The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#337 - 354)

 #337 Lufia: The Legend Returns (Game Boy Color) – Spring 2010

Kind of a mediocre GBC game, but it works well and it has its moments. I wish we could have seen what the original planned "Lufia 3: Ruins Chasers" game on Playstation would have looked like, instead. I spent a lot of time level-grinding in this game and farming bombs to use against the optional superbosses, which are both early in the game fights with Gades. Most of what I remember about the game is that particular struggle, not so much anything after that. I made sure to beat both of the Gades-es. Spent more time working on the optional Gades Quest than I did on the actual rest of the game.

Rockman 2: The Power Fighters (Arcade, 1996)

 

A year later, the sequel to the previous game! Again, arcade-only at the time, confusing title. While the first was just kinda an arcade fighting-hybrid based on the first seven games, this one is more of a promotional vehicle for the upcoming Mega Man 8. They reuse almost everything from the first game so it's more of an expansion than anything else. I just played both of them and can barely tell them apart.

Rockman: The Power Battle (Arcade, 1995)

 

One of the two Mega Man arcade games that Japan got in the mid-90's. Eventually it made it to the US via being included as a bonus in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection for PS2-era systems. I'm playing it on the modern Capcom Arcade Stadium (it's on the second one). Was surprised to realize I never covered these on here, given that I did most of the Mega Man series. It's basically an "Oops, all boss fights" version of Mega Man.

Editor's Note: Being told that this actually DID get a release in American arcades, so correction on that.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#324 - 336)

#324 Shadow of the Colossus (Playstation 2) – Winter 2010

Being largely shut-in during a brutal winter, I wanted to catch up a bit with the PS2 generation, which I'd missed a lot of. A big part of that was this game, which was hands-down the prettiest PS2 game I ever played. It looks more like a PS2.5 game, almost closer to the PS3 than the PS2 visually. More importantly, this is a game with a ton of heart and soul, and that shines through on a constant basis. Just an amazing game to see in action, even at this point with the PS3 around.

True Lies (Super NES, 1995)

 

This is the one game I bought in the 1990's that I didn't actually finish, as far as I know. Well, more specifically my mom bought it. We went to the store to get something new and she got me this and Stargate. We liked both movies, and didn't know how bad movie-licensed games were yet. The good news is that both of said games are actually pretty decent. Yeah, even this one.

LJN finally made something good? Yeah, I'm surprised too. These two games are probably the closest I ever got to actually buying a bad game, but I lucked out. I'll cover Stargate some time, but in the meantime I think this is the superior game of the two. Surprised that I never finished it until 2010. I did skip to the last level in 1995 and "beat" the game with an invincibility code, but it wasn't until 2010 that I actually painstakingly beat every level normally (with emulator checkpoints, as some of these levels are way too long).

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#314 - 323)

#314 Bebe's Kids (Super NES) – Fall 2009

"Hey Yo! Bebe's Keeeeds!"

The iconic title screen theme that heralds the arrival of one of the greatest video games of the 16-bit era. In this game you choose between a crippled spastic boy and a slightly-less crippled spastic girl and battle the forces of an evil robot in an amusement park.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#299 - 313)

 

#299 Persona 3 (Playstation 2) – Winter 2009

This was an interesting, challenging game that was unlike anything else at the time. I'm not really into Japanese High School Simulators and there are about 1200 of them, but I really liked the mysticism and occult they worked into this game. The battle system heavily emphasizing elemental weaknesses was a lot of fun and the whole thing just felt very unique. Mostly enjoyed the dungeon crawling and battles, plus the Persona fusing to see what'd happen.

Ranking the Lord of the Rings Vol. 1 (SNES) Fellowship From Best To Worst

 

Today on this most auspicious of days, it's time to rank the characters of LOTR Vol. 1, one of the top classics from Mandingo Interactive.

Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Boy, 1991)

 

Never covered a Ninja Gaiden game before. The NES trilogy is known for having these interesting, complex plots and cutting-edge cutscenes between levels. Well, don't expect that here. This was made by an entirely different design team and doesn't have much of anything for cutscenes or story. If you're lucky you might get a "Ryu's dad was researching spiders in the amazon right before he died".

The Hunt for Red October (Game Boy, 1991)

 

Another game from the Game Boy Player's Guide. This one has Sean Connery! ...on the box!

DuckTales (Game Boy, 1990)

 

Another classic from the Game Boy Player's Guide that I wanted to check out for a long time. The six-game Capcom/Disney series on NES was pretty awesome and something I'd really like to do more with. This, however, is probably the only Game Boy port I'll play from that set, due to it being in the guide and me trying to check out everything from it. Duck Tales! Woo-ooh!

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#284 - 298)

#284 Final Fantasy IV Advance (Game Boy Advance) – Winter 2008

2008 was a bit of a new beginning. Went to college on a part time basis, was doing better in general than the previous couple years, and had most of my backlog obliterated from the 2007 finishing-fest. Probably the last time I was ever "caught-up" on games (except the Zelda Crusade, of course). Played a lot of new stuff in 2008. Today we've got the entirety of 2008 in one post.

Ranking the 80's and 90's RPGs I've Finished

Pre-millennium was the golden age for gaming in a lot of ways, especially when it came to traditional RPGs. This list is kind of a supplement to the big 1000 list, just a fun thing for me to think about while I do that.

Note: Counting 2000. One can technically say 2000 was the end of the decade, and either way I feel like the real changeover from retro to modern happened in 2001 with the advent of the PS2/XBox generation. So Dragon Quest VII just barely gets spared from being on the list and probably scoring pretty low on it.

If something I played is a recent remaster/port and very close to the original, it counts as me playing the original for ranking purposes. Like the Langrisser games, or Romancing SaGa 2. If it's a full-on remake it doesn't count, like the completely-overhauled PSP remake of Ys 3 doesn't count as me playing OG Ys 3.

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#268 - 283)

 

#268 Darkstalkers 3 (Playstation) – Summer 2007

A game (and EGM ad) that helped a lot of us go through puberty. For my money this is probably the sexiest game ad and cover of all time. Ten years or so after I first saw the game, I finally got ahold of it and played through it. It's a fighting game, it's over fairly quick, and it's just kinda there. But I sure do like the artwork.

Character of Choice: Morrigan, of course. Duh.

Shadow of the Ninja (NES, 1990)

 

One of the trio of games I got to play (some of) the first time I ever saw an NES. Which makes this...possibly the first NES game I ever played. It was either this, Super Mario Bros, or Destiny of an Emperor. Then in 2007 I actually played through it. It's been ages, so it's high time I took a gander at it. Going to see if it brings back any memories of that first time holding an NES controller. I bet this WAS the first one I played, because it had "ninja" in the title and I was like 7. Definitely would have reached for this first out of the three games. Also it's from Natsume, so that's pretty cool. Without further ado...

Shatterhand (NES, 1991)

 

It's time for the baddest game on the NES: Mutha-fuckin' Shatterhand! This is one of the most underrated games on the system. In it, you play as a Not-Terminator and punch your way through a bunch of platforming levels. Why is it called that? Apparently the guy's name is Shatterhand, which is a crazy coincidence considering he grew up to have a metal hand. I hope that's his last name at least. First name is probably something like Dave. This guy is so metal, he punches out his own God Damn logo! Brought to you by Jaleco!

The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#256 - 267)

 

#256 Mega Man Zero (Game Boy Advance) – Winter 2007

An interesting and respectable spinoff series begins here. Having Zero be the main character of a series was a no-brainer, and controlling him is nearly as fun as it is in the X series. I say nearly because the game's a little slower than the PS1 X games, and I'm not crazy about Zero's redesign. Yeah, I know there's a story reason for it, and also the story reason kinda sucks. If they'd just gone with the existing Zero design and moveset for this, the series would have been better off for it, so there was no good reason to change it up. The guy you play as is barely even recognizable as Zero.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath DLC (Playstation 4, 2020)

 

This story-based DLC is several hours long and basically a completely new game. Ultimate MK11 if you will. It bridges the gap between MK11 and MK1. But really it might as well be MK12. Which makes MK1... MK13. Also it brings back Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa to play Shang Tsung for one night only, as he reverts to his old form to try and usurp Kronika. Guy is making a legitimate claim to being the series' main villain, regardless of his boss' superior strength.

Dragonball Z Kakarot Part 17 (Finale) - Gokou's Next Journey (DLC #6)

 

The final episode of Kakarot, after years of returning to it every so often for these DLCs. Why did I start doing this game? Because it really is the best DBZ game out there.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania

 

The latest art book is a pretty nice one, full of FFVII concept art. It also has huge pages. Most of the art here, I haven't seen before. Gonna take a quick look at it. As usual, click the images to blow 'em up.