Games Beaten In 2024

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys,

Wishing all our members and your love ones a Happy New Year. Glad to restart the yearly games beaten thread on Atariage.com once again. 

Continue on with the great progress you all do to share your achievements on defeating the games you chose tn inspire others to do the same. 

 

 

 

Anthony..

[+wongojack]

Thanks Charfield - I can get us started in 2024

 

Oh boy, here's one that has been pending for a LONG time.  Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.  I had never played this game as a young adult.  I played the original but was never really impressed.  I think as a 10 or 11-year-old, the controls were a bit too complicated and the vulnerability on things like angular stairs combined with a timer (they have a timer right?) and a need to memorize in some sections caused me to drop out entirely.  So, when SOTN came around, it had no impact on me.  I was fully bought into 3d gaming at the time and the thought of revisiting a 2d series that I didn't enjoy in the first place just did not motivate me.

 

Fast forward to 2023 and "metroidvania" is now everyone's favorite indie genre - including me.  I love them, AND I've also discovered in the last 25+ years that I love Super Metroid and am very interested in exploring a game that was directly inspired by it.  So, off I went.

 

I did not look at hints or a walkthrough before exploring about 95% of the castle.  I had no knowledge of the end of the game, and I wanted to experience it first without outside influence.  My journey from 0% exploration to 95% was definitely a great experience.  It was filled with typical if not excellent "metroidvania" moments of exploration and puzzle solving to access new areas and gain new abilities and equipment.  However, something started to flip at this point where the difficulty of the game really dropped.  Playing as me in 2023 with all of my experience in these types of games, I was very methodical about exploring and finding the various hidden items.  At some point, I decided to save money to buy the best armor available, and I think that's where the difficulty really started to drop for me.  Suddenly almost every fight just could be resolved as a slugfest.  Duck and hit, duck and hit.  The extra "health" items started to pile up unused, and as I found more and more equipment (mostly useless) my advantages tipped waaay over and the game became an exercise in simply filling in the map. 

 

So that brings me to the reality that SOTN is really 2.5 games or 2.75 if you play the Saturn version.  The inverted castle . . .  I didn't figure out how to unlock this by myself.  I knew I hadn't explored EVERY area before facing Richter, but I decided to push forward anyway.  After a little more exploration, I found the required items, but lost patience and looked online on how to advance.  [It was at this point that I read about the mechanics of the Sheild Rod which has impact later on the difficulty of the game.]

 

 

The inverted castle seemed like a great idea, but my excitement quickly waned.  The difficulty was still very low.  I don't think I died because of a boss fight for hours and hours.  I can't even remember a difficult boss fight in the inverted castle even without the powers granted by the before-mentioned Sheild Rod.  By the end, I couldn't believe the game wasn't over.  I labored to fill out 200.6% of the map and got through the final boss fight multiple times with multiple different strategies without dying.

 

---Evaluation

I think this is a lesson that newer games have learned, but SOTN could have been excellent if it didn't give the player so many ways to play it.  Finishing it makes me wish I could play a version of the game that restricts equipment to increase the challenge.  It is also REALLY hurt by the fact that all the puzzle-solving and discovery is completely gone when exploring the inverted castle.  With nothing to discover and almost no challenge, the game just dies.  If I hadn't set out specifically to finish it, I wouldn't have pushed through to the best ending.

 

In the end, I can see the quality of this game, but it just can't get out of its way to deliver a consistently fun experience.  I would rate SOTN a disappointing 4 out of 5 and could be convinced to give it a 3.

 

Edit - on a 10-point scale, I voted this game a 6 on VideoGameSage:  Game Debate #97: Castlevania Symphony of the Night - Page 3 - The Gauntlet - Video Game Sage

[newtmonkey]

@wongojack

Congrats on finishing SOTN!

 

My history with this game is quite different from yours.  Castlevania was one of my favorite series of games growing up; I absolutely loved all the NES games, as well as Super Castlevania IV on the SNES.  I remember getting Castlevania 64 on the N64 and being very disappointed indeed (I've come to really like that game, though).  So I was very excited back in 1997 when SOTN was released to see another 2D game that seemed similar to the older games in the series.  The fact that it was sort of similar to Super Metroid just made it better for me... it seemed like the natural progression of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.  Back then, I would have rated SOTN 5/5 for sure.

 

Now, let me try to convince you why SOTN deserves no more than a 3/5 rating. 

 

I agree with your criticisms 100%, but I think these are actually bigger problems if you really think about them.  The game is just way too easy, even if you try to challenge yourself... during my last time playing through the game, I just used what I could find, and restricted myself to using only dagger/knife weapons, and it was still a cakewalk.  The game gives you so many ways to play it, but there is no depth imo.  You basically master the game halfway through it (maybe even earlier).

 

The inverted castle is even worse on a replay.  The castle was clearly not designed with this twist in mind, and it's annoying how often you have to rely on the bat or mist just to navigate the inverted castle.  It feels like filler, as though they finished the game, realized you could finish it in just a few hours, and then did the easiest thing they could think of to roughly double its length.

 

The actual design of the castle, screen by screen, is really quite poor.  You spend a good portion of the game mindlessly jumping up platforms in vertical sections, and there is hardly any platforming in the mostly flat horizontal sections.  The enemy placement is generally uninteresting, and many of the bosses are just "spectacle" bosses that look cool but mostly just stand there as you wail on them.

 

It's certainly not a bad game at all, and it feels great to play, but in hindsight I don't think it's anywhere close in quality to similar games like Super Metroid or Demon's Crest.

Edited January 3 by newtmonkey

[+wongojack]

5 hours ago, newtmonkey said:

@wongojack

Congrats on finishing SOTN!

 

My history with this game is quite different from yours.  Castlevania was one of my favorite series of games growing up; I absolutely loved all the NES games, as well as Super Castlevania IV on the SNES.  I remember getting Castlevania 64 on the N64 and being very disappointed indeed (I've come to really like that game, though).  So I was very excited back in 1997 when SOTN was released to see another 2D game that seemed similar to the older games in the series.  The fact that it was sort of similar to Super Metroid just made it better for me... it seemed like the natural progression of Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.  Back then, I would have rated SOTN 5/5 for sure.

 

Now, let me try to convince you why SOTN deserves no more than a 3/5 rating. 

 

I agree with your criticisms 100%, but I think these are actually bigger problems if you really think about them.  The game is just way too easy, even if you try to challenge yourself... during my last time playing through the game, I just used what I could find, and restricted myself to using only dagger/knife weapons, and it was still a cakewalk.  The game gives you so many ways to play it, but there is no depth imo.  You basically master the game halfway through it (maybe even earlier).

 

The inverted castle is even worse on a replay.  The castle was clearly not designed with this twist in mind, and it's annoying how often you have to rely on the bat or mist just to navigate the inverted castle.  It feels like filler, as though they finished the game, realized you could finish it in just a few hours, and then did the easiest thing they could think of to roughly double its length.

 

The actual design of the castle, screen by screen, is really quite poor.  You spend a good portion of the game mindlessly jumping up platforms in vertical sections, and there is hardly any platforming in the mostly flat horizontal sections.  The enemy placement is generally uninteresting, and many of the bosses are just "spectacle" bosses that look cool but mostly just stand there as you wail on them.

 

It's certainly not a bad game at all, and it feels great to play, but in hindsight I don't think it's anywhere close in quality to similar games like Super Metroid or Demon's Crest.

I go back and forth on 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 5.  On a scale of 10, would the game be a 5, 6, 7?  I think 7 is probably the right score.  There is a lot to like here, but they just didn't tune it enough.  I certainly never want to play it again.  There are so many subsequent games in the series to play that I think I will stick with those for a while.

[Keir]

Commodore 64 - Miner 2049er

I didn't play this one much as a kid; I think I tried it out because someone said it was like Jumpman (my favorite game) but one of the best things about Jumpman is that you don't need perfect jumps, you can miss by a little and climb up to the top of the platform. That is definitely not the case with Miner so it can be really frustrating at times. This time I used save states after finishing each level so I effectively gave myself infinite lives but I still needed to solve each level (level 7 is a real doozy that took dozens of attempts). Finally making it through all 10 levels, I was disappointed though not surprised to see that it just starts over at level 1 with no final screen or even an increase in difficulty. I continued playing without save states and only made it to level 5.

[+wongojack]

Another childhood opponent bites the dust as I mopped the court with the highest level opponent in Tennis for the NES.  I beat him twice (for the cup), and to win required some pretty cheap and repetitive gameplay.  There's really only one reliable way to score on him which is to hit the ball as wide as possible to the right side of the court and then approach the net.  If you approach as the computer is also approaching after his return then you can hit a winner to the left side of the court either overhand or via a backhand.  He still gets quite a bit of shots you don't quite place correctly, and you are likely to hit a bunch of shots out, but it is still the only strategy I found that worked.  I would also score occasionally on aces, but those seemed controlled somehow by the computer.  Maybe if I had experimented more moving along the baseline, I could have gotten more aces, but I could never really do it consistently.  The computer also double faults 4-6 times a match, but other than those mentioned above, the only other way you are going to score is if he has a random mishit into the net while changing depths, or you miraculously hit it right where the computer sometimes can't return.  All of those things are totally unreliable except for the hit right, approach, slam left strategy.  There's no reason for anyone to play this game unless you have some nostalgia for it, but in general, there's nothing wrong with it.  There's simply better options now.  I give Tennis a generous 3 out of 5.

 

[+neogeo1982]

Fatal Fury Special GG with Mai

Baku Baku GG

Super Return of the Jedi GG

Also Dead or Alive 2 and Soul Caliber on DC with several characters each.

[newtmonkey]

Phantasy Star III (Mega Drive)

     I recently completed Phantasy Star II, so I decided to go ahead and play through its sequel.  I knew of its reputation, and was expecting a mediocre experience... but still ended up completely disappointed with the game.

     It's graphically a step down from PSII (and even the first game), with an ugly drab color palette, monsters that are barely animated and often look completely ridiculous, and a serious lack of environment variety.  The combat screen is ugly and surreal, with the ground continuously scrolling horizontally for some reason.  It makes it looks like you're watching the battle from the side door window of a moving car, with the enemies hovering menacingly beside your car.  It looks bizarre, and they wisely removed this from the US version!

     The game world is tiny and barren.  The "generations" system, where at the end of each chapter you choose one of two women for your character to marry, and then play the next chapter as the son, is cool in theory but actually just makes it even more obvious how small yet empty the world is, since you're forced to trek slowly over these barren lands over and over each chapter.  There's nothing to explore or find, and the game is extremely linear.  What's even worse is that the way the scenario unfolds is mostly nonsensical, with the plot advanced mostly by stumbling upon some guy in a cave who gives you a rock or something to open some other cave.

     The balance is all out of whack.  It starts out somewhat difficult since you have a tiny party and few resources, but gets easier and easier by the minute after the first few hours.  The difficulty also drops down significantly each chapter, since you keep your android party members (with all their stats and equipment).  By the final chapter, your party is full of lethal killing machines that cannot be stopped.

     The game is also simply joyless to play.  They seemingly designed it to be as annoying as possible.  Many enemies early on will 100% poison you if they hit.  If you're poisoned, you cannot be healed and the game also hides your current HP.  You can cure poison with a cheap item, or with a spell... but the spell has a significant failure rate.  At one point the cure spell failed five times in a row, using up all of my spell points and still leaving me with poisoned character.  The towns all look alike (several even have the same exact layout), but of course all the shops are spread all over the place.

     It does have good music though.

Edited February 10 by newtmonkey

[DetectiveOnTheHunt]

A month ago, I beat Castlevania: Harmony Of Dissonance.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania%3A_Harmony_of_Dissonance

 

One of the last 2d games in the series that I completed. As convoluted as the maps are, the rest of the game is really fun. And IMHO the movement is a lot better than *shudders* Circle Of The Moon.

 

The graphics, while trippy, have some beautiful moments (ignoring juste's animations).

 

 

 

You probably find better examples online:

 

The chiptune music works suprisingly well for the most part. This particular song slaps:

 

Edited February 20 by DetectiveOnTheHunt

[+wongojack]

This thread has gone quiet, so I'll post that I recently beat Ghostbusters for both the SMS and the new Ultimate Edition homebrew for the Intellivision.

 

Ghostbusters UE for the Intellivision is a masterwork of taking a truly classic property, putting (almost) everything that could have been in it back then into a new game and releasing it as a homebrew.  The game will use Intellivoice and the ECS (if you have them) to play voice overs and enhanced music.  It has more scenes from the movie, more music from the movie and adds more challenge than the classic versions did by making a few smart updates to the item selection and the debt system.  They did stick to the early release endgame and omitted the stair climbing and vertical shooting level found in the NES and the SMS version, but the game is more streamlined and possibly better for it.  I appreciated that it ended up actually being kind of hard to catch the ghosts in this version.  Even with multiple strategies, I still miss a few here and there which adds to the replayability and challenge of what was such an impressive gaming sequence when the title released on the C64 all those years ago. 

 

On the other hand, what this version really does is show you the shortcomings of the original game.  Once you've gotten used to the ups and downs of ghost extermination (and know how to use bait to stop a Marshmallow attack) you'll find a game on default settings remarkably easy.  I mention that bit about the bait because when I played this game as a kid, I never knew I could reach over and press 'B' to stop the marshmallow man.  It wasn't until years later that I finally read the manual and finished the C64 version of the game.

 

As a huge Ghostbusters fan who has massive nostalgia for the original game, I am very happy with this.  I'm working to win with all of the cars which is proving to be a satisfying challenge because when you continue from a previous game, you must always finish with more money than you started.  So, if you buy the sports car, you've got to catch enough ghosts to pay it back before the city's PKE level reaches the critical state.  I give Ghostbusters UE a 4 out 5.  Without nostalgia, I might drop it down to a 3 due to the somewhat simple game loop and lack of true difficulty options, but I am still excited to keep playing it, and the little touches added make me smile whenever I catch a few ghosts.

 

 

Ghostbusters for the SMS is a game that I've been meaning to really sit down and play for years.  I got my vintage hardware out and even discovered that I'd acquired 2 physical copies of the game - overprepared.  The game makes some interesting choices in the beginning section, giving you more options to purchase equipment some of which I believe is unique to this version.  You are also given the chance to upgrade your equipment by stopping at a store on the map during gameplay.  This is really cool and opens up some differences in the game, but as I played with this equipment, I discovered that it just made the game easier.  It is an easy game to begin with and there are no difficulty options or post game difficulty increases, so carrying over money from a previous game makes me feel like the Monopoly man who just buys his way to victory. 

 

In the actual ghost catching sequences, the "streams" of the ghostbusters' proton packs are now pointed straight up, which means there's no way to cross the streams.  It also means that it is pretty hard for the ghosts to actually escape you once you've gotten them between your laser throwing ghost cowboys. Conservative shootin Tex.  Catching them in a trap rarely fails and the $$ just piles up faster than you can say I feel so funky.  Which reminds me that while the music is excellent there is no speech in this version.  That doesn't seem like a big deal, but as a fan of the old C64 version, I really missed the occasional computer voice encouraging me onward.  The 2 sections added to the game see you climbing a staircase while shooting at/avoiding ghosts and then shooting vertically towards Gozer (misspelled in the manual and the game as Gorza).  The staircase is remarkably difficult and the shooting sequence after it a little easier than expected.  Since the ghostbusters didn't actually shoot lasers at Gozer  to defeat him/her to end the movie, this definitely feels like an add-on.  However, it does give the player a nice variety of gameplay and makes ending the game feel like more of an accomplishment than the versions released for less powerful platforms.

 

I was pleased with this version of Ghostbusters and appreciated the extra levels at the end to give me some variety and a challenging ending to overcome.  However, I spent most of my time playing as a hyper-efficient ghost catching team who could essentially upgrade my abilities at will.  Extra money just made the longest section of the game borderline boring.  I still enjoyed my time with the game, but I give it a somewhat disappointed 3 out of 5.  In a direct comparison of both of these games, the SMS certainly has more variety and all the advantages of its hardware, but if I'm going back in for more, I'd rather play the Intellivision version.