About midway through August I had an epiphany. I realized I needed to beat 48 more games in the next 5 months and if I didn't get past my general malaise beating some games this month, I'd have to beat more than 10 a month to reach 100 beaten games in a year. I mean, I still have to essential do that, but my productivity has surged and I'm feeling confident about reaching my goal. Sonic Mania seems to be to thank as it influenced my decision to play Sonic & Knuckles which led to a Genesis rabbit hole. I've got 11 games to talk about, bringing my total games to 63/100.
53. Sundered [2017]
From the makers of Jotun comes Sundered. Jotun felt a bit desolate and perhaps barebones and this one feels a bit more fleshed out. It’s got a bit of that older animation art style like Jotun, and true to that game, this game has some of that awesome art and animation. Sundered is another a slew of Metroidvania games that seem to be all the rage this year. It’s a pretty good one too, but not really to the standards Hollow Knight already set for this year. Lastly, I just want to mention, the final boss was a bit absurd in its moveset, so much so that it had me laughing and the amount of stuff it eventually throws at you.
54. Pyre [2017]
Can Supergiant do any wrong? I don’t think so. This is perhaps their weakest game, but it might also be their most imaginative one yet. The artwork and writing are as strong as ever and while the gameplay doesn’t quite measure up to their past work it’s a bit different than everything else out there. It really put me through the ringer with some of the choice stuff too, and I enjoyed that a major influencer seemed to be Oregon Trail of all games. I already can't wait to see what's next from these folks, a recurring theme from playing their stuff.
55. Sonic & Knuckles [1994]
This is where my Sega Genesis rabbit hole begins. After seeing the glowing reception for Sonic Mania, I decided I should prepare my body by playing the one mainline Sonic game on the Genesis I hadn’t yet. I must say I enjoyed it more than I thought I would after the sour taste Sonic the Hedgehog 3 left in my mouth years ago. I did not care for 3 in the slightest, but Sonic & Knuckles is pretty alright. Fun fact, this game and 3 were supposed/meant to be combined into one game.
56. Comix Zone [1995]
This game feels like something someone would try to make today in the indie scene. It goes for a style and executes on it pretty well. From a gameplay perspective, this is a weird game. A sort of beat ‘em up sidescrolling action game hybrid. It plays mostly fine, but feels pretty constricted by its comic book style.
57. Alien Storm [1991]
I meant to boot up Alien Soldier and quickly realized this was not that game, but that I could also pad my stats with it. Beat ‘em ups are generally pretty short games and the same goes for this one. It’s pretty mediocre by the genre’s standards and considering that beat ‘em ups haven’t aged well on the whole, suffice it to say this is not a very recommendable game. It’s also got some weird light gun style stages for some reason.
58. Alien Soldier [1995]
This is the game I thought might have been called Alien Storm, but it was actually Alien Soldier and it's a much better game. It’s essentially a boss rush game with some brief stages inbetween. It’s also got all the Gunstar Heroes sensibilities and I really enjoyed it.
59. The Revenge of Shinobi [1989]
Shinobi games are like the Genesis version of Ninja Gaiden or Castlevania. They’re not quite as difficult, but about as fun. I think Return of the Ninja Master remains my favorite, but I quite enjoyed the 2 hours I spent ninja fighting copyright threatened versions of Batman, Spiderman, Godzilla, The Terminator and other such pop culture figures.
60. Ecco the Dolphin [1992]
Is this where the “art game” comes from? I think that a case could be made, but don’t let that sentiment fool you, this game gets pretty needlessly difficult towards the end. For the most part it’s a pretty chill underwater experience being a dolphin, and I appreciated what the game was going for. It can be a little cryptic, but I think that matches the tone they set up pretty early on.
61. Rez [2002]
Rez released on the PC, so I finally got to play this game that always seems to find itself a part of the gaming discussion. I’ve come away from it with some appreciation, but not as much as I’d have hoped. It’s a cool rhythm shooter and pretty relaxing in its own way. Although by the end my wrist was starting to hurt from jamming on the shoot button so much.
62. RiME [2017]
This is one of those “art games” I was talking about. It’s got that sort of Journey look to it that’s so pleasant on the eyes and the music matches the sort of tones it goes for as it was done in Journey. This doesn’t quite leave the same impact, but it’s an imaginative look at life and death.
63. Sonic Mania [2017]
This is the best Sonic game. It owes a lot to Sonic games of the past, but it feels more like a culmination of everything good about those past games without any of the bad, although losing your momentum still feels kind that way. Besides that this is an excellent platformer with some awesome boss fights.
I went off road for a couple months there, but I'm back on track. Stay tuned for September which will mean I'll finally be on track with the blog as well.
January Progress Report 19/100
February Progress Report 24/100
March Progress Report 26/100
April Progress Report 37/100
May Progress Report 46/100
June Progress Report 48/100
July Progress Report 52/100
August Progress Report 63/100 (viewing)
September Progress Report 73/100
October Progress Report 82/100
November Progress Report 88/100
December Progress Report ???/100
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