly so I don't miss out on a profile JPEG!

This time, I decided to play some Megami Tensei 2 again. I've gotten the Mercury and Jupiter Pillars (as well as the cybernetic arm by proxy) and ended up in Hell by accident once. I ended up having to reset and lose some progress though because I inadvertently screwed myself out of the Nihil Blade. I can't remember how much I lost but I'm pretty sure I saved getting the Pillars at least. Current objective is to beat Pazuzu.

[Emperor Robrainiac]

Progress Report on Xenoblade 2! Status: Still in Progress

 

I wasn't able to play a lot of this or any other game this week since it was kind of a crazy week irl. But I was able to make some progress while playing my last game, Lunistace.

One thing very different that I noticed between XBC1 and XBC2, is that the latter is definitely more anime than the first one. The anime tropes are pretty strong, what with the "Power of Friendship" tropes, a DBZ esque battle in a cutscene where characters are flying through the air and attacking each other, a pervy character who has an obsession with maids, fanservice-y moments, and many more that I can't think of in the back of my head. A far cry from Xenoblade 1, which felt more grounded when it came to anime tropes.

There's definitely been criticism from many for this game's more tropey style. What do I think? I kinda like them.

Now, I don't care for the sexual fanservice or the weird maid thing that's going on with the character Tora, but I've certainly seen stuff like this done in a much worse and frequent way in anime I enjoyed in the past. Other than that, I do like myself a bit of anime from time to time, and the tropes are fun even if it's definitely feels different from the last game... but in a way, it adds some charm and some nice light hearted moments to balance out the darker parts.

Now that being said, this story took turns that I wasn't expecting and I'm having a good time with it. Was not expecting the twist with Nia actually being a blade (or rather a half-blade half-human hybrid called a flesh eater,) but it was one I was not expecting.

Unfortuantely, I really do not see myself 100 percenting the game. The gatcha aspects of collecting blades are a pain in the ass, and there is a bit too much grinding and sidequests for me to want to stay too long. I love this and Xenoblade 1, but I wanna play other games too lmao.

It looks like I'm almost done with the main story, and after that, I have the DLC to complete and that'll be Xenoblade 2 done! I might play Xenoblade 3 at a later date, but I might take a break from Xenoblade for a bit to focus on another game for a little bit... but I gotta say, I'm looking forward to playing the third and final chapter of this series!

[Lady Marie]

Weekly Check-In:

Haven't finished any games this week due to being focused on other things. But I'm still making progress through Baldur's Gate 3, Midnight Suns, Spider-Man 2, and Virtue's Last Reward. I'm also working towards full completion for the Fortnite BP.

One game I'm hoping to start soon is FFVII Rebirth. I'm working on Yuffie's DLC right now since I haven't had the chance until recently. Once I'm done with that, I'll start working on Rebirth. I've been anticipating this game for a while, so I'm hoping it'll be just as fun as the first game was!

The challenge has gotten a bit tougher with how busy I've been, but it's still a good marker of how far I'm getting in my games and serves as a good reminder not to abandon them without finishing them. 

[Winston]

I wish I could've gotten more done this week, but I only managed to finish one game. I did finish the Splatoon 3 DLC, but that doesn't really count for this, but I will say it was enjoyable enough just as a little extra thing. If you like Splatoon and Roguelites, pick it up.

GAME #15 - Super Mario Land - Finished 

Yep. I went back to the first ever handheld Mario adventure, well, unless you count the Game & Watch games. I don't really, but I mean hey, that's cool. Anyways, this is a rough game to go back too in modern times. It's especially hard to go back to when you have Super Mario Land 2 also available on the same platform and it is a way more solid title. Mario Land is obviously a pretty impressive game for the time it came out in, it's a short game that is endlessly replayable due to it's length, which was a good thing back then probably. I imagine it's designed that way so you can beat the game within the time of a car ride or whatever, and also because the game doesn't have save data, so once you turn it off, it's all gone. 

The issues are simply due to the age of the game, it's hard to really call this a mediocre or even bad game. It's a perfectly okay game in the modern day. It's just the platforming here can be really annoying, and sure, maybe in regards to what else was available back in the late 80's, the platforming was pretty good. It's just hard to get jumps right due to how stiff Mario is, and the moving platforms are especially awful to land on in this game. I also feel like enemy projectiles here are also really annoying more than any other Mario game due to the controls. I feel like due to the lack of mobility, I'll jump in the air and die to something due to not being able to get out of the way.

The bosses here are also pretty lame, but this was like, old school Mario. I wouldn't say any of the bosses from those games were anything too impressive to begin with, but maybe that's a controversial opinion, I have no idea. Still good games, but I remember them far more for the platforming than the boss fights. At least the bosses are easy and quick, and you are far more likely to die due to wonky platforming more than anything a boss will throw at you. The final boss especially was very easy, at least to me. 

But hey, I don't want to rag on this game too much. The music is good, even if there's a rather small amount of it. I've always enjoyed the Super Mario Land theme a lot. There's also just the setting itself, which is very strange and wacky. The enemies are strange, koopas blow up for some reason, Mario throws a bouncy ball, Princess Daisy is here. It has a very cool premise and setting I think. One thing that I would think would be cool is if they either made a remake of this game but basically just like, did a whole new game with the setting or premise, or maybe another game where they revisit Sarasaland. It would be cool to get Daisy's kingdom more fleshed out. Tatanga is also a really weird villain, but he's kinda cool. 

At the end of the day, Mario Land is a short game that is an easy enough finish. There's technically a completion thing, but I didn't feel like beating the same game again but harder with this. The platforming was very wonky and I was already having a hard enough time with enemies, and all the more difficult mode does is add more enemies to the game from what I re call. I did not feel like putting up with that for another half an hour that night lol. I might go back to this one day, but maybe only if it ever comes to Switch sometime this year and I'll just do it all over again. It would be far nice with some sort-of rewind than just the save states of the 3DS. As of now, I think I'd rather just move onto Super Mario Land 2 if I'm going to play another Mario platformer on the handheld.

That's all I managed to finish this week though, and I'm honestly surprised I had so much to say about a thirty minute game that's as simple as Mario Land, but it has an important place in history and I enjoy the elements it did introduce to the Mario franchise like Princess Daisy. As of right now, I'm mainly focusing on finishing Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. I doubt I'll fully complete that one, but as far, I'm enjoying my time with that game. I don't really want to give any spoilers though, so I don't know how much of that game I'll describe when I do get it listed, but I'll try to mostly focus on gameplay more than anything else. The only other new game I've finished this year from what I recall was Mario vs. Donkey Kong, but there's not much of a plot there to ruin lol.

Thanks for reading! 

Edited March 4 by Winston

[Failinhearts]

WEEK 8:

Already, we are reaching the epic Mega-climax of this Mega-challenge with this Mega-batch of Mega-games.

Mega-Hi.

GAME 38: MEGA MAN 3 (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

Alright, alright, Rockman World, I'm starting to pick up what you're putting down. While nowhere near the quality of its home counterparts, this next entry in the handheld Mega Man saga is starting to show even more improvements that aren't just aesthetic of narrative-based. With less infuriating level design, this batch of blatant rehashes isn't anything inherently original, and thus, not memorable. But it isn't that painful of an experience compared to its earlier Dot Matrix brethren.

GAME 39: MEGA MAN 4 (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

Now we have reached the point in the Game Boy pentalogy where you'll have to do some hunting to reach full completion. In this case, getting BEAT and WILY letters in this new rehash-tacular game that is... actually quite good? Like, surprisingly good?

The level designers are starting to really wise up to the limitations the Game Boy has, and is going for newer, bolder ideas while also making sure to refine the revisits to classic Robot Masters. Screen crunch becomes less of an issue, and even less slowdown than usual, it's an overall comparatively comfy ride as we even see more storytelling boundaries pushed in the series.

Rest in Ballade, we hardly knew ye. Surely, this is the best things can ge-

GAME 40: MEGA MAN 5 (GAME BOY): 100% COMPLETE

What the HELL, this game didn't have to go this hard?!

Talk about a major step up, this is probably not only the most unique title in the Game Boy saga, but probably one of the most unique games in the entire Classic series as a whole. Dr. Wily takes a bit (just a bit) of a narrative backseat in this installment as we don't fight Robot Masters, but intergalactic robotic organisms called the Decepticons the Stardroids.

This leads to some one of a kind stages, one of a kind bosses, one of a kind weapons and a one of a kind experience.

It's not perfect, I think this game suffers from the most amount of slowdown since the early titles, probably due to its ambition. But I can't deny the surprise and charm of the many new things this game introduces. This isn't even mentioning new one-off aspects that deserve to return someday, like the Mega Arm and Tango, all fun twists on the usual Mega Man arsenal.

This game really did reach for the stars.

GAME 41: MEGA MAN (GAME GEAR): 100% COMPLETE

Well, SOMEBODY had to be bad in the Game Boy's place if they decided to suddenly slap.

While much more visually pleasing and stable, US Gold's take on the Blue Bomber suffers from similar issues that plagued the early titles on Nintendo's green brick: Unaccommodating Screen Crunch.

Giving us familiar levels sometimes beat for beat is one thing, the other is how they are not optimized for Game Gear's much smaller aspect ratio and resolution. Instead of making everything smaller so we can see what is ahead of us, the Game Gear insists on trying to look as NES accurate as possible. That means big sprites, bigger enemies, and even bigger attacks with much smaller windows to avoid attacks.

Combine that with stupid leaps of faith into platforms you hope are below you when the Game Gear decides to scroll down, and you're in for a very short, but frankly unfair experience.

And by short, I mean shoooort. 4 selectable Robot Masters, 2 extra Robot Masters, 2 Wily castle stages, no boss rush and just one Wily Capsule boss. So at least the game showed me some mercy when it didn't want to give any with my jumps.

GAME 42: MEGA MAN 6 (NES): 100% COMPLETE

Out of the small fry and into the deep fryer, we're back to the console titles with the last NES Mega Man installment: Mega Man 6. And look, as I said before, the further we go in, the better things get. And 6, no surprise, trumps 5.

With its globe trotting aesthetic, 6 already sets itself apart from its original. Even if some aspects are...

...In need of Dr. Light to watch that Whoopi Goldberg opening to Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3.

But what really makes 6 a really fun time is the addition of Super Adapter. These are absolute game changers that make the games so much less stressful, and fun to boot. After 5 games of running, jumping, sliding and dinking on enemies with a measly little lemon blaster, Power Mega Man allows me to dish more indefinite shots, and Jet Mega Man allows me to give leaps of faith the middle finger.

Great game, but now it's time to visit an old friend...

GAME 43: MEGA MAN 7 (SNES): 100% COMPLETE

This ain't my first rodeo with Mega Man 7, and that was with major handicaps. Here, it's all about taking it easy. I got rewind, save states, the works to make this a casual replay than a hardcore confirmation of any gaming skill I had.

And it was... pretty easy. For the most part. The levels didn't give me much issue with the amount of familiarity I have obtained from prior entries, and I can really appreciate the glowup in graphical fidelity. Everything just looks so beautiful, and finally gets to portray so much of the Mega Man charm seem in art and animation. The bolt system too is a wonderful addition, allowing for grinders like me to buy my way out of sticky situations without save scumming Eddie, or hunting for old E Tanks.

However, this is where the streak starts to waver. Cause despite all my buffs, there are certain bosses, you know the ones that are absolutely infuriating to deal with. So much so, it nearly ruins the experience. It's levels of annoyance I didn't really have with 4, 5 and 6, and why I can't in good faith put this higher than the others. It's still a great game, don't get me wrong. But Wily Capsule 7, Shade Man, and Freeze Man are enough to make me dread playing it a third time.

GAME 44: MEGA MAN 11 (PC): 100% COMPLETE

In some universe, 11 goes right after 7, right? So let's pretend we're there. I REALLY like Mega Man 11. The QOL improvements and Newcomer mode make the game an absolutely delightful cakewalk to play, and the Robot Master powers are brilliant. Not to mention the introduction of the Double Gear system, allowing me to further customize my experience further.

With the amount of ways I can tailor my gameplay experience to my liking with difficulty options and parts, the really fun and stunning Robot Master fights, and the amount of polish makes one of the Blue Bomber's latest... also one of the Blue Bomber's best.

GAME 45: MARVEL'S SPIDER-MAN 2 (PS5): 100% COMPLETE

The long awaited sequel to one of the PS4's finest, does it live up to the hype?

Mmmm... ehhh... Yeah. It's a ton of fun, there's a lot of great moments and gameplay additions where I can't say this game isn't anything short of great. It's a very enjoyable game that gives you more of what you want. More swinging, more action, more villains, and more Spider-Men.

The problem is, like any Sony Spider-Man success, the sequel decides it thinks "more" immediately means "better".

As such, narratively, things really feel disjointed, especially by the end. While I adore the underlying theme of redemption, and bringing villains back to the light, I feel like the game doesn't balance its plot points properly between its main villains, and its main Spider-Men. Resulting in a hodgepodge of beats that are satisfying enough to be enjoyable, but not deep and refined enough to have the same emotional highs as the original... or even Miles Morales, which was at least a very streamlined, focused narrative to get invested in.

The idea of more equals better also extends to the combat. While there are a lot of great additions, nothing compares to the addition Insomniac made to their healthbars. By that I mean literal addition. They added more to every villains' healthbars. Even on the easiest difficulty, enemies are damage sponges. They take a lot of punishment and let fights drag out more than they should. This makes combat a tad dull into a fight when things just feel like they are going waaaay too long.

It's these aspects that keep the game short from being the Empire Strikes Back to Spider-Man's New Hope. But hey, being Return of the Jedi isn't that bad of a consolation prize either.

GAMES FINISHED: 45

GAMES COMPLETE: 42

Edited March 4 by Failinhearts

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Next weekly check-in!

For those familiar, you can tell, but yes, adding Hi-Fi RUsh to the arsenal of games I have under my belt this week, for some rip-roaring music timed fun!

[castell-neath]

So, for week 8 I've Triple Troubled myself out by visiting the original 8 bit version via origins and the fan made 16bit version on my phone.

Thoughs on the 8 bit are that it would have been a much better game on the mega drive instead of 3d blast. Its fun, challenging, and has good replay value and a decent story too. Its a shame it didnt get a wider audience in the 90s as it could have been up there with the "classic 5". Horrible Sonic sprite aside, its much better than Chaos and the levels are well presented and engaging. Getting in to a special stage requires skill and planning too which adds a lot of exploration and replay value.

The 16bit version. Well...where to start? Maybe on the only 1 bad thing in the game, which I found was the draw distance on the special stages resulting in a few mis-timed jumps and spring misses, making them frustrating and a bit troll like in difficulty. Everything else....PERFECT! Physics, art, music, frame rate, level design all spot on. The addition of Super Sonic, the final frenzy level and multiple character options give it huge replay value too. I really enjoyed it, and am keen to gear what sonic team and sega have to say on it.

Away from that, still plugging on with Horizon. Not yet got to the Faro Tomb as I found a hidden side quest involving rescuing villagers from a few 'Gator machines. Proved more tricky than I thought. Otherwise, still enjoying.

[SadVlad]

Game 10: Sonic the Hedgehog 2(Game Gear/ Master System)

Edited March 4 by SadVlad
Forgot to add proof

[Ryannumber1gamer]

It’s a new week and that means a new check-in! Join or Check in this week and earn yourself a Knuckles Chaotix profile gift!

[SadVlad]

Awe man, I wish they would re-release this already! 

Ten games currently under my belt, and working on a few others in my spare time. Some are rather short, and others have alot of meat on their bones. Looking forward to 100% Mario Wonder soon!

[Stasis]

Oh man, forgot to check in last week as I was on holiday!  

Currently playing through FFVII on Steam with the intention of finally beating Emerald and Ruby WEAPON. Played this game for years but never actually defeated them! 

[SadVlad]

Game 11: Sonic Chaos

(No Emeralds)

Quick question. How often are scores updated? Mine has been stuck in three. Thanks in advance!

[Covskin]

I've decided to activate my Nintendo Online subscription. Time to make the most of the offerings!

Super Mario Bros 3 - 100% Completion

Spoiler

My favourite game of all time, though I'll happily admit a large part of that is childhood nostalgia. One of the first games I ever beat, mostly through use of the Warp Whistles. I would always use P Wings for the first two levels in World 8 too. None of that this time, went through every level legit. I got the whistles of course, just didn't use them.

As a child, World 3 was always a difficulty spike for me and I can still see why, but to a lesser extent. I was probably just so familiar with 1 and 2 that anything different I wasn't prepared for.

 

Journey to Sillius - 100% Completion

Spoiler

There's no extra hoops to jump through here, just finish the game. You want more young Covskin stories? I got one!

I'm sure everyone had those random games in their collection as a child. Not Licensed, not mascot, just something that ended up in your house somehow. I had a bunch of these for NES especially, including junk like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (yes, that one), Digger T Rock, Toxic Avengers and Journey to Sillius. Made by Sunsoft, so at least there was some quality to this one. Its a 2D run-and-gun, and I never got past level 2. Truth be told, I don't know for certain I got past level 1! At least now I'm older, wiser, and have Save States. Game is still hard as nails though, just plain unfair at time. The pain is all over in 5 levels though, and it was fun to go back.

 

Crystallis - 100% Completion

Spoiler

I used to read a Sprite Comic called 8 Easy Bits, which was where I first heard of the game. The player characrer didn't have a name, so they used Chris as a gag. Game Boy Colour did have a remake and name him Simea, but I like the stupid pun.

I got all of the best equipment and the highest experience level (16). Had to sell some previous armour and shields to afford them though.

Made by SNK, its a bit of a mix between the 2 NES Zeldas. A somewhat top-down view with full directional movement, towns full of NPCs and experience points. Magic spells to learn, equipment to buy, swords to upgrade. Its quite impressive what SNK achieved here, but its not without flaws. Enemies are often immune to different elemental swords, meaning you have to constantly change in the menu. We have that classic NES difficulty and occassional unfairness, with some dodgy hit detection. That full directional movement can bite you in the arse sometimes, especially when god-damned flying enemies zoom in and out over and over again. But I'm glad I played this one, its definitely worth your time.

This guy had no chill though.

I am also still working through Ragnorak, nearing the end I think. The mask is complete, and I'm doing the trials of Muselphiem.

8 Games finished, of which 6 are 100%.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Game 3 - Star Wars Demolition (PSN) - 100%

Its been decades since I played this! My version won't work on newer consoles so got this on PS5. Had a blast remembering how OP Boba Fett and the Podracer are. Its clunky but overall, a fun few hours.

Just a question. I completed Spider-man 2 on PS5 last year. I'll be doing the New Game + update when it comes out. Does that count for anything?

[SadVlad]

Eleven games currently completed on my list, and was going to try and knock out Sonic Spinball but quickly decided to give that one up. Planning on adding Sonic Colors and Triple Trouble to my next two completed games. 

[Agie]

Not the way I wanted to do the weekly-check in, but I'll say it; I did finish one game, but I need to stop being lazy and get the screenshot out of there. I also started Mega Man 7, and will finish it...one of these days. Wish I could give more info than that.

[Rabid-Coot]

No completions to add this week, I've got Ghostwire Tokyo and Assassins Creed Origins on the go.

[SuperSonicFan Gui]

i finished sonic unleashed java

[Sean]

#2/52 - A Story About My Uncle (PC)

Honestly was kind of disappointing. The story is set up to be this emotional journey of self-discovery and coming-of-age, but there's just zero payoff and the characters aren't very likable. The gameplay is interesting but it gets repetitive, and while it gets more challenging as it goes, I think it's of the frustrating variety than the satisfying type like something you'd experience in Celeste. By the time I had reached the last two worlds I was ready for the game to be done already and it just kept going on and on. It's a two-ish hour game but it feels much longer than that. The voice acting is really bad too, like everyone just sounds completely bored with their lines lol, which definitely didn't endear me to them or the story whatsoever

[Ryannumber1gamer]

19 hours ago, The Tenth Doctor said:

Game 3 - Star Wars Demolition (PSN) - 100%

Its been decades since I played this! My version won't work on newer consoles so got this on PS5. Had a blast remembering how OP Boba Fett and the Podracer are. Its clunky but overall, a fun few hours.

Just a question. I completed Spider-man 2 on PS5 last year. I'll be doing the New Game + update when it comes out. Does that count for anything?

You’d need to 100% it again in NG+ for it to count for full completion. NG+ will be treated as a brand new run of the game in terms of challenge conditions, so it’s fair game.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

On 3/5/2024 at 3:14 AM, Stasis said:

Oh man, forgot to check in last week as I was on holiday!  

Currently playing through FFVII on Steam with the intention of finally beating Emerald and Ruby WEAPON. Played this game for years but never actually defeated them! 

Since you’ve checked in throughout the other weeks and have the other collectibles, we’ve decided to take your word for it and cut you a break and as such,@Dreadknuxwill send you the Triple Trouble profile gift. Just be aware this is going to be a rare occurance.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

On 3/3/2024 at 9:15 PM, SadVlad said:

Game 9: Sonic the Hedgehog(Game Gear/Master System)

Just to be sure - is this regularly completed or 100%?

[SadVlad]

14 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Just to be sure - is this regularly completed or 100%?

Just regular. I'll try to clarify when something is 100%

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Smaller update this week since I haven't been in much of a mood to play anything, but still some games to submit! Be sure to check out the blog posts for full thoughts on every game!

Game 20: Mario VS Donkey Kong (Switch) - 100%: 

(Image is slightly cut off, but it's all 136 stars).

Game Thoughts:

 

---

Game 21 of 52: Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge - 100%: 

Game Thoughts: 

 

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Game 22 of 52: Mega Man II (Game Boy) - 100%:

Game Thoughts: 

 

[Stasis]

On 3/6/2024 at 11:21 PM, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Since you’ve checked in throughout the other weeks and have the other collectibles, we’ve decided to take your word for it and cut you a break and as such,@Dreadknuxwill send you the Triple Trouble profile gift. Just be aware this is going to be a rare occurance.

That’s really appreciated and not expected so thank you both