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AJ_Radio's Disappointing Backlog and Wishlist


AJ_Radio

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10 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

100% Game #21: Arcade Archives - Art of Fighting

 

L8b03bf.png

 

Difficulty: 6/10

Excitement Rating: 4/10

 

I will have to admit, I missed out entirely on the era of arcades due to being far too young to take advantage. The only arcade cabinets I actually played were ones at movie theaters and pizza places, when arcades were quickly on their way out in the late 1990s, early 2000s. Art of Fighting I had never seen anywhere, this must of been a game that was only available in some places. Compared to Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Virtua Fighter, Art of Fighting is far more niche.

 

From what I read on the Internet, SNK arcade cabinets were more common in Central and South America,while Capcom ones were common in USA. Sadly I have seen neither here xD so I had to play via emulators and now ps4. 

 

Congrats for this one! I know I have advised you to avoid Art of fighting anthology on my thread, but I won't lie I kinda am curious how you'd approach those games :D

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I'm just lurking around I really like your profile, I still have Art of Fighting Anthology in my backlog but I'm not in the mood for the plat, Art of Fighting 2 AI is the cheapest shit I've ever seen and I'm very familiar with SNK boss syndrome, after all I'm Brazilian but in this game every single enemy acts like that, it takes a lot of getting use to and memorizing patterns.

 

 

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Edited by Sunnyburrito
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1 hour ago, Copanele said:

From what I read on the Internet, SNK arcade cabinets were more common in Central and South America,while Capcom ones were common in USA. Sadly I have seen neither here xD so I had to play via emulators and now ps4. 

 

Congrats for this one! I know I have advised you to avoid Art of fighting anthology on my thread, but I won't lie I kinda am curious how you'd approach those games :D

 

It takes a lot for me to truly give up on something. I don't exactly finish games in fast time as I prefer to just go at a leisurely pace, but I do the best I can.

 

1 minute ago, Sunnyburrito said:

I'm just lurking around I really your profile, I still have Art of Fighting Anthology in my backlog but I'm not in the mood for the plat, Art of Fighting 2 AI is the cheapest shit I've ever seen and I'm very familiar with SNK boss syndrome, after all I'm Brazilian but in this game every single enemy acts like that, it takes a lot of getting use to and memorizing patterns.

 

 

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@Copanele himself made a guide for this so I definitely recommend checking it out. Gives a lot of advice on how best to tackle the AI. If you thought Street Fighter is bad, it's nothing compared to SNK fighters.

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100% Game #22: Arcade Archives - Art of Fighting 2

 

L2d112a.png

 

Difficulty: 7/10

Excitement Rating: 4/10

 

Another hard Arcade Archives title. This one is even more cheap than the original Art of Fighting. Enemy AI predicts your every move so you have to rely on specific tactics and exploits.

 

There are plenty of Arcade Archive games much easier than this. Definitely wouldn't recommend for an easy 100 percent.

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50 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

100% Game #22: Arcade Archives - Art of Fighting 2

 

L2d112a.png

 

Difficulty: 7/10

Excitement Rating: 4/10

 

Another hard Arcade Archives title. This one is even more cheap than the original Art of Fighting. Enemy AI predicts your every move so you have to rely on specific tactics and exploits.

 

There are plenty of Arcade Archive games much easier than this. Definitely wouldn't recommend for an easy 100 percent.

I never thought I would see the day an Arcade Archives game was rated a 7/10 for difficulty.

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6 minutes ago, FreshFromThaDeli said:

I never thought I would see the day an Arcade Archives game was rated a 7/10 for difficulty.

 

The reason I put it that high is because I couldn't even get past the first opponent until I found a cheap exploit regarding Micky. Granted I'm not that good at fighters. AoE2 is extremely cheap, it was hard even with the modern conveniences of settings the Arcade Archive titles give you.

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58 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

100% Game #22: Arcade Archives - Art of Fighting 2

 

L2d112a.png

 

Difficulty: 7/10

Excitement Rating: 4/10

 

Another hard Arcade Archives title. This one is even more cheap than the original Art of Fighting. Enemy AI predicts your every move so you have to rely on specific tactics and exploits.

 

There are plenty of Arcade Archive games much easier than this. Definitely wouldn't recommend for an easy 100 percent.

Heh can't blame you for giving it a 7/10 :D 

Once you get it at a discount you should try AoF3 too, to see just how different it is from the previous ones.

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Platinum :platinum: #271: Blizzard Arcade Collection (March 20th, 2021)

 

1L2b0a58.png

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 2 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:

 

Once upon a time, Blizzard Entertainment, now best known for making Overwatch and World of Warcraft, made arcade style games for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. You don't remember? That's because all you youngsters in your late teens, early 20s missed out on a golden era of gaming. The days of when us kids were grateful to have our hands on a few Super Nintendo games, who played the crap out of Super Mario World, Street Fighter II: World Warrior, Contra III: Alien Wars and a few others because we had no other video game to play. We knew little else but the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and video gaming.

 

This is also a time when Blockbuster, the most successful video rental store company, gave rentals for various VHS movies and games. Video games were expensive back then, and unless you were a truly old school dude who was already a high school teenager in the early - mid 1990s, we had to beg our parents to bring us to the video rental stores to rent out games for us.

 

If you guys were wondering why I have such a fondness for the 16 bit era and the 1990s in terms of gaming (if Commander Keen was any indication), it is because I literally grew up in that time period. Such games like Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were my official entry into the world of gaming. I started back in 1992 - 1993, when I knew nothing else but know how to play Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. Thus, I have been gaming for nearly 30 years, and have seen the industry evolve from the old Mario vs Sonic rivalry of the 16 bit era to the 4K, 60 frames per second graphical vistas that the gaming industry is today.

 

These kinds of collections always give me fond memories and nostalgia, and I was familiar with two out of the three games here. The Lost Vikings, and Blackthorne. I had beaten Blackthorne on the PC back in the 1990s, and played the SNES version at a cousin's house long ago. The Lost Vikings was a unique game. There is little doubt that the makers of Trine, a franchise with a fantasy theme focused on puzzle solving to beat levels, was heavily influenced by The Lost Vikings. This was also a puzzle solving game and you switched between three vikings, each with their own distinctive abilities. But out of the games, I never played Rock n Roll Racing. I played a bit of it even after I obtained the platinum trophy and I would of loved it so much more if I had played it way back in the day. Rocking tunes such as Bad to the Bone were great to hear, amazing that an old game from the mid 1990s was able to get away with using copyright music.

 

I felt rather guilty, because I took the easy way out using @Optinoobys video guide on how to get trophies fast. The only reason I'm giving this collection a 2 and not a 1 out of 10 in difficulty is because you have to beat a bunch of levels in Rock n Roll Racing. For a solid racing game from the old days it would of been a shame for me to skip it completely.

 

A solid collection that contains several versions of three classic games from when Blizzard Entertainment was in its infancy. They would go on and make their mark in history with Warcraft, notably the old strategy games and of course World of Warcraft, which was for many years the most popular MMORPG. It is really sad what has happened to this company, after the merge with Activision everything seems to be going against their favor.

 

For retro gamers and for those people in their late 30s and 40s, this is bound to bring back a lot of fond memories.

Edited by AJ_Radio
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34 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

Platinum :platinum: #271: Blizzard Arcade Collection (March 20th, 2021)

 

1L2b0a58.png

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 2 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy:

 

Once upon a time, Blizzard Entertainment, now best known for making Overwatch and World of Warcraft, made arcade style games for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. You don't remember? That's because all you youngsters in your late teens, early 20s missed out on a golden era of gaming. The days of when us kids were grateful to have our hands on a few Super Nintendo games, who played the crap out of Super Mario World, Street Fighter II: World Warrior, Contra III: Alien Wars and a few others because we had no other video game to play. We knew little else but the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and video gaming.

 

This is also a time when Blockbuster, the most successful video rental store company, gave rentals for various VHS movies and games. Video games were expensive back then, and unless you were a truly old school dude who was already a high school teenager in the early - mid 1990s, we had to beg our parents to bring us to the video rental stores to rent out games for us.

 

If you guys were wondering why I have such a fondness for the 16 bit era and the 1990s in terms of gaming (if Commander Keen was any indication), it is because I literally grew up in that time period. Such games like Super Mario Bros 3, Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were my official entry into the world of gaming. I started back in 1992 - 1993, when I knew nothing else but know how to play Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo. Thus, I have been gaming for nearly 30 years, and have seen the industry evolve from the old Mario vs Sonic rivalry of the 16 bit era to the 4K, 60 frames per second graphical vistas that the gaming industry is today.

 

These kinds of collections always give me fond memories and nostalgia, and I was familiar with two out of the three games here. The Lost Vikings, and Blackthorne. I had beaten Blackthorne on the PC back in the 1990s, and played the SNES version at a cousin's house long ago. The Lost Vikings was a unique game. There is little doubt that the makers of Trine, a franchise with a fantasy theme focused on puzzle solving to beat levels, was heavily influenced by The Lost Vikings. This was also a puzzle solving game and you switched between three vikings, each with their own distinctive abilities. But out of the games, I never played Rock n Roll Racing. I played a bit of it even after I obtained the platinum trophy and I would of loved it so much more if I had played it way back in the day. Rocking tunes such as Bad to the Bone were great to hear, amazing that an old game from the mid 1990s was able to get away with using copyright music.

 

I felt rather guilty, because I took the easy way out using @Optinoobys video guide on how to get trophies fast. The only reason I'm giving this collection a 2 and not a 1 out of 10 in difficulty is because you have to beat a bunch of levels in Rock n Roll Racing. For a solid racing game from the old days it would of been a shame for me to skip it completely.

 

A solid collection that contains several versions of three classic games from when Blizzard Entertainment was in its infancy. They would go on and make their mark in history with Warcraft, notably the old strategy games and of course World of Warcraft, which was for many years the most popular MMORPG. It is really sad what has happened to this company, after the merge with Activision everything seems to be going against their favor.

 

For retro gamers and for those people in their late 30s and 40s, this is bound to bring back a lot of fond memories.


I guess I’m young enough to have no clue Blizzard used to make arcade games, but old enough to fondly remember staying over at a friend’s house on the weekends, where his mum would take us to Blockbuster and let us rent a bunch of movies and video games. For many years the majority of my childhood gaming experience took place at friend’s houses, and I remember how exciting it was going to Blockbuster and picking from the rows upon rows of video games. ?

 

I have not heard of any of these games, but I’m keen to give this collection a try with your review & rating. For me, a big part of the fun of trophy hunting is dipping into unfamiliar genres and franchises, and these old arcade-style classics are one that I’m largely unfamiliar with. It would be worth it just to get a glimpse of the humble origins of Blizzard. I remember Blizzard being one of the biggest and most successful gaming companies when I was growing up, mainly on the backs of Diablo 2, StarCraft and WoW.

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1 hour ago, dieselmanchild said:


I guess I’m young enough to have no clue Blizzard used to make arcade games, but old enough to fondly remember staying over at a friend’s house on the weekends, where his mum would take us to Blockbuster and let us rent a bunch of movies and video games. For many years the majority of my childhood gaming experience took place at friend’s houses, and I remember how exciting it was going to Blockbuster and picking from the rows upon rows of video games. 1f606.png

 

I have not heard of any of these games, but I’m keen to give this collection a try with your review & rating. For me, a big part of the fun of trophy hunting is dipping into unfamiliar genres and franchises, and these old arcade-style classics are one that I’m largely unfamiliar with. It would be worth it just to get a glimpse of the humble origins of Blizzard. I remember Blizzard being one of the biggest and most successful gaming companies when I was growing up, mainly on the backs of Diablo 2, StarCraft and WoW.

 

I caught the tail end of it. I tend to think I was truly one of the last kids in my generation to really experience the 8-bit, 16-bit era. My older sister who is now 41 gave me her NES, but it was the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo that cemented my love for gaming.

 

Kids today would look at that old stuff and think "How could they have ever played such crap?" Times were a lot different back then. Despite my love for gaming, much of my childhood took place outdoors. I played baseball, hung out with friends, did sleepovers at friends houses back when that was still a big deal. I watched a lot of movies on VHS, stuff like Home Alone, Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Babe, Cool Runnings, The Sandlot, Rumble in the Bronx, True Lies, Speed, etc etc because DVDs weren't widely available yet. Catch some cartoons on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

 

I still used Blockbuster during high school and early college, but it was already going downhill at that point.

 

Diablo 2, Starcraft and World of Warcraft were all awesome, and I remember them fondly. It is really tragic hearing what is going on with Blizzard, now that they're being sued by California. The fall of a video game great, that's for sure.

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1 hour ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

I caught the tail end of it. I tend to think I was truly one of the last kids in my generation to really experience the 8-bit, 16-bit era. My older sister who is now 41 gave me her NES, but it was the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo that cemented my love for gaming.

 

Kids today would look at that old stuff and think "How could they have ever played such crap?" Times were a lot different back then. Despite my love for gaming, much of my childhood took place outdoors. I played baseball, hung out with friends, did sleepovers at friends houses back when that was still a big deal. I watched a lot of movies on VHS, stuff like Home Alone, Aladdin, The Lion King, Toy Story, Babe, Cool Runnings, The Sandlot, Rumble in the Bronx, True Lies, Speed, etc etc because DVDs weren't widely available yet. Catch some cartoons on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.

 

I still used Blockbuster during high school and early college, but it was already going downhill at that point.

 

Diablo 2, Starcraft and World of Warcraft were all awesome, and I remember them fondly. It is really tragic hearing what is going on with Blizzard, now that they're being sued by California. The fall of a video game great, that's for sure.


Yeah I’ve written about this before in other posts, but my parents weren’t big on video games and they certainly weren’t going to run out and buy a console and new games for my brothers and I. We were part of that last generation of kids that grew up playing on the streets all day with other kids. Back then it was typical for parents to just say “Get outta here, go play” and kids would spend the entire day running around the neighbourhood getting up to all sorts of mischief.

 

It’s funny because I remember many times where I went to friend’s houses and they wanted to go outside and play, and I would beg them to stay inside and play games instead lol. For many years those were the only time I ever got to play, but I got a small taste of some of the classic old systems like NES, N64, Sega Genesis, Sega Gamegear etc. 
 

I’ve always been behind the curve with video games and sort of playing catch up to everyone else. But I am old enough to remember a lot of those old classics, even if I didn’t get to fully experience most of them.
 

And I remember how awesome they were back then too. Kids these days have no idea how good they have it! If I could go back to my kid self and and show him how advanced video game graphics and mechanics would be by 2021 I’m sure his head would explode. The industry has come so far and grown so large since those early days.

 

I feel so old reminiscing about this but the crazy thing is that it really wasn’t all that long ago. Technology advances so rapidly these days that it feels like 100 years worth of innovation was been crammed into 15-20. It’s pretty neat to look back though and marvel at how far we’ve come since the old 8/16-bit standard.

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2 minutes ago, dieselmanchild said:


Yeah I’ve written about this before in other posts, but my parents weren’t big on video games and they certainly weren’t going to run out and buy a console and new games for my brothers and I. We were part of that last generation of kids that grew up playing on the streets all day with other kids. Back then it was typical for parents to just say “Get outta here, go play” and kids would spend the entire day running around the neighbourhood getting up to all sorts of mischief.

 

It’s funny because I remember many times where I went to friend’s houses and they wanted to go outside and play, and I would beg them to stay inside and play games instead lol. For many years those were the only time I ever got to play, but I got a small taste of some of the classic old systems like NES, N64, Sega Genesis, Sega Gamegear etc. 
 

I’ve always been behind the curve with video games and sort of playing catch up to everyone else. But I am old enough to remember a lot of those old classics, even if I didn’t get to fully experience most of them.
 

And I remember how awesome they were back then too. Kids these days have no idea how good they have it! If I could go back to my kid self and and show him how advanced video game graphics and mechanics would be by 2021 I’m sure his head would explode. The industry has come so far and grown so large since those early days.

 

I feel so old reminiscing about this but the crazy thing is that it really wasn’t all that long ago. Technology advances so rapidly these days that it feels like 100 years worth of innovation was been crammed into 15-20. It’s pretty neat to look back though and marvel at how far we’ve come since the old 8/16-bit standard.

 

The problem I have is today's parents can't just go "Get outta here, go play". They have to track their kids on their smartphones. My generation is now the parents raising the kids. Many kids can't have NERF guns or Super Soakers to play anymore, because there is this fear that a kid is going to get hit in the eyes with water, or a water balloon from a kid hiding around the corner is going to pummel somebody in the face.

 

For all the things kids have today, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be kid in this generation. I was just glad I grew up when I did, because so many kids, including a number I know personally just sit around the house on their parents tablets and smartphones. And when they do go outside to play, they have close parental supervision.

 

I didn't have parental supervision. The area I grew up in was out in the woods, and I had a couple other friends with me go exploring. We caught thorns from wild berry bushes. We fell down on tree roots buried on the surface. All the things I'm sure many kids experienced out there. I've personally seen many parents not allow their kids to venture outside. All COVID-19 did was separate kids from each other, which is absolutely horrifying because they are still developing. Not having close human interaction in your early years has overly negative effects.

 

Right now I'm broke, but being able to buy most of every game with just a few computer clicks on fast internet has killed a lot of immersion for me. There is such a thing as "Less is More". When I was 14 years old the idea of fast internet and being able to pick countless games for download would of completely blew my mind wide open. Now, 20 years later in my 30s, I'm doing just that, but I'm not that excited anymore. The sense of wonder and reading those gaming magazines at the book stores is gone too.

 

There's a lot to be excited for, but at the same time, I'm not all that excited.

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2 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

The problem I have is today's parents can't just go "Get outta here, go play". They have to track their kids on their smartphones. My generation is now the parents raising the kids. Many kids can't have NERF guns or Super Soakers to play anymore, because there is this fear that a kid is going to get hit in the eyes with water, or a water balloon from a kid hiding around the corner is going to pummel somebody in the face.


Yeah I don’t know when things changed exactly, but we seem to now be living in the age of the helicopter parent, and parents in general are really worried about their children. A lot of parents I know now are perfectly happy to have their kid sitting in the other room in front of a TV or tablet all day long because at least they know where they are and that they’re safe.

 

My parents were always the super straight-edged and strict ones when compared to most of my friends growing up, and yet even they were completely fine with leaving us to supervise and entertain ourselves for long periods of time. It was just normal to let kids wander the streets all day. We definitely had a kind of freedom that many kids nowadays do not, and we took it for granted at the time.

 

Good times man. 

 

2 hours ago, AJ_Radio said:

Right now I'm broke, but being able to buy most of every game with just a few computer clicks on fast internet has killed a lot of immersion for me. There is such a thing as "Less is More". When I was 14 years old the idea of fast internet and being able to pick countless games for download would of completely blew my mind wide open. Now, 20 years later in my 30s, I'm doing just that, but I'm not that excited anymore. The sense of wonder and reading those gaming magazines at the book stores is gone too.

 

There's a lot to be excited for, but at the same time, I'm not all that excited.

 

Part of this is just growing up, but I think the other part just goes hand in hand with our culture of convenience and the instant gratification we’ve come to expect in every aspect of our lives. I’ll never forget how it felt being a kid and stopping by the Toys R Us electronics department and marvelling in awe at all the games and shit. It was the only time you’d see everything together in one place like that - there was no internet or YouTube to look stuff up and no digital stores where you could buy any game/movie/CD and download instantly. We might only go there once or twice a year so the excitement would be overwhelming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

Yeah I don’t know when things changed exactly, but we seem to now be living in the age of the helicopter parent, and parents in general are really worried about their children. A lot of parents I know now are perfectly happy to have their kid sitting in the other room in front of a TV or tablet all day long because at least they know where they are and that they’re safe.

 

My parents were always the super straight-edged and strict ones when compared to most of my friends growing up, and yet even they were completely fine with leaving us to supervise and entertain ourselves for long periods of time. It was just normal to let kids wander the streets all day. We definitely had a kind of freedom that many kids nowadays do not, and we took it for granted at the time.

 

Good times man.

 

I say it changed around 9/11 (September 11th, 2001) and the mass hysteria that followed afterwards. Suddenly airports had much tighter security, and we had that whole debacle regarding the War on Terrorism and the Iraq War.

 

I'm all for keeping kids safe, but parents today are taking it too far with their safety policies. They aren't letting their kids progress in life, they are holding them back.

 

5 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

Part of this is just growing up, but I think the other part just goes hand in hand with our culture of convenience and the instant gratification we’ve come to expect in every aspect of our lives. I’ll never forget how it felt being a kid and stopping by the Toys R Us electronics department and marvelling in awe at all the games and shit. It was the only time you’d see everything together in one place like that - there was no internet or YouTube to look stuff up and no digital stores where you could buy any game/movie/CD and download instantly. We might only go there once or twice a year so the excitement would be overwhelming.

 

I remember that store well. That was where I got all my NERF guns and Super Soakers. I had an old Power Rangers toy gun that shot discs, you know that old live action show titled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers that debuted in the early 1990s.

 

There's too much now. Instant gratification only made me less excited for shit rather than the opposite.

 

Anyway, I've done enough rambling on this subject for now, for I just posted a little review on:

 

--

 

Platinum :platinum: #272: Air Race Speed (March 21st, 2021)

 

1L381eb3.png

 

Difficulty: 3/10

Excitement Rating: 6/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 10 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: 23S9c3317.png The Neverending Story ( Pass at least 20 stages of any endless level )

 

This one was a bit of an odd bird. I honestly never heard about this game until a couple years ago. It's a PS Vita title, and while there are some fairly well known racers like Wipeout 2048 and Ridge Racer, Air Race Speed is pretty obscure.

 

There's really not much to it. It's a pretty basic and barebones racing game that takes place in the future, in outer space somewhere. Who knows, doesn't really matter. There aren't even AI racers in this one, so you're pretty much racing all by yourself.

 

Most of the tracks are basically going from point A to point B. Air Race Speed emphasizes fast paced gameplay, if the name of the game itself wasn't a clue already. A lot of tunnel like sections you must race thru, and plenty of obstacles that may cause you to crash in a split second.

 

I didn't think this game was that bad. It's pretty barebones as mentioned, graphics are nothing special and the gameplay gets tedious. It's very cheap on the store, around the equivalent of what you get out of Ratalaika Games.

 

Can't say too much else. Fairly average, middle of the road little indie game that I decided to try out. If you're looking for something easy, you enjoy racers and you don't mind playing on a PS Vita, this game would be a good choice.

Edited by AJ_Radio
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Platinum :platinum: #273: Ducati - 90th Anniversary (March 27th, 2021)

 

1Lc0173f.png

 

Difficulty: 5/10

Excitement Rating: 6/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 16 - 18 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: 12Sa86159.pngThe Champion ( Reach at least the third place in all the events in the Historic Tour mode )

 

O5os9xG.jpg

 

A rather unremarkable racing game.

 

Ducati - 90th Anniversary is a spinoff of Milestone's racing franchise Ride, games where high powered motorcycles compete in races and tournaments. Famous bike manufacturers such as Yamaha, Suzuki and many others are featured in those games. Ducati is a long time motorcycle company based in Italy, and as the name suggests, it is the only one featured for this game.

 

This was probably one of the cheapest games I have bought on PSN, priced at $2.99 plus sales tax. My Name is Mayo takes the cake as being the cheapest game I ever bought, but Ducati showcases actual gameplay and racing. This game however isn't all that great. Graphics are merely average, controls are pretty okay, bike selection is rather limited. There is the modern convenience of having a rewind option, which enables you to rewind several seconds in case you messed up. Having this option saved me much frustration and lost time. 

 

You have your standard races, championship races (usually a set of three races in one), head-to-head matches, and time trials. Except for the time trials, everything else was fairly easy, nothing too difficult. The time trials in contrast are difficult because the time requirements are rather strict. They were too difficult for me to get a Gold rating, so I settled with mostly Bronze with a couple of Silver ratings. One of the default settings is auto brake, the game automatically slows your racing bike down when you are around corners. I can tell you from experience that you will not be able to meet the required times with auto brake enabled, so I had to make due with them turned off.

 

The online, while straightforward, was rather annoying. I boosted with a fellow member here on PSNP and while the trophies say to complete X amount of multiplayer races, you cannot just complete them. You have to score on the podium (at least third place) for all multiplayer races, otherwise they will not count. We tried doing races together with just two players and no AI racers but they didn't seem to count. Playing with AI racers and scoring third place or better did count. I wasted a hour boosting this game to get my online trophies.

 

This is mostly what I have to say. Ducati - 90th Anniversary was made on a budget, lacking the polish and allure of Gran Turismo or Need for Speed. There is a lot of grinding you have to do as you have to repeat the same events over and over, just with newer, more modern bikes. Nothing really special here, as this is a spinoff of the Ride franchise focusing on just one bike company.

 

An easy platinum, but not that great of a game.

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100% Game #23: Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

 

L4263c2.png

 

Difficulty: 2/10

Excitement Rating: 6/10

 

This is a little known TellTale Game that came out sometime in 2010, so this is definitely one of their older games. Bought this one when I thought TellTale Games was going to get delisted in 2019. Sat on my PS3 harddrive for a while until I decided to play it for myself.

 

It's based on the Homestar Runner web cartoon, designed by Mark Darin and developed by TellTale Games. If you guys grew up on shows such as Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Aqua Teen Hunger Force back in the early 2000s (the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network), you would feel right at home with Strong Bad, since this draws on the same type of humor.

 

Not the best TellTale Game, but I had a few laughs with it. This plays and controls like other TellTale Game titles, with an easy list of trophies (there are five episodes) and plenty of missables, which I looked up a guide for. Unfortunately this is stuck on the PS3 console unless this is offered on PS Now, which is probably the best way to play this game.

 

Sam & Max will likely be the last TellTale series I will bother with, as I'm not interested in any of the 'modern' TellTale Game titles.

Edited by AJ_Radio
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Platinum :platinum: #274: Rayman Origins (April 10th, 2021)

 

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Difficulty: 6/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 12 - 15 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: 13S049ffb.png Nitro ( Earned ALL speed trophies )

 

I came into this game not knowing much about the Rayman franchise or its history. At one time, Rayman was a sort of mascot for Ubisoft and one of the platformers of the 1990s. Mario, Sonic, Crash.... and Rayman.

 

Over the years I've heard so much about the Rayman games but never had a chance to really play them myself. With the then announcement to have the PS3/Vita stores close earlier this year I decided it was finally time to try my hand at one of the Rayman games. I picked Rayman Origins.

 

Rayman Origins is a cute, colorful and quirky platformer, with a cast of goofy characters that would make Mario and Sonic blush.

 

It plays much like a lot of other platformers, but Ubisoft did a very fine job crafting this one. This is definitely one of the best Vita games I have played. The tight platforming, very solid framerate and fast loading times compliment the PS Vita handheld wonderfully.

 

Origins is not an easy game, as there are many levels of varying difficulty. However you have to speedrun every one of them, and there are collectibles you have to find including hidden cages. Certain levels have you chasing a live treasure box, which involves tight platforming. Some levels were rather difficult and I died a lot of them, but nothing in Rayman Origins is unfair. The good music and good gameplay greatly made up for all the shortcomings I had trying to get through the levels.

 

Not too much to say. While it does nothing that platformers before it haven't already done, Rayman Origins is a high quality game that any platforming fan shouldn't miss. Rayman Legends will be the next Rayman game on my list, although the one trophy it has may test my patience a bit.

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5 minutes ago, AJ_Radio said:

Platinum :platinum: #274: Rayman Origins (April 10th, 2021)

 

I liked that game a lot, and pretty much agree with all your points, although I think 

 

Quote

 

Not too much to say. While it does nothing that platformers before it haven't already done, Rayman Origins is a high quality game that any platforming fan shouldn't miss. Rayman Legends will be the next Rayman game on my list, although the one trophy it has may test my patience a bit.

 

this statement maybe doesn't give enough credit to the game. 

 

One area that I really don't think I had ever seen done before was the level of the hand-drawn visuals.

Cuphead has surpassed it now (maybe the only game to have truly done so, outside of Rayman's own sequel) but at the time of release, I think you would have been hard pressed to find a single 2D platform game that had done hand-drawn animation style with more finesse, and with a better blending of background, level, foreground and characters than Rayman Origins!

Edited by DrBloodmoney
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3 minutes ago, DrBloodmoney said:

 

I liked that game a lot, and pretty much agree with all your points, although I think 

 

 

this statement maybe doesn't give enough credit to the game. 

 

One area that I really don't think I had ever seen done before was the level of the hand-drawn visuals.

Cuphead has surpassed it now (maybe the only game to have truly done so, outside of Rayman's own sequel) but at the time of release, I think you would have been hard pressed to find a single 2D platform game that had done hand-drawn animation style with more finesse, and with a better blending of background, level, foreground and characters than Rayman Origins!

 

I'm not making textbook long reviews of games I did months ago, especially since I've been behind on my own thread here for quite some time by this point. But yes, the visuals are excellent. However, my statement does not fall short of the credit this game deserves. I don't pick out every detail in my reviews, they are very opinionated and not at all professional writeups.

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1 minute ago, AJ_Radio said:

 

I'm not making textbook long reviews of games I did months ago, especially since I've been behind on my own thread here for quite some time by this point. But yes, the visuals are excellent. However, my statement does not fall short of the credit this game deserves. I don't pick out every detail in my reviews, they are very opinionated and not at all professional writeups.

 

Hey man, it wasn't a slam - I was just agreeing how good the game was, and pointing out something that really impressed me :dunno:

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100% Game #24: Super Stardust HD

 

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Difficulty: 6/10

Excitement Rating: 9/10

 

Historically, this is the first game to ever get a trophy list. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was the first game to ever get a platinum. So much has happened since then, but I want to talk about Super Stardust HD.

 

I have to give Housemarque respect. Most of all their games have been fun and enjoyable, with just enough challenge to keep players engaged. Super Stardust HD was one of the early PS3 titles, for the first year it didn't even have a trophy list. The gameplay more than makes up for that, and if I was on the PS3 console back in 2007 I probably would have bought this game anyway.

 

This is a homage to old classics like Asteroids, but there are enough modern elements to keep newer audiences hooked. Super Stardust HD is no longer popular due to its age, and I imagine Super Stardust Ultra on the PS4 does everything this game does, just better. I wanted to challenge myself a little so I decided to pick up this game to try it out.

 

It basically plays like Asteroids, you control a ship that can be moved in all directions and the goal is to destroy anything that is deemed a threat. There are five levels (planet), which each level having a boss fight at the end. Powerups, tokens, and bombs can be collected whilst playing the game. Like with Resogun, Super Stardust HD has a multiplier that increases over time so long as you don't get hit.

 

The Solo Add-on and Team Add-on DLC packs add more content to the game with more modes. Out of the trophies, Late Boomer was by far the most difficult due to needing great precision and effort. While it took me over 400 attempts, I never got real frustrated with it, as this game is challenging, but not unfair.

 

Housemarque was always good on delivering games that cater to both old school and new school gamers. Super Stardust HD may not be much now compared to modern games like Returnal, but it was a game I greatly enjoyed playing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

100% Game #25: Crazy Taxi

 

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Difficulty: 5/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

 

The late 1990s. The Sega Dreamcast era, the last great hurrah for SEGA before they dropped out of the console race. A distant memory now, but a memory that now looks like paradise compared to all the bullshit that's been going on in the world these past few years.

 

I had my eye on this game for quite a while. In early 2016 I went and replayed all the great Sega Genesis classics, but never quite touched upon the Dreamcast library of games. Despite their age, SEGA had a lot of wonderful and creative ideas going into motion. I'm sure most of us have all ridden in a taxi at least once in our lives. Crazy Taxi was a simple concept, but it worked.

 

I was one of the lucky few kids to actually play the arcade cabinet of this game. I remember sitting down and having fun with it after I put down a few quarters. Never managed to get far into the game, I was a lot less skilled back then than I am now. But it was a lot of fun. Between this and House of the Dead, I definitely had more fun with House of the Dead, but Crazy Taxi managed to keep me hooked for the short time I had with it.

 

Eventually, I saw this available on the PS3 and figured I just had to pick this one up.

 

The game is simple. You drive a taxi, you collect customers, you take them to their destination, and they pay their fares. The same as any taxi service you use in real life, you pay the cab driver money to take you somewhere. Crazy Taxi is purely arcade, for a game with a simple design SEGA definitely delivered in the fun department. I feel this was the time when video games were beginning to hit their zenith, before millions of dollars were spent on cinematics and making the games more pretty as opposed to making a game revolving around the gameplay aspect.

 

The two modes available to you (Arcade and Original) are largely the same. Original only really has you driving in a different city. Depending on how well you do, you earn a certain rank. S rank is the best available, while a bad run nets you a D rank. Unfortunately the trophies don't stack up, so you must do at least four runs each on Arcade and Original, totaling eight. This gives you an opportunity to learn how the game works and the layout of the cities. Thankfully, you don't have to go by the Arcade rules of the game, you can set the time limit making earning those S ranks much easier for yourself.

 

Difficulty wise, Crazy Taxi doesn't start to get hard until you do Crazy Box. It's basically a challenge mode where you are tasked with doing a certain objective under the time limit. There are many levels that you must clear, with the levels getting progressively harder. They can be quite fun though. But you must learn the five skills to pass these levels:

 

http://www.crazytaxi.net/skills.html

 

Here's one level that can be seen as a good example of putting these skills to use:

 

 

All in all, nothing too overly difficult. All it takes is a bit of practice and learning the five skills. For you old SEGA junkies out there, this is practically a must play.

 

The next Dreamcast game I will be covering is Sonic Adventure, which hopefully will be finished in the near future.

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Platinum :platinum: #275: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (May 4th, 2021)

 

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Difficulty: 4/10

Excitement Rating: 8/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 50+ Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: 47S9cfae9.pngCommitted to the Cause ( Reach level 55 in Multiplayer  )

 

This was my second go around at the game. Had the single player wrapped up on the PS4 version of Black Flag years ago, but the poor internet where I lived prevented me from going after the online trophies. Fast forward to 2020, and I finally decided to go thru the slog that was Black Flag's multiplayer.

 

Not much to say here. I've already talked about this game multiple times. In my opinion, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is one of the better games from the post Ezio Auditore era in the franchise. Edward Kenway is charming, with a good sense of humor and a brawler when he gets drunk. The story is the first in the series that doesn't exactly cover an Assassin. Kenway is a pirate first and foremost, the Assassins this time around play a more supportive role throughout the plot.

 

Plundering ships never gets old. I said that before too. The Caribbean setting is what really makes Black Flag stand out. I saw no real differences between the PS3 and PS4 versions of Black Flag, only some texture improvements and a higher resolution. Actual music isn't heard much, the shanties practically make up for it.

 

The single player is roughly 30 - 40 hours long, depending on how fast a player you are. The Freedom Cry DLC was real easy considering I already done it three times before. The multiplayer is no different from the PS4 version. Boring, tedious, and a slog to get through. I did the multiplayer before I did anything else, prioritizing the trophies that actually required other players. I had no luck getting a couple trophies from randoms, so I basically had to boost with fellow PSNP trophy hunters. Nothing too bad. The grind to level 55 was basically 15 hours of tedium and boredom. Had to sit thru some podcasts to make the grind bearable. I did over 30 hours worth of multiplayer in both stacks of Black Flag, with only level 55 to show for them.

 

Still an enjoyable Assassin's Creed game, and a 'middle of the road' entry between the old Assassin's Creed titles and the modern Assassin's Creed that started with Origins. Nothing too difficult. Ubisoft clearly borrowed from Pirates of the Caribbean. Reminded me of Johnny Depp and his role in the movie franchise. Maybe I'll play Black Flag again someday, but it'll be purely for fun.

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Platinum :platinum: #276: Detroit: Become Human (May 10th, 2021)

 

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Difficulty: 3/10

Excitement Rating: 7/10

Estimated Time to Platinum: 15 - 16 Hours

 

Hardest Trophy: 46S36341b.pngI'LL BE BACK ( Connor died and returned at every opportunity before reaching the end )

 

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I'm not a fan of purely story driven games. I'm not a fan of most games where I feel I could be better spending my time with movies. Watching an interactive movie where you unlock trophies along the way is generally not my cup of tea. You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, free of charge, at your own pace.

 

David Cage's philosophy of gaming is an interesting one. He sees his games as interactive movies, not games designed with a traditional mindset. It's easy to see why a lot of people love him, and why a lot of people hate him. I don't see myself on either side, but rather in the middle. Interactive movies in many aspects are a work of art, further closing the gap between an actual movie and a video game. We already hit that point where video games are movies, because the AAA gaming industry has the technology for it.

 

But despite my general opinions on interactive novels, I decided to give Detroit: Become Human a go.

 

I picked this one up on PS Plus sometime in 2019, can't remember the month exactly. I was glad I picked it up for free and not have to pay money, in which case I would probably be a little upset with myself.

 

Detroit: Become Human was clearly influenced by Heavy Rain. It was groundbreaking, showing life like characters, children who are completely relatable and believable, and situations that could be compared with real life. As Heavy Rain allowed you to control four different characters, Detroit: Become Human allows you to control three characters. There is a major difference. Whereas Heavy Rain took place in the present day, Detroit takes place in the near future. Androids aren't the simple half human, half robot mechanisms past works of literature and film portrayed them as. They're living, real mechanisms, and they are the future. When humanity takes an ultimate downfall, androids will replace the humans. The fear towards minorities, gay people and transgender people are long gone. The story is the androids fighting for their rights, even if they have to fight the humans for them. That is Detroit: Become Human in a nutshell. Understanding the world and society from an androids point of view.

 

The more I played this game, the more I felt David Cage could very well of foretold the near future. I'm hoping that by the time the robots and androids truly take over, I will be long dead and gone.

 

Detroit plays in the same vein as Heavy Rain, only better. There are countless QTE sequences, a chunk of them necessary to unlock the trophies. The characters really grew on me, particularly the relationship between Connor and aging cop Hank. Connor is an android, a mechanism designed by CyberLife to help Hank track down the deviants, androids that escaped their prison and gained their free will. What's interesting about Connor is not his ability to be an ideal crime sleuth, but how his character evolves throughout the story. As with past Quantic Dream games, you have to do multiple playthroughs for the platinum. You can do a Pacifist playthrough, where you don't fight back against the humans (protesting peacefully), or you can cause havoc in the Violent playthrough. Both open up a lot of interesting opportunities, and Connor was definitely my favorite character to play. Hank is old, bitter and detestable on the outside, but has a real heart on the inside. He was to me the best supporting character in the game, and it was interesting to see him befriend Connor and lash out in the two different playthroughs.

 

The other two protagonists are solid as well. Kara is a young woman who develops a relationship with a young girl. David Cage has a knack for children, he has handled children in games incredibly well, even better than how TellTale Games handled Clementine of The Walking Dead. Markus was also good, offering his side of the struggle. There is enough story in this game for me to ramble endlessly, but I would be mentioning a lot of spoilers, and my reviews generally avoid spoilers.

 

There is a lot of conflict and emotion throughout the story, but if you guys are familiar with Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls you should know what to expect with Detroit: Become Human.

 

The graphics are phenomenal, really showcasing the power of the PS4. I only have a vanilla PS4, and some of the background details were still really impressive. This was visually one of the most impressive titles I've played on the PS4, definitely a game that I felt pushed the aging vanilla PS4 to its limits. Controls handle really well.

 

Difficulty wise, Detroit isn't as bad as Heavy Rain. There is no Kamikaze sequence where you have to perform everything just right for an extended period of time. You can set the difficulty to a lower setting so the QTE bits won't be as difficult. The makers of Detroit: Become Human had accessibility in their mind, and they delivered on it.

 

Detroit is a short game, but a memorable one. Beyond Two Souls is the only Quantic Dream game I haven't played that I will get around to eventually. I have no interest in Indigo Prophecy. Some of the trophies are annoying, such as having Connor die at every opportunity and finding all the magazine covers, some of which are very easy to miss. You have to do two playthroughs plus come cleanup, which can be easily done on Chapter Select. Nothing difficult at all. 

 

If you love interactive stories, Detroit: Become Human is a no brainer. It is definitely David Cages best work.

Edited by AJ_Radio
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