Last Game You Finished and Your Thoughts MKII

You know the drill by now, you finish a game and then post your thoughts on it in as much or as little depth as you feel like.


As for me, you guessed it, finished another game just five minutes ago. This time it was Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner.



It's amazing how a game that uses almost the entirity of its predecessor for its basis can play so drastically differently. Everything I didn't like about the first game? Gone or fixed. One on one boss fights abound, and all are excellently designed requiring you to exploit a variety of weaknesses by using assets in the enviroment. The protagonist is rather than the usual whiny mecha lead boy instead is a gruff angry adult (albiet with good reasons to be angry, you'd be angry too if you got shot by someone you despised and then brought back to life by someone else while having your life support tied to a robot that you are then ordered to use to do their bidding unless you want your life support to be yanked). And the combat itself is revamped, faster than ever before, and intense. No longer are grunts just weak things you bat aside (not until later when you get the homing missles at any rate), and overall extremely satisfying.

Jehuty once again proves to be my favourite mecha design now, and now the gameplay reflects what its design implies it should be capable of. Honestly this game could easily be called "Mecha Porn: The Game" instead of its actual title given how awesome it was. I'm honestly surprised it's unique in how it takes the combat you would find in high speed mecha action scenes in anime and then makes a game that almost perfectly recreates that sort of feeling.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10. The first game felt like a demo, this felt like a short but extremely filling and satisfying main course meal. At the end of the day my only complaints are the frame rate issues in the cutscenes, thankfully the game post-patch is almost entirely free from frame rate issues, only getting slightly dippy in the final boss fight with all the space junk flying around.

Mortal Kombat II was clearly the better game.

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Metro 2033 Redux



Now I'm not the biggest fan of FPS games but I had heard good things of this from Andy & a few others, so I eventually downloaded the digital version in the recent psn January sale. (basically 2 games for £20) I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it, the guns are satisfying to use & all sound great but you don't have to go in all guns blazing though as the game is also good at stealth which is very useful for some sections of the game.

It doesn't hold your hand either or make your route to objectives that obvious and this is thanks to a return to an old school compass system which your character Artyom has to physically hold up (this does mean your weapons are replaced) for you to plot your way through an area.

Quite refreshing to play an FPS that not only tells a very good story with interesting characters/world and doesn't worry about getting hung up about adding multiplayer.

Great stuff!

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

My January has been all Captain Toad, all the time. Waddling around levels that Mario could clear in a couple of jumps has been relaxing (although occasionally frustrating in the later stages) and addictive. Getting all the stamps is not as clear-cut as you might expect - I'm missing two from the main game at the time of writing - and there is enough challenge in the bonus stages for everyone. Issues include awful slowdown in a couple of places and the fact that the camera is permanently tied to the GamePad's position (and one thing that's part of the ending - shame on Nintendo for that). That said, Captain Toad emerges from Mario's shadow successfully with a wink and a cry of "Mah moh!" (whatever that means).

16/20

That's Paper Monsters Recut (Wii U eShop) finished. Aye. It was all right. It plays very well on the GamePad, and in a couple of ways it reminds me of retro greats such as Klonoa. Nowhere near as good as that, mind; it's all a bit straightforward, it's quite lazy in the way it recycles much of what you see in the first twenty minutes and it wouldn't test anyone but probably the youngest gamer (< 1 month old). Perfectly acceptable fun for a couple of quid. 6/10.

I've always wondered if this has to be game you've just finished for the first time or not as I've just finished...



Which I did in about 40minutes, good job Andy wasn't playing games back in the early 90's as he thinks indies are short.

But on the actual game well I don't need to tell you what it's all about but I can tell you it has aged graphically


Other games from the era like Aladdin, Gunstar Heroes, TMNT Hyperstone Heist & Sonic 2 all hold up very well but this doesn't in the looks department but I still found the gameplay fun not as much as I remember but then I was playing CO-OP using tyris flare whom they ruined in the reboot & the series as well whilst SEGA was at it.

If we do ever see Golden Axe again I hope it's a 2.5D download and SEGA not trying to make it, something it isn't.

Would I recommend this Mega Drive classic yes to some like Stu or anyone wanting to see what made the Mega Drive such a great console but apart from that not really as you can find better side-scrolling beat-em ups even the Mega Drives own Streets of Rage 2 for example.

I beat Aladdin on the SNES for the first time today, it being the second time I've ever played it. Not a hard game by any means, it's simply solid, great once you get into the flow, and good fun to watch someone playing, I'd guess. Very tight and tactile stuff, which is all I can ask from a platformer, and the challenge is never once unfair or cheap. Some fab sprite animations, too. Particularly on Abu, who gives you an excellent feeling of companionship throughout the game.

My only real criticism is how generic the music is outside of two standout tracks taken from the actual film.

@Stu are you going to play the better Aladdin now and compare the two.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

That's Paper Monsters Recut (Wii U eShop) finished. Aye. It was all right... 6/10.

That's the game I'm sort-of-playing right now and it seems so by-the-numbers it's untrue. The GIAG review gave it 4/10, the NintendoLife one gave it 8/10, and now The Cappuccino Kid gives it 6/10. Average!

masofdas wrote:

I've always wondered if this has to be game you've just finished for the first time or not

Y'know, I've thought about this too? As the title is 'Last Game You Finished...', surely it's just the last game you finished? I've beaten SMB3 many times, but if I played through it again, I'd post about it here.

Stu_the_great wrote:

I beat Aladdin on the SNES for the first time today, it being the second time I've ever played it.

The younger me had little interest in licensed games and I really regret that these days, because the Aladdins look gorgeous.

ZeroJones wrote:

The younger me had little interest in licensed games and I really regret that these days, because the Aladdins look gorgeous.

I didn't have many licensed games back in the day, so pretty much all of these are completely new experiences to me too! Judging by what I've seen, everything Capcom and Konami did back in the day turned to gold. I'd love to be able to tackle some of the SEGA licensed platformers I've accrued over the years (Castle of Illusion, Quackshot), but sadly I have no room 'neath my TV for my Mega Drive (and it looked really cack when I coupled it up anyway).

@mas: I'd love to, but I don't own it on the MD, and my MD isn't set up at the moment. Hasn't been for a long time, either.

Stu_the_great wrote:

ZeroJones wrote:

The younger me had little interest in licensed games and I really regret that these days, because the Aladdins look gorgeous.

I didn't have many licensed games back in the day, so pretty much all of these are completely new experiences to me too! Judging by what I've seen, everything Capcom and Konami did back in the day turned to gold. I'd love to be able to tackle some of the SEGA licensed platformers I've accrued over the years (Castle of Illusion, Quackshot), but sadly I have no room 'neath my TV for my Mega Drive (and it looked really cack when I coupled it up anyway).

@mas: I'd love to, but I don't own it on the MD, and my MD isn't set up at the moment. Hasn't been for a long time, either.

You get rid of the SNES under the TV and you put the MD there instead.

Because the console wars MUST go on! They MUST!

ZeroJones wrote:

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

That's Paper Monsters Recut (Wii U eShop) finished. Aye. It was all right... 6/10.

That's the game I'm sort-of-playing right now and it seems so by-the-numbers it's untrue. The GIAG review gave it 4/10, the NintendoLife one gave it 8/10, and now The Cappuccino Kid gives it 6/10. Average!

Yeah, I do find that a high profile indie title is likely to score 8/10 from Nintendo Life, so long as it's good enough -- I've probably mentioned this before, though! I do wonder whether part of it is the reviewer feeling bad about slamming an indie game. When you're likely in communication with the developers themselves over your review rather than PR staff, there's probably a larger weight to your actions as a reviewer than if you were reviewing that awful Rambo videogame or something.

Balladeer wrote:

Because the console wars MUST go on!  They MUST!

Its all us SEGA fan's have to cling on to.

masofdas wrote:

I've also been playing this, as part of my "actually play some Megadrive games" pledge. This in itself has worked, and there are certainly some gems.
However, I'd have to conclude that all 2D brawlers have aged horribly in terms of mechanics; it's so incredibly dull. See also the other Sega brawlers (Altered Beast, Alien Storm, even Streets of Rage I'm afraid).

Jimbob wrote:

...Streets of Rage I'm afraid).

I'm afraid I have to agree. I booted Streets of Rage II up a couple of months back, and ten minutes in I couldn't contain my boredom.

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

DIGRESSION ALERT: What awkward punctuation.

Lost Levels, as you know, is much more devious than Super Mario Bros. 1 but it's still an enjoyable ride. In fact - and I might be stretching a bit here, but follow me - you can see the shoots of SMB3 developing out of it. The programmers are a little more playful, and the platforms are arranged with a little more flair than in SMB. Secrets abound, of course, and the challenge is sometimes frustrating and off-putting (although save states render them moot and the game slight)... but stick with Lost Levels and ye shalle be rewardede.

15/20

ZeroJones wrote:

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

DIGRESSION ALERT: What awkward punctuation.

Agreed.

What would you make of the game sans save states, Zero?

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

I finished this off the other day and had a really fun time with it, the difficulty is perfectly balanced for a puzzle game where you have to think a little bit about how to get to your goal but never to the point where it frustrates.

You want a game that makes you smile? This is it.

out of

Stu_the_great wrote:

Jimbob wrote:

...Streets of Rage I'm afraid).

I'm afraid I have to agree. I booted Streets of Rage II up a couple of months back, and ten minutes in I couldn't contain my boredom.

Maybe the first one has aged a bit, but the second Streets of Rage is a bonafide classic! I think it still holds up really well today.

I have to agree with Jay, I think the boredom though like with Golden Axe II is because it's single player and CO-OP was always better with these game.

Oh, definitely. Having said that, I had a blast rocketing through Streets of Rage II a couple of years back - the special moves they added to that game made it a lot more fun to play through solo than the first game.

The_Jaster wrote:

Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker

I finished this off the other day and had a really fun time with it, the difficulty is perfectly balanced for a puzzle game where you have to think a little bit about how to get to your goal but never to the point where it frustrates.

You want a game that makes you smile? This is it.

out of

That's a great review, Jas, especially the score. I think I'll pick the game up this weekend.

JayMoyles wrote:

Oh, definitely. Having said that, I had a blast rocketing through Streets of Rage II a couple of years back - the special moves they added to that game made it a lot more fun to play through solo than the first game.

Play Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles IV: Turtles in Time, then play Streets of Rage II. Streets of Rage II just feels SO SLOW by comparison.

Yes, SoRII has greater item variety (in that it has items), but Turtles for me has the superior level variety. And now I'm comparing two games that can't possibly be compared based on universe and theme.

To be fair, I haven't played Turtles in Time so I can't compare them, but they're definitely two titles which can be compared! Maybe we should take this to the Retro forum instead of clogging up this thread with our beat-em-up chat.

Stu_the_great wrote:

ZeroJones wrote:

Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels

DIGRESSION ALERT: What awkward punctuation.

Agreed.

What would you make of the game sans save states, Zero?

Playing without save states would make it much more of a challenge: you'd have to add an extra point to my score if you were playing that way. I believe the game allows you to start from the first level of the world you reached when you died, which is an absolute kindness.