Post your newest 100%

[Jamescush147]

 

100%
1 year, 1 month, 3 weeks

 

And I've done it, again. ?

 

The Demysteriouslierified quests were much better the having to do Arms Race. SO the second have of Season 2 was better then the first. Thankfully I waited for it to go on sale.

 

Also I'm number 25 fastest to 100%  For now.... ?

[Shrooba]

Sonic CD - PS3 - 100%

Completion time: 3 hours, 7 minutes

One of my favourite Sonic games of all time, an absolute classic. Played the game a ton as a kid so I figured I'd get it on PS3 since the stores are shutting down. I'm very happy with the time I got for completion as well, I can't believe I ended up 2nd on the leaderboard!
I was so close to a sub 3 hour run but you can't win 'em all ?

For my first playthrough, my goal was to get the time stones done and out of the way, and I had more knowledge of the ring layout on the present day zones (admittedly, the layout of the past zones are a slog), so I planned out my route and got a few other trophies done in the run as well, like reaching the higher signpost on Collision Chaos' second zone. After getting the time stones, I then wrapped up some other trophies like finally going to the past to get the 88 Miles per Hour trophy, discovering the angel statue on Wacky Workbench, and getting Metal Sonic done without getting hit.
I distinctly remember that Metal Sonic no-hit trophy being annoying as a kid, but since I've played the game a ton in the past, it luckily wasn't bad now.

Anyway, with my time stone run done, I then went ahead and did the Just in Time! trophy as I had a warmup from my run with the time stones. After getting that done and dusted, I then went ahead and destroyed all the robot teleporters and Metal Sonic holograms, and then ended with a run of Palmtree Panic Zone 1 to get 200 rings for the final trophy.

Overall, one of the best 2D Sonic games in my opinion, fantastic game. It's up there with 3&K and Mania for sure.

Enjoyment: 9/10 (A bit of odd level design in Wacky Workbench and the past layouts.)
Difficulty: 3/10 (The UFO's in the special stages can be a bit unpredictable, but other than that there's nothing complicated here. If you're new to the game, you may find Metal Sonic without getting hit a bit tricky at first, but don't give up!)

Edited April 16, 2021 by Shrooba

[Jelly Soup]

 

Started off my PSNow sub with something quick and simple. Not an amazing game, but worth a play. Back in the 90s I had an opportunity to play this on the actual arcade cabinet. Local arcade was good at getting expensive machines. A year or so before closing down, the owner was able to get his hands on a SegaSonic the Hedgehog cabinet, complete with built-in seats.

[Shrooba]

On 14/04/2021 at 11:50 PM, Jelly Soup said:

Started off my PSNow sub with something quick and simple. Not an amazing game, but worth a play. Back in the 90s I had an opportunity to play this on the actual arcade cabinet. Local arcade was good at getting expensive machines. A year or so before closing down, the owner was able to get his hands on a SegaSonic the Hedgehog cabinet, complete with built-in seats.

Sonic the Fighters, definitely a cool game! Played it a bit on my 360 in the past, it's definitely a fun one. I've been wanting to get it myself before the PS3 store shuts down but it's not available on the store in Australia... On top of that, PS Now isn't in Australia either so I don't think I can play this game which is unfortunate! I think there is a way to get games from other regions based on your account or something, I may have to look into that since I'd love to have it on my trophy list. Anyway, nice work on the completion!



Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - PS3
Completion time: 1 day, 22 hours

As for me, I've also been playing Sonic too! Figured I'd 100% the other Sonic games before the inevitable PS3 store shutdown, and I figured there's no better time to get these done than now. Already finished some other games like Unleashed and Gens, but recently my goal has been to work on the 2D games as well (already played through them a ton as a kid, so I held them off in my backlog for a while... but the PS3 store shutdown is happening and all that, so looks like I'm doing them now! ?).

Finished Sonic 1 and CD in the past week, so I continued on with good ol' Sonic 2.
Same with Sonic 1, this version of 2 has save states. It certainly makes getting those Chaos Emeralds a lot less painful! Unlike Sonic 4 Ep 2's special stages, Sonic 2's ring requirements are extremely strict, and if you bring Tails along then he's likely to run into the bombs causing YOU to lose rings too... Needless to say, I did them solo with Sonic to make it more doable.

I reckon Sonic 2 is a ton better than Sonic 1 in every league; a new spindash feature was added that has become a staple of the series, there's better level design that greater encapsulates the core idea of speed (unlike Sonic 1 where you had places like Labyrinth Zone that'd slow you down), and not to mention the big prize for getting all 7 (not 6 anymore) Chaos Emeralds, Super Sonic!

Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Difficulty: 4.5/10 (Can't really decide between a solid 4 or 5. The game isn't hard, but the special stages must be done with a lot of precision, and it's best to do them with Sonic only. The thing that makes me unsure to give this a solid 5 is the fact that there's tons of checkpoints and opportunities to enter the special stages, and there's also save states so you can just save when you enter a special stage if you want.)




Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I - PS3
Completion time: 6 hours, 8 minutes

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II - PS3
Completion time: 7 hours, 27 minutes

Lumping these games together for my introspective since they're essentially two halves of a whole I reckon.
Here we go, Sonic 4...
Gonna be honest, not really sure I can concretely say I "like" episode 1. Sure, it plays fine and nothing is buggy or anything, but the physics are certainly awkward and is definitely a far cry from the momentum-based gameplay from the original trilogy. Not to mention the fact that Tails and Knuckles are now noticeably absent and it's just back to Sonic and Eggman. At the very least, Tails does make a return in Episode 2, but I get the feeling they cut a lot of characters in 4 as a whole due to a lot of backlash with the more heavier stories of modern games from time, and the annoyance video game critics had with Sonic's friends a decade ago. Not sure why they couldn't bring back other characters like Amy as even she appeared in CD. This is especially considering that the Advance games had the same modern style in 2D, but you had a ton more personality there. Those were great games (Ironically, I actually think Dimps may have worked on Sonic 4, might be wrong).
Sonic 4 could've been a cool chance to bring back Mighty and Ray, but Mania ended up doing that.

On the note of unused characters like Amy, Sega and Sonic Team were just playing it WAY too safe with this game, from the music, to the zones. Every zone in episode 1 is a rehash of past levels from Sonic 1 and 2. Green Hill, Casino Night, Labyrinth, and Metropolis all clear as day. Even the special stages are based off of the ones from Sonic 1. It's a real shame, since every game in the original trilogy kept surpassing each other, with 3&K ultimately being not just one of the best Sonic games, but one of the best platformers of all time in my opinion. You'd think a game with the grandiose title of "Sonic 4" would be brilliant, but it just tries too hard to be safe, and this same thing would happen with Lost World and Forces.

It's crazy to think that if it weren't for Mania, it literally would've been an entire decade since the last great mainline Sonic game, which was Generations. At first, I considered giving ep 1 a 6/10, but after thinking about what I just wrote, and how this game was essentially the start of Sega playing it safe and what this would mean for Sonic for the next ten years? Eh, episode 1 gets a 5. Sorry.

I seriously do hope that the 30th anniversary game is good.

As for episode 2... This is gonna seem pretty ironic given what I said of episode 1, but honestly?... Episode 2 is kinda alright! It certainly isn't bad like the first part. I say this mostly because a majority of the zones, Sylvania Castle, White Park, Oil Desert, and the Death Egg actually have some originality, which is great! (Oil Ocean does lean towards the rehash side unfortunately, being a bit comparable to Sonic 2's Oil Ocean, but at least it does have some original aspects like the change of setting) White Park is great especially, as it's not just based on a cold snowy environment like Ice Cap from Sonic 3, but you're even exploring the theme park that you see in the background from the first act, which is some cool progression as the zone itself changes midway through. Very nice first half of ep 2!
Unfortunately, Sky Fortress is a carbon copy of Wing Fortress from Sonic 2... and the special stages are also the same as the ones from Sonic 2. It's a shame, since it lowers this half of Sonic 4 from a 7/10 to a 6.5/10 in my opinion. This half could've been a solid good game, but it just comes down to an alright since while they did try more with this, it just doesn't quite reach the mark.

Well, that's it for my reflection on Sonic 4, thanks to anyone who read through all this lol. I hope I haven't come across as some kind of 2D elitist or anything... Trust me, I love the 3D modern games as well, Adventure 2 and Unleashed are some of my favourite games of all time. I also do think that Classic Sonic didn't belong in Forces and bogged down the experience of that game. Like I said earlier, I truly hope this next Sonic game will be great, and I hope it focuses on modern's 3D gameplay.
Speaking of 3D Sonic games, next for me to get to is Sonic Adventure 1! ? Can't wait to get into it again on PlayStation this time, it's a great game!

Episode 1 enjoyment: 5/10
Episode 2 enjoyment: 6.5/10
Overall enjoyment: 6/10
Difficulty: 5/10 (The Untouchable trophy in episode 1 is definitely tricky, but it's the only hard thing in ep 1 so it doesn't make the overall score too high. Ring Collector in episode 2 is also tricky, but with a few attempts it can be done)
 

Edited April 16, 2021 by Shrooba

[Jelly Soup]

3 hours ago, Shrooba said:

Sonic the Fighters, definitely a cool game! Played it a bit on my 360 in the past, it's definitely a fun one. I've been wanting to get it myself before the PS3 store shuts down but it's not available on the store in Australia... On top of that, PS Now isn't in Australia either so I don't think I can play this game which is unfortunate! I think there is a way to get games from other regions based on your account or something, I may have to look into that since I'd love to have it on my trophy list.
 

 

I've never really dabbled in other region codes, so someone with more experience please tell me if I've got this wrong, but I think you can buy the game from an alt-account set for a different region or maybe even find a download code for sale on Amazon (or elsewhere). Presumably PSNow will eventually come to Australia and solve ("solve") the issue.

[Guest]

100% without platinum trophy #107

100% without platinum#108

100% without platinum #109 (Super Hang-On)

[AihaLoveleaf]

All 100%s obtained so far since joining the website (and in general, really)

 

#1 - Sonic The Hedgehog 2

 

Difficulty: The trophy guide puts this game at 6/10. I can see that being the case for somebody completely new to Sonic or 2D platformers. My personal difficulty for this game would probably be closer to 5 than 6.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Completion Time: 9 years, 7 months

 

Not much to say about Sonic 2 that hasn't been said already. It's Sonic 2. The game is fast paced and a joy to play. I've played this game a million times over on the Genesis when I was very young, but this is really the first serious playthrough I've given the game since then. The most demanding trophy in this game is the Conquering Time trophy that requires you to finish the game in under an hour. The community here generally dislikes speedrun trophies and it seems daunting at first, but being able to "save scum" your speedrun all the way to the end lightens the difficulty of this trophy considerably. I'll also say that the research I put in watching sub-20 minute speedruns on YouTube to get the Conquering Time trophy had me using new tricks way beyond my imagination or anything that I would have done as a kid. I felt like a bit of a pro by the end of the game with the new techniques that I had learned so I would say overall getting 100% on this game was an enriching experience for an old favorite.

 

 

#2 - DAYTONA USA

 

Difficulty: 1/10

Enjoyment: 9.5/10

Completion Time: 9 years, 4 months

 

This game is wonderful. It's a satisfying arcade racer and I'm sure plenty of us have played this on a real machine at least once. The highlight of this game is definitely the soundtrack that goes all-in with a campy, 90s Jpop sound that will stay in your head long after the game is done. The trophies in this game are not difficult at all and you'll probably be done with this game in an hour or two. The time and difficulty to completion could have been much more, because this game has extra modes that seem to be a lot more demanding on the player than what is asked for from the trophy list. The developers seemed to have spared us the extra grind though so make of that what you will. I'd recommend this game to anyone buying games from the PS3 digital store.

 

 

#3 - PAC-MAN CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION DX

 

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 9.5/10

Completion Time: 9 years, 8 months

 

My favorite Pac-Man experience so far. I was born after the Atari days so for me Pac-Man was always "okay" but not amazing. This game changed everything for me though. It's incredibly addictive and very fast-paced. The graphics and music are on point, and I love how intense things get after you've ramped up enough score and combo. My gripe with going for 100% is that you're asked to clear every Time Trial and Score Attack from the base version of the game, and there are a lot of them. This means that things do start to drag on after a while, but the game is fun enough to stick it out to the end. I'd personally recommend you get a good D-Pad (like the Hori Fighting Commander) or 4-way arcade stick for this game as the PS3 controller is not the best for this game, in my opinion. The sequel for this game on PS4 is on my list of games to tackle, but it looks like it's considerably more difficult so I may go as far as to see about having a good 4-way arcade stick ready before I even touch part 2, but we'll see.

 

#4 - Streets of Rage 2

 

Difficulty: 6/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Completion Time: 9 years, 9 months

 

I played the first Streets of Rage (via the 6-Pak compilation) several times over during the late 90s. Streets of Rage 2 was completely new to me though by the time I got around to it on PS3. I'm not sure which game is better between the two as I haven't played the first game now in a very long time, but the enjoyment factor feels pretty similar to my memories of the first game as a child. Special mention has to be made for the soundtracks to the Streets of Rage games. They're very well-made and I love how they bring out some of the more unique talents of the Genesis' sound chip. As for the trophies, they are for the most part not terribly difficult as most of them you can get on Easy mode. Things do start ramping up when you have to play Hardcore Mode. A well-documented exploit exists that allows you to more easily get the 800,000 points needed for the High Score trophy. Without that exploit I could see the rarity of the High Score trophy dropping to 1% or less, although being able to save scum your way to 800,000 does help to keep things manageable if you're doing it legit.

[Shrooba]

On 17/04/2021 at 7:39 AM, Jelly Soup said:

 

I've never really dabbled in other region codes, so someone with more experience please tell me if I've got this wrong, but I think you can buy the game from an alt-account set for a different region or maybe even find a download code for sale on Amazon (or elsewhere). Presumably PSNow will eventually come to Australia and solve ("solve") the issue.

I definitely do think Sony will hopefully add PS Now to Australia, there's quite a lot of us down under! ? Seeing as the PS3 store will stick around a bit longer after all, I'll give Sony a bit more time to decide if they wanna bring PS Now over... It really seems like they'd be missing out on a lotta money from people here. ?

 

On 19/04/2021 at 9:27 AM, AihaLoveleaf said:

 

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

 

Difficulty: The trophy guide puts this game at 6/10. I can see that being the case for somebody completely new to Sonic or 2D platformers. My personal difficulty for this game would probably be closer to 5 than 6.

Enjoyment: 9/10

Completion Time: 9 years, 7 months

Well done with Sonic 2! Definitely a fantastic game. It's a shame there's no separate trophy list for S3&K, but there's all that legal jazz happening with that game I guess, but Sega DID port it to Steam so I've got no idea what's going on with that... ?
Anyway, I agree with your difficulty rating. The special stages can be frustrating but even for newcomers to Sonic, you can save whenever you want. If there were no save states, I could see Sonic 1 and 2 definitely being a lot tougher.
Also, it's cool to see you had a Genesis back in the day! A classic console that had a stronghold on the market in the 90's and pushed against Nintendo themselves... It's a darn shame to see that Sega ended their consoles, but the Dreamcast was definitely a great finishing bang for them, especially with Sonic Adventure 2.
Good job with the completion for Sonic 2, a good game for anyone to have on their trophy list!



Sonic Adventure (+DX DLC) - PS3
Completion time: 3 days, 19 hours

With my next completion, it's Sonic Adventure 1! An original Dreamcast game ported over to the Gamecube in the form of a director's cut, and now onto PS3! There's already been so much said about this game online, ranging from it being a masterpiece to being downright terrible... But as for my thoughts? It's a really good game for the most part. There's definitely a few gripes I have with this game, but it does have a lot of amazing stuff going for it despite it's age.

For one, the story and characterization of the cast in this game is some of the best in the series. I don't want this to look like a thesis or something, so I'll just talk about the 3 characters who I think have the best stories in this game, starting off with Tails:

Tails especially has an endearing arc where he gains the courage to fend for himself and not overly rely on Sonic, which is great character progression and not to mention a great parallel to Sonic Adventure 2; in SA1, Tails stops Eggman from launching a missile on Station Square, to then defeating Eggman aboard the Space Colony Ark in SA2 under the assumption that Sonic was dead. It's the same overall premise of him fighting Eggman solo, but the entire pretense of Sonic potentially having met his demise makes Tails' courage shine, and really solidifies the idea that he's learned to be more mature and form his very own heroism. It made him such a cool character and it's embarrassing to now see him be reduced to exposition fodder in Sonic Colours onward, and don't get me started on him cowering in fear in Forces because of Chaos WITHOUT any emeralds. Tails literally fights Chaos in this game with FOUR emeralds, and now he's a dummy who needs people to help him... It's really a shame, it may seem like just a small moment in Forces, but to me, it seems as if they don't care about Tails anymore.

Next up is Knuckles, who has the experience of finding out more about his past; everyone has flashbacks to the Echidna Tribe's abuse of power and want for the Master Emerald, but I'd argue it has so much more significance with Knuckles, who is the only renaming member of his ancestor's race. For his entire life, Knuckles has been guarding this emerald without a reason, spending day and night, essentially sacrificing what he could do with his life in order to protect the last remaining relic and only connection to his people. In 3&K, the very idea of Eggman wanting to abuse the emeralds was no different to what his ancestors did, even though he knew little to nothing about them, and yet he was determined to help Sonic at Sky Sanctuary to get him to stop Eggman's rampant desire for power. It exemplifies that Knuckles, while being the last survivor of his race, is also in a way their last hope, as he wants to protect the Master Emerald rather than abuse it like they once did. It's an ironic sense of beauty to see Knuckles seeing the good of the power he protects, and using it to preserve Angel Island and it's animals. This idea was definitely captured well in SA1, as he does whatever he can to restore the Master Emerald and bring back peace to his island.

Now I'll talk about Gamma, a new character in SA1. Gamma's story is definitely one of the best in this game. Born out of the cold confines of Eggman's territory, Gamma is immediately tasked with versing against Beta, a newer model of his series, in deciding who will serve under his rule. This moment in of itself cements that Eggman is not a good man; he has has comedic moments in newer games, but his ultimate end goal is to dominate the Earth with his authority, and pitting to machines against one another is a mere game for him, and perversely, a means of testing his machines with the same scientific strive as his grandfather in SA2.
Gamma wins, and even retrieves a mysterious frog with a tail under Eggman's orders... only to see the rest of the E series line of robots be abandoned at the mere failure of a single mission. What's more, even though there was the task of beating Beta, Gamma was mortified at the idea of Beta being modified and used like a tool. The rivalry between the two was not a choice, it was imposed by Eggman.
Upon seeing Amy's reluctance to give her bird away (who was at this time captured by a robot named Zero), Gamma's soul reignited and was determined to free his friends by destroying their metallic husks, and breathing life once again to the animals locked inside. It's an amazing callback to the idea of saving animals all the way back starting with Sonic 1. Near the finale of his story, Beta has been reconstructed, and we view a new robotic and metallic version of it's former self. Beta is the antithesis to Gamma;  Gamma was once eager to appease to his authority, but he is now a lone fighter, throwing away his robotic duties to reach forward to his past life, whilst Beta strays more and more to the modification and construction built by Eggman. 
It swiftly answers the main idea of his story; Gamma strives for freedom, while Beta strives for oppression.
Gamma and Beta destroy each other in his final push to free their true selves, and both birds contained within them live in peace and prosper with the freedom they've regained. This story, like Big's, ultimately doesn't serve the overall plot in the long run, but what makes Gamma's story so great is that it ties back with the lore of freeing animals held in captivity in previous games dating back all the way to Sonic 1, along with having an identifiable message and theme that makes Gamma's point of view so appealing in contrast to Big who's story really didn't mean anything at all.
Sonic has always been about fighting against the authority and striving for freedom, and Gamma is the exact same.

Anyway, next up is the gameplay.
 

Sonic's gameplay here is some of the best in the series. For people who say Sonic had a rocky start to 3D, I do agree that Big was a big misstep, but Sonic himself is so fun to experience in this one. The controls are fluid, and definitely works in tandem with the level design, filled with tons of secrets and extra lives, and the best part of all; there's lot's of innovative skips that you can perform with spindashing. You can skip an entire section of Ice Cap (the part where you jump across icicles) with a well-timed spin dash jump. It's a great part of gameplay that ties with the original trilogy; the idea of using momentum to your advantage.

Next up is Knuckles, who is tasked with finding the Master Emerald shards in his gameplay, tying in thematically with his story line. What's cool about Knuckles is that it links back to the premise of S3&K where his perspective allowed you to explore, which is the main idea here. You can search entire areas that weren't intended for Sonic's portion of the levels, like the upper areas of Casinopolis for instance. A good tip I can give to anyone doing the Level A emblems for Knuckles is to find the 3 emerald shards without touching them and then restart the stage to reset your timer; the emeralds don't change places so once you know where they are, you can get them under the time limit with no problem.

 

Tails on the over hand isn't necessarily bad, but the premise of his levels is racing against Sonic, but since your flight lasts a long time, you can skip entire platforming sections and easily beat Sonic, even with the Level A challenges where he's supposedly faster. There's not really much I can say about his gameplay since there isn't much substance to it honestly. It's quite an issue since while Sonic and Knuckles' gameplay reflected the philosophy of the original trilogy (momentum and exploration), Tails doesn't offer much in terms of either challenge nor discovery in the levels.

Up next is Amy... Her gameplay revolves around escaping the grasp of a robot named Zero, the first of the E series created by Dr. Eggman. She has arguably the shortest prominence in the game, with only 3 levels (yes, apparently Sonic Team wanted Big to have more levels). In her gameplay, you traverse through the levels while running away from Zero in search of the end goal in the form of a balloon which can whisk Amy to safety. She has a bit of a slow run cycle but you can do acrobatics with her hammer to jump really high, which can lead to some neat minor skips. Not gonna lie, being chased by Zero is unironically a bit scary, even though he isn't too dangerous. I guess that means Sonic Team succeeded at making you feel how Amy feels ?

Following that is Gamma, with a fresh new take on the series; shooting. This form of gameplay would ultimately serve as inspiration for the mech stages in SA2, where you control Eggman and Tails in mechs where you can lock on to multiple enemies and shoot them all at once. Unlike SA2 where you do that to get huge combo bonuses, you do so in SA1 to increase the time, since Gamma's levels are on a time limit. The times weren't so bad on my playthrough of this on PS3, but I do remember it being a bit tough my first time playing this game. What's fun about this gameplay is that it also mixes in the same platforming of other characters, as you even get to explore some of Sonic's levels with Gamma.

And finally...... Big the Cat.... so much has been said about this cat before, but as for me? Yeah, I agree, he makes me very upset. His gameplay is essentially here for players to take a break from the main story... but there's already the Chao Garden??? Eh, on top of that, fishing just does not work in a Sonic game. Like I said earlier, I do think Sonic himself started great in 3D, but Big the Cat really does not belong here. His Level A emblems are utterly painful. You need to pray that the RNG gods let the fish decide to not resist capture. What's most annoying is spending so much time catching a fish only for it to be SLIGHTLY below 2000g for the Level A emblem. I know specific fish are needed for the right size requirement but they do range in size which is frustrating

Other than that, Big the Cat is the only main hard part when it comes to getting 100% completion for this game. However, there are a couple other things that are a bit tedious:
DX Mission 53 and 54 - Most missions for the DX dlc aren't hard, although you do need to catch more fish with Big, but that isn't the problem surprisingly. The problem lies in mission 53 and 54, each revolving around tasks in the snowboard section of Ice Cap. In mission 53, you need to hit the final ramp of the stage in such a specific manner as to jump the furthest along a line of rings midair. Sounds simple, but all the jumps on the ramps leading up to it need to be done at the very last moment to preserve speed and momentum for the final jump. It's annoying since if you fail, you need to redo the entire snowboard section (which lasts around a minute and half before the point where the mission actually happens) before you can even try again. Then, there's mission 54 where you need to tightly hit 13 flags with Tails on the same snowboard section. The problem with this one is that the flags are at the very end, and you can't take your time nor backtrack since Sonic will reach the end and finish the level if you're slow. Because of this, you need to be very fast in hitting the flags, but the hitboxes are so small that if you're even slightly off, you're gonna miss and be forced to restart the section again. Luckily I got this done in only a few tries but it could've easily taken many more. When doing the DX missions, definitely get these 2 out of the way first.
The default camera - The camera in this game is definitely something to behold... it can really, and I mean really do you dirty. Sometimes the camera can often get confused and get stuck, forcing you to either progress blindly until the camera finally finds you, or just stand still and wait for it to sort itself out. This is really only a big offender in Sonic's gameplay specifically, but it definitely is one of the main things that hasn't aged the best alongside the cutscenes. From my experience though, this only happens sometimes, it isn't an occurrence you'd encounter often at all with the other characters.

But yeah, that's it for my look at Sonic Adventure. I wrote quite a wall of text with this one, I hope you enjoyed it. ? I did my best to capture my thoughts on the game and put them here. This is definitely a fantastic game, but it's a shame that Big the Cat bogs it down a bit. However, this still is something worth playing. There's a lot of different gameplay styles to choose from and experience, and Sonic Team were definitely ambitious when it came to this installment in the Sonic series. A lot of the gameplay here would serve as the groundwork for Sonic Adventure 2, with the mech shooting stages of Eggman and Tails, treasure hunting with Rouge and Knuckles, and speed stages with Sonic and Shadow in the Dark and Hero stories respectively.


Enjoyment: 8/10
Difficulty: 6.5/10 (This game would've been around a 4/10 or 5/10 since the only tricky bit would've been DX mission 53 and 54, but Big the Cat really is a piece of work you gotta endure, which bumps up the overall difficulty quite a bit)

Edited April 21, 2021 by Shrooba

[StewartBros]

Completion time: 5 days 14 hours

 

Similar to Oddworld New N Tasty, I started playing Grow Up a year or so back, did some exploring and collected some stuff without earning any trophies, and decided to come back to it later on to play more.  I finally did so last week; just loaded up my old save file and picked up where I left off.

 

The controls are much improved from Grow Home, from what I remember of that game.  Climbing up the plants and floating islands is easier, and the glider and ball mode make traversal much faster this time.  Grow Home was confined to a single island, but now there's an entire mini planetoid - as well as space! - to explore and play in.  Most of the flying challenges were easy to complete, but a few required more attempts than I care to admit, since the gliding controls are nowhere near as precise as they need to be for flying through checkpoints.

 

Overall, I enjoyed playing Grow Up - it's a very calming, relaxing game with which to while away a few hours.  I'd be interested to see if we ever get a 3rd installment of B.U.D. and his procedurally generated limbs.

 

[JaneAusten69]

Abzu

#119

3 Days

 

Fun little game to play in between larger titles.  One of the play at home freebies we got last month.  I'd definitely recommend.

[MidnightDragon]

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

 

Looking forward to playing the remake as well.

Edited April 25, 2021 by MidnightDragon

[yellowwindow7]

ABZU

it's a unique game, it's alright, but it didn't gave that same wow feeling I got with journey.

[Wikkibur]

HiQ Ace Unlimited

[Boomshanks]

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars

Difficulty:   9/10

Enjoyment:     8/10

(Co-op and Challenges 10/10)

(Domination 2/10)

 

Rocket League before it was cool. Though I'm bummed they didn't use this title for the sequal it's probably for the best. This is actually the first game I ever bought through the Playstation Store. I had played the demo and it was so incredibly fun I just had to buy it. It's still in my top 5 favorite couch co-op games on the PS3 and the success of Rocket League shows that it was indeed a winning formula.

 

The gameplay is exactly the same as Roket League, though that game is definitely a lot more forgiving than this one. While Rocket League has a very easy platinum, this game is extremely difficulty to 100%. There are some online trophies which I got out of the way years ago and which can be easily boosted. The difficulty lies in getting all of the stars in the Minigames and Tournament. The tournament consists of 13 matches against other teams with varying team sizes and difficulties. To get 5 stars in these matches you often have to get 5 to 8 goals within 3 minutes without ever conceding a goal. If the opponent scores or you don't get a (few) goals within the first minute you can immediately restart because you won't make it. The final match is a 4 vs 4 against a computer on the hardest difficulty that you have to win 5-0 and it is absolutely brutal.

 

By far the biggest challenge and the most fun I had with the game were the minigames. They consist of things like getting all balls on the field in the goal within 50 seconds, hitting all of the aerial balls by rocket-boosting yourself in the air, or saving all of the shots coming from different angles ⚽. They are fun and challenging and demand you actually get good at the game. Finally getting a 5-star rating in a minigame I was struggling with was immensely satisfying. And some challenges required me to get good at certain skills that I was lacking, such as making long shots via the wall in the Territory minigame where you can't cross the halfline.

 

But then came the final challenge: Domination. This minigame is literal hell on earth. If someone tells me tomorrow that I'm terminally ill and only have a week to live I'll be like, well at least I won't have to do the Domination minigame again. This minigame is a 1 vs 4 match in which you have to score 5 goals in 3 minutes where one of the opponents is a dedicted goalie so you can forget about long shots. But the worst thing is that absolute abomination of an opponent known as Bully who's only job it is to constantly tackle and bump in to you so you can't even play a proper match. Just when you're lining up a shot there comes Bully to knock you through the air where you have to wait seconds before you even hit the ground again. This guy alone made the challenge frustrating as hell and just not fun . I had to stop myself from playing a few times because I got so frustrated. A few times I had a 4-0 lead and managed to fuck up my final shot causing me to question my entire existence. After hours and hours of playing just this minigame I finally had a great match and managed to get that elusive final star! Thank God it's over!

 

It's a shame that the Domination minigame really soured my opinion on the game. I really never want to go back to this game and when I think back on it, I find I'm thinking more about the endless frustration with Domination instead of the fun I had with the challenges and co-op with my friends. Maybe time will heal my wounds and I can look back on it fondly someday. It's definitely one of the hardest trophies and 100% that I have ever done so I am incredibly proud of that . I challenged myself to finally start completing my PS3 backlog, among which are some games which I never though I was going to get. To already have come further than I ever did with this game shows me that anything is possible with enough dedication. Maybe I'll even be able to complete Wipeout HD someday... one can dream.

 

[MidnightDragon]

[MidnightDragon]

[XIIDoomsdayIIX]

[Metal]

 

Apex Legends 100%

Not sure why this game doesn't have a platinum? Either way, another completion ticked off the list!

[Jamescush147]

 

A new god

 

Myths of the Eastern Realm

 

The Lost Gods

 

100%
3 weeks, 22 hours, 48 minutes

 

Wanted to do them all in one go.

[Ysu-_-]

Minecraft.

[ChiefMichigan]

Doki Doki Universe.

It's a fun game. Underrated for sure, and I wish there was a sequel. It's cross-buy and there's a separate trophy list for PS3/Vita. Maybe I'll play it on Vita one day.

Honestly, the game should have a platinum and a few more trophies/changed values. But this game was cross-gen (PS3/Vita/PS4). Back in 2013, platinums weren't as easily handed out to games. But for years now on PS4 (and some Vita games), there are some really quick platinums.

[Lance_87]

Cel Damage HD, on both PS4/PS3 and Vita. Quick and easy. I was bored lol.

Edited May 10, 2021 by Lance_87

[postofficebuddy]

Type Rider. Just clearing out my PS+ backlog. A rather interesting concept for a game with some insightful tidbits of knowledge about the evolution of writing and printing. A quick and relatively easy 100%. 

[Jamescush147]

Injustice 2: Legendary Edition Trophies

 

Just needed to get the Training trophy out of the way.

[Shrooba]

Sonic Adventure 2 (+Battle DLC) - PS3
Completion time: 5 days, 6 hours

Here we go, SA2. One of my favourite Sonic games. Released back in 2001, it's still a great game in the series 20 years later... but it isn't without a couple of faults that show with age. Regardless, I really enjoyed my time with this game again, and I'll do my best to explain my experience, so let's go!

Shadow as a character:
I definitely want to talk about this aspect first. Shadow in recent years really isn't the character he should be. He was a lot more in-depth in SA2 and seeing as he was created just for this game initially, I feel it's important to discuss him first.

The story in this game marked the shift of tone in the series during the 2000's; it has a more complex plot, more intricate storylines, and deeper character motivations (at least for Shadow).
What I like about this game is that while it did have a general serious theme with newcomer Shadow, it didn't try to be edgy. It was grounded, and managed to still convey his story in a manner fitting for the Sonic series. Shadow as a character in this game isn't some generic Vegeta clone like how we see in recent games. I'll get more into that later on.

With the serious tone of this game, it's sorta in the same manner as that of Majora's Mask in the Zelda series where it also managed to have a mature theme without needing a mature rating.
The big aspect of Majora's Mask is witnessing the townspeople slowly turn to nihilistic tendencies due to their imminent demise, and the refusal to accept the death of their peers, and themselves. That in itself sounds like a crazy concept totally unfamiliar to the Zelda series... but it pulls it off very well because it stays grounded, and the game isn't without it's cheerful moments. It isn't gritty.
With SA2, it revolves around a scientist gone mad due to the death of his granddaughter, Maria, at the hands of a military force literally named "G.U.N.", and follows the pursuit of the ultimate life-form, Shadow, as he attempts to avenge her under the mistaken belief that humanity is a lost cause.
Reading that sentence, you're probably thinking that this has no place in a Sonic game. After all, how do you go from a blue hedgehog running from left to right and saving woodland creatures, to a story... like this?

But it works, because as aforementioned, it doesn't glorify the tragic concepts. What I mean by this is; take the 2005 Shadow game for instance. The idea of that game was how "cool" and "adult-like" Shadow is, because he swears, he has guns, he shoots people etc etc....

This very clearly failed because Shadow's contemptuous attitude in SA2, his debut, was always to mask who he really was deep inside. The 2005 Shadow game believed being edgy is mature, which is far from reality.

It ruined his character because Shadow had always meant to be a very emotional and delicate person inside, while being collected on the outside. All of his actions and conviction in SA2 were driven by emotion, even before he realized his actions were wrong. See, in SA2, it's discovered that Gerald Robotnik tampered with Shadow's memories to have him mistakenly misinterpret Maria's final wish, which was truly to be humanity's companion. Everything he did in SA2 was because he wanted to fulfill her promise. The moment he realized the truth, he shed a tear. This is a very telling moment for him; Shadow's evil persona was a facade. Beneath it all, he's a character who hasn't moved on from losing his best friend, and realizing the damage he had done for a false cause made him immediately backtrack and help Sonic and Knuckles reverse the Space Colony Ark's fall to Earth. He didn't hesitate to help out someone who was an enemy just a moment ago.
At the end, he sacrificed his life to ensure the Ark wouldn't collide with Earth, thus fulfilling his friend's final wish.

Shadow was never meant to be evil, nor would he ever throw away his friends. He never abandoned Maria's wish, so the very concept of him being scornful to his teammates is completely out of character. Heck, for as bad as Sonic 06 was, I actually think it really nailed Shadow's personality. I look at recent stuff like the animated shorts for Team Sonic Racing where he doesn't help anyone but himself and it just doesn't make sense for him. He really feels like a Vegeta clone, which is the complete opposite of who he was at the end of his development in SA2.

I don't think Shadow should be labelled an "anti-hero." Rather, he should just be written as a "hero" because that's what his actions at the end of SA2 defined him as. Partially because Maria wanted him to be that way, and he wanted to fulfill her wish, but it really is who he wanted to be for himself as shown with his sacrifice. He was an intricate character in SA2 with a lot of depth underneath it all.

Story:
As for the story itself, it starts with Eggman trespassing a G.U.N. base in search of a mysterious "ultimate life-form", a remnant of Gerald Robotnik's legacy. Upon reaching the pod of this enigmatic creature with a silhouette not too different than Sonic, it beckons that Eggman obtains all 7 chaos emeralds, and to meet him on the Space Colony Ark. Shadow causes havoc across the city to warn the world of Eggman's rise of power, and due to a similar silhouette, the military immediately assumes that Sonic is the culprit.

I do often see complaints that the military mistaking Sonic for the true culprit makes no sense. They're both completely different colours after all.
However, Sonic does turn yellow when he becomes super, which he did in front of likely many onlookers during Perfect Chaos' rampage in SA1, so the idea of him turning black in and of itself doesn't really seem that far-fetched from the point of view of a random civilian in the Sonic universe. Sonic is contextualized to be able to change colour per form, so I chalk it up to the military assuming he's under the influence of a new form.
Of course though, this is merely a head-canon and doesn't excuse the actual plot-hole here.
Shadow uses a new ability, Chaos Control; the ability to manipulate the energy derived from a chaos emerald to travel at warp speed. Bewildered by this, and a brief monologue by Shadow, Sonic loses sight of the culprit, just in time for the military to surround him by all sides.

 

After this turn of events, we learn that Knuckles has encountered a jewel thief, Rouge, who attempts to steal the Master Emerald, the last relic and connection Knuckles has to his ancestors. In the midst of their argument, Eggman swipes in to steal the emerald, but Knuckles steps in to protect it at all costs. Eggman attempted the same thing back in Sonic 3 which is a good callback, and Knuckles hastily shatters the emerald to stop Eggman from stealing it. He could have tried attacking Eggman directly, but he got electrocuted while doing so in Sonic 3, so drastic circumstances call for drastic measures.

Meanwhile, Tails has arrived at Prison Island in search of Sonic, who had been captured by the military. Somehow, Amy has also arrived on this heavily militarized base... I really have no idea how. I can make up reasons for the military mistaking Sonic, but not this. No comment here, but I digress.
Upon rescuing Sonic, the blue blur meets his rival face-to-face; Shadow. After a quick strife, Sonic discovers that Prison Island is set to blow up, and quickly recovers Tails and Amy before the imminent destruction. From the dark story standpoint, Eggman had ordered Rouge to plant bombs in a G.U.N. base after snatching some chaos emeralds (I assume to cover up the evidence? If not, then I just chalk it up to Eggman being evil).
However, Rouge had inadvertently trapped herself inside the base, and with an irreversible bomb countdown, Shadow used his chaos control to recover Rouge and the emeralds in a nick of time. Upon questioning Shadow's intentions later on the Ark, Shadow clarifies that he only had the intent of rescuing the emeralds, not her. However, it's clear that there's more to Shadow...

With a plethora of emeralds, Eggman uses the power of the Eclipse Cannon, a weapon of mass destruction built aboard the Ark, to fire at the moon as a bargaining chip against Earth's powers to build his Eggman Empire. Facing this, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and even Knuckles (still in pursuit of the missing emerald pieces), travel to Eggman's hidden pyramid base to board an unused rocket to head for the Ark. It's so crazy and ludicrous, but that's what I love about this story; it doesn't take itself too seriously and I can't help but enjoy it for that. ?

Upon arriving at the Ark, Eggman has cornered Amy and Tails, and orders Sonic to give him his remaining emerald. Eggman was always meant to be an intellectual genius, and this is definitely one of this best scenes for sure; Eggman claims that the emerald is fake, prompting Tails to ask how he knew, which inadvertently confirmed it was a fake. With no hesitation, Eggman traps Sonic in a pod, and sends it out to space to explode. However, the emerald, while fake, was clarified by Tails earlier that it still maintained the same properties of that of a real emerald. And upon witnessing Shadow's chaos control in their first encounter, Sonic attempts the ability as a last-ditch effort, and surprisingly pulls it off.
Following a great moment from Eggman, Tails also gets a moment to shine. While he's a coward in the newer games, he fights Eggman under the assumption that Sonic is dead, and manages to prevail. Tails' entire arc in SA1 was learning to fend for himself, and such character progression really shines in this scene, unlike newer games like Sonic Forces.

Learning that Sonic had survived, Shadow makes a rush to the cannon to stop Sonic from disabling it. A good juxtaposition to Sonic's initial bewilderment at Shadow's chaos control; he can't help but reciprocate the same astonishment at Sonic pulling it off. After a clash between the two, the cannon doesn't fire... Upon witnessing a message projected by Gerald Robotnik, he reveals that the emeralds aren't used to just fire the Eclipse Cannon, but rather, it's to send the entire Ark itself on a crash course for Earth; while developing Project Shadow, G.U.N. feared it's power, and eliminated everyone on board the Ark to shush anyone associated with the project. Gerald's granddaughter, Maria, was caught in the crossfire, and so he vowed to use the Ark itself to destroy the planet. Immediately, everyone heads to the cannon's core to reverse the effects... all but Shadow and Amy. Shadow's actions in this game were to fulfil the wish of his best friend, Maria, but Amy inspires Shadow that there's hope for humanity, and it suddenly clicks within him that Maria did indeed wish for him to be a companion to humanity, not a threat. Shadow makes his way for the core to reverse his actions and atone for his choices, and defeats the Biolizard, the initial ultimate life-form prototype, alongside Sonic, and sacrifices his life in doing so.

Overall, a good story indeed. Not without it's plotholes of course, but Shadow's sacrifice is an endearing end to what could have potentially been the last Sonic game amidst the end of the Dreamcast. I did skim over quite a bit, especially the story progression between Knuckles and Rouge, and heck, a lot about Rouge as a character like her being a spy for the government... but I've already spoken way too much already, I don't want this to be too long. ?

Anyway, next up is the three gameplay styles, alongside the chao garden.

Speed stages (Sonic and Shadow):
Easily the best gameplay style in the game. It's the same 3d platforming as that of Sonic's gameplay in SA1, but the controls are definitely more toned down; you can't spam the spindash anymore for example. Likewise, the level design is also toned down, you can no longer skip many sections like with SA1's Ice Cap, but there's still room for altenate paths and tricks to get more points. Speaking of points, this is the first Sonic game to implement a rank system, based on your perfomance in a level. SA1 had a similar thing with each stage having "levels" C through A, but that was merely completing an objective whereas SA2's A-ranks must be earned through absolute precision through each stage, through a time bonus and score from performing tricks on rail grinding (another new implementation in the series), and destroying enemies.

Treasure hunting stages (Knuckles and Rouge):
Next is the treasure hunting. Unlike SA1, you can only identify one master emerald shard at a time. This means you can quite literally be right next to one, but you could potentially have no idea. A-ranks in treasure hunting stages are earned purely through time. In getting each emerald very fast, you earn perfect bonuses which grant 2000 points each, alongside a good time bonus to push you to the A-rank. Using hint boxes reduces the bonus you get for collecting each emerald, so they must be used sparingly.

For what it's worth, the initial treasure hunting stages are very fun since each level is divided into three main areas. Take Wild Canyon, where you have the initial underground area, and two hallways above ground. Pumpkin Hill is divided by three floating islands too. Security Hall for Rouge is divided by looking through three different coloured vaults which can be activated by a room at the top of the map, where you may stumble across an emerald on the way. By making laps through each section, you're bound to find all 3 emerald shards in 3 laps, which is definitely executable.

The issue lies in the later stages; specifically Death Chamber for Knuckles, and Mad Space for Rouge. See, these levels no longer have just 3 main sections; there's a ton more to go through, and more places to go through means more time, which means much more frustrating A-ranks which are needed for the 100%. I love these stages as a whole, but these last 2 in particular are very tedious. Ironically, the mission 5 "hard modes" for treasure hunting stages are arguably the easiest since the 3 emeralds are in fixed locations every time, meaning you can easily get great time bonuses.

Mech stages (Tails and Dr. Eggman):
The mech stages, built upon Gamma's gameplay from SA1, sees Tails and Eggman control mechs where you can shoot enemies in chains, with an emphasis on slower platforming sections. Unlike Gamma's gameplay, it's no longer chaining enemies against a time limit, but rather to get higher combo bonuses for the A-ranks. As a whole, i love this gameplay style, especially Eggman's Cosmic Wall stage, you can chain a ton of enemies and get a really high score. Overall, not too much of a drastic difference from Gamma's stages in SA1 so there's not much else I can say, other than the fact that it's really fun.

Chao Garden:
Unlike the mech stages which didn't change too much in SA2, there is one thing that did make a big change, and that's the Chao Garden. Yup, you bet I'll be talking about this. After all, this makes up 1/4th of the entire game, and you'll be spending a lot of time here to get the remaining emblems necessary for the 100%,
A chao is a creature you can raise to partake in races and karate, against other competing chao. It's a very pet-like experience that incorporates the three main gameplay styles, as you can use chaos drives dropped by enemies to influence a chao's stats in swimming, power, running, flying, and stamina to enhance their performance in the races and karate. You can also use animals to increase their stats, while also influencing their appearance. The biggest influence to a chao's appearance, however, is what character you raise them with. If you use a hero side character, they'll form into a hero chao and unlock the hero garden, and dark chao/dark garden from a dark character respectively. They've each got very different visual appearances which encourages you to try out raising a chao in all sorts of different ways.

This section definitely takes a long time. I timed raising one chao to max stats, and it takes roughly 8-10 hours when you know what you're doing without the infinite animal glitch. Had I done so, I reckon I could've maybe had a time under 4 days, but I didn't want to take that route, so I raised 2 chao legitimately, which is the minimum necessary for completing all races and beating all opponents in karate.

Overall thoughts:
I'll try to keep this last part short since I've already said my thoughts, but in the end, this is a really great game. The story has some inconsistencies but the portrayal of Shadow was quite endearing in this game. The gameplay is very fun across the board, and the chao garden definitely incentivizes you to replay levels to raise your chao. Unfortunately, later treasure hunting stages can be tedious but overall it's very fun.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Difficulty: 6/10 (Not too troubling if you're well acquainted with the game. Upon a blind first playthrough, you may find this to be a 7/10 or even maybe a 7.5/10 because Death Chamber and Mad Space can be tricky, alongside A-ranks on everything as a whole on your first time, but after repeat playthroughs I personally put this at a 6/10)