COMPLETED GAMES THREAD (2025 EDITION)

Mr.Fantastic

1. Metaphor:ReFantazio | PS5
2. Ninja Gaiden Black | Series X
3. Still wakes the deep | Series X
4. Tactical Breach Wizards | Steam Deck
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Series X
6. Avowed | Series X
7. Astro Bot | PS5
8. Thank goodness you're here | Steam Deck
9. Silent Hill 2 Remake | PS5
10. Star Wars Outlaws | PS5
11. Blue Prince | Series X
12. Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 | Series x
13. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black | Series X
14. Doom: The Dark Ages | Series X
15. Saga Frontier 2 Remastered | Switch 2
16. Death Stranding 2:On the beach | PS5
17. Hades 2 | Switch 2

Hades 2

Held off playing this in early access and I am super glad I did. Absolutely fantastic game improves on the near perfect iteration. It takes many runs to actually get the true ending and, there is still postgame stuff I have only dipped the toe in.

This consumed me over the last few weeks finished it around 40 hours. It is the perfect just one more run game.

Still playing TOTK and have just finished the gerudo questline. So I think I am close to the end, also started kingdom come deliverance good game but has a lot of jank.

da gamer

Alan wake 2 - PS5

Space marine 2 - PS5

Indiana Jones and the great circle - Xbox series S

Tomb raider 3 - PS5

Life is strange 2 - PS4

Tekken 8 - PS5

Warhammer 40k boltgun - PS5

Broken sword 2 remastered - Steam deck

Doom the dark ages - Xbox series S

Totally rad - Nes

Spider-Man 2 - PS5

Deliver us mars - Steam deck

Mafia the old country - PS5

Assassins creed mirage - PS5

Silent Hill 2 - PS5

Heretic - Steam deck

Gamer Bhoy 89

1. Timesplitters || PlayStation 5
2. Dynasty Warriors Origins || PlayStation 5
3. Red Dead Redemption || PlayStation 5
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 || PC
5. Grand Theft Auto V || PC
6. Streets of Rage || Mega Drive
7. Streets of Rage 2 || Mega Drive
8. Streets of Rage 3 || Mega Drive
9. Devil May Cry || PC
10. Metal Slug || PC
11. Metal Slug X || PC
12. Mercs || Mega Drive
13. Revenge of Shinobi || Mega Drive
14. Shinobi 3 || Mega Drive
15. Super Mario Land || Game Boy
16. Castlevania Legends || Game Boy
17. Castlevania Chronicles || PlayStation
18. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow || PC
19. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge || Game Boy
20. Castlevania Bloodlines || Mega Drive
21. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood || TurboGrafx-16
22. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach || PlayStation 5
23. Emily is Away || PC
24. Emily is Away Too || PC
25. Half-Life || PC
26. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered || PC
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas || PC
28. Tekken 8 || PlayStation 5
29. Tekken 3 || PlayStation 5
30. Mortal Kombat 1 || PlayStation 5
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair || PlayStation 5

GAME: Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair

PLATFORM: PS5

It looks dated, even by 2016 standards. It has the most campy voice acting. There is little-to-no gripping plot. But it's a damn fun action game and I couldn't put it down. This was my first time playing one of these games and I was expecting to be bored of it within half an hour - nope. Very addictive, brainless shooter.

Mr.Fantastic

1. Metaphor:ReFantazio | PS5
2. Ninja Gaiden Black | Series X
3. Still wakes the deep | Series X
4. Tactical Breach Wizards | Steam Deck
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Series X
6. Avowed | Series X
7. Astro Bot | PS5
8. Thank goodness you're here | Steam Deck
9. Silent Hill 2 Remake | PS5
10. Star Wars Outlaws | PS5
11. Blue Prince | Series X
12. Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 | Series x
13. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black | Series X
14. Doom: The Dark Ages | Series X
15. Saga Frontier 2 Remastered | Switch 2
16. Death Stranding 2:On the beach | PS5
17. Hades 2 | Switch 2
18. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Switch 2

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I have mixed feelings on this one. I am not really a type of gamer that likes any sort of building mechanics so I had some friction with the new powers. As I got more into it I did enjoy the puzzles and stuff and the way you could resolve them the way you sought fit, it really highlighted player agency.

I clocked around 90 hours all in and did a good chunk of the game still a lot of side things I didn't bother and only done I say a third of the depths.

The last act was fantastic, It doesn't have the Wow factor breath of the wild had for me but I am glad I played it and on a final note this was meant for Switch 2 the upgrade edition is what it was meant to run like, I remember playing 30 or so hours on my oled switch and the poor performance, was honestly what made me put it down.

Be interesting to see if I can get 20 games done this year currently playing kingdom come deliverance which is meant to be meaty on my ps5 and I have act 1 done on hollow knight silksong.

Retr0gamer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123952798#Comment_123952798

The EDF games are so damn good and really shouldn't be considering how cheap they look. They also make amazing couch co-op games.

TinCanMan

Return to Monkey Island [PS5] - An old fashioned point and click adventure game starring a somewhat incompetent wannabe pirate called Guybrush Ulysses Threepwood on his adventures. There is a lot of humour in this game and those that remember the older games from the 90’s will know what to expect. 

GRIS [PS5] - A puzzle/platformer and an absolute visual masterpiece with some amazing art design, along with beautifully soothing music. This game is a pleasure to play and whilst not overly challenging it is a must play if you need something to relax to.

Golf Club Wasteland [PS5] - I got this game for €1.49 and what a hidden gem it turned out to be. A 2D side scrolling puzzle golf game set on post-apocalyptic Earth with an amazing soundtrack and background radio narrative. The story is engaging and quite moving, especially as the game progresses. The crazy golf style of gameplay is both challenging and fun but the story is what really cements things. 

Planet of Lana [PS5] - A puzzle adventure game where you embark on an adventure with a cat companion to aid you on the way. Your planet has been taken over by evil machines intent on taking all the inhabitants prisoner. You must work through many environmental puzzles avoiding danger as you try to rescue a friend and save the planet. Think along the lines of Limbo or Inside, although not quite as dark in atmosphere as those two. Well worth a playthrough.

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider [PS5] - The third in the series and a shorter game than the first 2. You play as Billie Lurk, a lesser character from the previous games. Your goal is to kill the entity known as the Outsider. There are various ways to approach this game from brutal force to stealth. You have less powers available than in the other games. I enjoyed this but I'm saddened as we'll likely never see another Dishonored game, a series which I love. 

The Callisto Protocol [PS5] - A third-person survival horror game set on Jupiter's moon Callisto. Think along the lines of Dead Space but shorter and more linear. You try to escape a maximum-security prison where the inmates have turned into hideous creatures and in the process try to uncover what is actually happening. This is graphically stunning and I loved it. I prefer shorter, more linear games as I just don’t have the time for longer games these days.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes [PS5] - Got this for free so can't complain about it being a short game. Taking place in a single, dense map with heavy focus on stealth, this a standalone prologue to The Phantom Pain. The main aim is to rescue two prisoners from a Guantanomo Bay like detention camp in Cuba, with the emphasis being heavily put on stealth as a guns a blazing approach is not ideal especially when carrying an injured prisoner on your back. An enjoyable game but I wouldn't pay more than €5 considering its length.

Metro Exodus [PS5] - The 3rd game in the Metro series. This takes you out of the Metro tunnels to semi-open-world environments. Although still somewhat linear this improves on the 1st two games, both of which I rate extremely highly. It's a fitting end to our protagonist Artyom's journey. Superb gameplay where stealth is encouraged and also visually gorgeous.  

Assassins Creed Mirage [PS5] - A more compact world than recent iterations and I really liked it for that. You play as a street thief who works his way into the order of the assassins with the ultimate aim of dismantling the Order of the Ancients. This game has a much tighter skill tree which I also liked and also puts a lot of emphasis on stealth. This felt like more of a return to the series roots.

Machinarium [PS5] - This is a puzzle point-and-click adventure game about a small robot named Josef who is exiled to a scrap heap but must return to the city to rescue his robot girlfriend and stop the evil Black Cap Brotherhood from blowing up the city tower. A beautifully hand-drawn world with some environmental puzzles and items to collect to aid with progression. Not a long game but highly recommended. I really enjoyed this.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)

Silent Hill f

Well this was just fantastic and a real return to form for the series, although the remake of 2 was pretty great it's good to have a new original entry in the series that is this good. This would be game of the year material if I didn't have a major niggle about the handling of new game plus.

Where silent hill f succeeds for me is that it feels like a true silent hill game. The visuals and monster designs are unsettling. The game uses a lot of more open areas you have to puzzle your way through which is very reminiscent of the PS2. Games. It's a gorgeous looking game as well although the PC version has some very poor performance thanks to the usual unreal engine issues. Akira Yamaoka's score is a real standout here.

Combat has been likened to dark souls but that's nonsense. It uses the dark souls controller set up but that's more because it's a much better fit for action games and nearly everything is copying it. It feels much more like a project zero game where you bait out enemy attacks to counter them. Counters do a lot of damage and stagger the enemy. You can also focus on an enemy which drains a "sanity" meter. This makes counters easier to execute and you can also execute a powerful stagger attack outside of a counter if you focus long enough. It works well and only got slightly stale in the new game plus cycles when I had enemy patterns figured out. The game has two difficulty modes, hard and story. Hard is a real challenge with enemies hitting extremely hard. Story is a breeze and I'd only recommend it for new game runs.

The puzzles in the game I was less a fan of. They are a little obtuse and call back to the worst silent hill puzzles like the piano on silent hill 1. A particularly annoying one had me stuck for ages because of an unexplained mechanic (you need to turn a puzzle piece over revealing a different side). I can take or leave these and even in the story mode some of these puzzles were a pain.

The writing is exceptional. There's been complaints about it online but it's a story about female gender roles in 1960s Japan so it's just the conservative morons that are afraid of women. Ryukishi07 was brought in to pen the story and it was an inspired choice. As a result this is the best the series has been since silent hill 2.

And now for my one complaint (other than the horrific PC performance issues). You need to get 4 endings to get the whole story. So that's one new game playthrough and 3 new game plus playthroughs. The first new game plus playthrough isn't so bad. New areas open up, there's new cutscenes and you can skip some of the puzzle areas (although not enough of them).

You can shorten getting the third ending if you are clever enough to save at a decision point but there's still some boring puzzle areas ahead. The final playthrough needs to be completed from the beginning and I just ended up speed running this on the easiest settings.

There's point in each new game playthrough where the changes start to manifest around the halfway point and the game would have been better if it let you start from that point, like the first nier game does. The game does inform you if a cutscene is new so you can skip the rest but it didn't feel like a bit of a chore after the first new game plus run.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123615148#Comment_123615148

1. The case of the golden idol (Xbox): A point and click puzzle game. Originally started it in late 2024 to tick the box for the xbox achievements, but I really enjoyed this. I added the 2 DLCs (The Spider of Lanka and The Lemurian Vampire), and finished these off last night. The DLC wasn't as good, and some of the puzzles were overly complicated to the point of relying on guesswork, but the main game was excellent with a quirky humour too. There is a sequel to the game (The Rise of the Golden Idol) which I believe is free on mobile with Netflix, so I'll have to take a look at that.
   
2. Spider-man Remastered (PC/Steamdeck): I played this on the PS4, but really enjoyed this playthrough on the steam deck. Ran perfectly most of the time and the gameplay is great. Swinging around New York is very satisfying. The voice cast here is excellent too. Played the 3 DLC stories too (Under the banner of The City that Never Sleeps). Moving onto Miles Morales game now.
   
3. The Rise of the Golden Idol (Android): This is the sequel to the case of the golden idol and I really enjoyed this too. It's free on Android if you have a Netflix account and playing this on a tablet was a much better experience than playing the first on Xbox. The first game is also on Android via Netflix games, so I'd go that route if you want to play either. Like the first, there is a quirk sense of humour and there is an overall story tying the various scenarios together. Also like the first, some of the puzzles are so complication that you kind of have to just guess, but it's good fun all the same.
   
4. Call of Duty - Black Ops 2 (Xbox): Towards the end of last year I played Black Ops 6 which I really enjoyed so I decided to go back and play the older titles. I enjoyed Black Ops 1 too, but boy did I not like this game. The story is split between the past and future (although the future was 2025, so we are the future now) and I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't care about the story and I found the mechanics a little bit clunky. I don't know, just wasn't for me. I have started Black Ops 3 now (I picked up both games at same time in CEX) and it seems better, so I'll probably play through that next.
   
5. Spider-man Mile Morales (PC/Steamdeck): I loved the original Spider-man, so figured this would be good too. It was at times, but I found it hard to get stuck into the story. I like how the mechanics are deliberately not as smooth as Spider-man (because Miles is still learning), but it was only okay. I put this game down ages ago, and only because I'm down with the flu decided to pick it back up this week to finish it. No interest in going back to do all the little side-quests to 100% it which is telling.
   
6. Botany Manor (PC): Thanks to @JimBurnley and their recommendation I downloaded this last week and finished it just now (it leaves gamepass at midnight so just got it in). Lovely little puzzle game where you wander around a manor potting flowers and making them grow. The difficulty wasn't too high and logic made the puzzles okay to follow. Completed it with all achievements too.
   
7. Descenders (Xbox): This isn't a game you "complete" really, as it's a prodecurally generated downhill bike game. But I did get through the full course from start to finish which triggered the credits so I'll take it. Quite a fun game, not much to it, but something that is great to stick on for like 15/20 mins. I had been struggling to find any game to get into for ages, but enjoying this and still tipping away at it.
   
8. Spray Paint Simulator (PC): These games are objectively boring. Just move your mouse about for an hour to spray paint a van. But they really scratch an itch, cleared it just now. The bridge level was rough though for anyone who has gotten through it already.
   
9. Nice day for fishing (PC): This is a game set in the Epic NPC Man world if you know that from youtube (here's an example), a simple enough pixel-art game where you play as a fisherman and do quests and stuff. Played on my ROG Ally, was perfect for that, enjoyable game. Not too complicated or anything, but fun.
10. Hollow Knight (PC): Finished this eventually. Played it on my ally which I keep next to my desk so it was handy to play for 5 minutes between meetings. Found the game enjoyable at times but unnecessarily difficult too. I understand making games hard is a valid choice, but some of the gameplay elements (in particular how far away some of the save points are from boss battles meaning you have to play a long while to get back to where you were) felt like it just stole the joy from the game. I have started the sequel but think I'll give up on it to be honest - I don't mind games that are challenging but they do also need to be fun.

Anois_

The Last Campfire [Xbox]

Great game. And some good puzzles. One thing though I collected all wanderers diary's and no achievement popped and I was like what the hell. Turns out there was no achievement for doing so which I find a bit odd as a majority of them are hidden.

Gamer Bhoy 89

1. Timesplitters || PlayStation 5
2. Dynasty Warriors Origins || PlayStation 5
3. Red Dead Redemption || PlayStation 5
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 || PC
5. Grand Theft Auto V || PC
6. Streets of Rage || Mega Drive
7. Streets of Rage 2 || Mega Drive
8. Streets of Rage 3 || Mega Drive
9. Devil May Cry || PC
10. Metal Slug || PC
11. Metal Slug X || PC
12. Mercs || Mega Drive
13. Revenge of Shinobi || Mega Drive
14. Shinobi 3 || Mega Drive
15. Super Mario Land || Game Boy
16. Castlevania Legends || Game Boy
17. Castlevania Chronicles || PlayStation
18. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow || PC
19. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge || Game Boy
20. Castlevania Bloodlines || Mega Drive
21. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood || TurboGrafx-16
22. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach || PlayStation 5
23. Emily is Away || PC
24. Emily is Away Too || PC
25. Half-Life || PC
26. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered || PC
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas || PC
28. Tekken 8 || PlayStation 5
29. Tekken 3 || PlayStation 5
30. Mortal Kombat 1 || PlayStation 5
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair || PlayStation 5
32. The Invincible || PlayStation 5

The Invincible

A narrative-heavy first-person adventure game where you arrive on a mysterious planet to find out what happened to your crew.

I was expecting the game to be over in 2-3 hours similarly to other walking sims like Edith Finch or Dear Esther but I was pleasantly surprised it was roughly 7 hours long (even though the game clocked my playtime at 25 hours -- must've kept rolling despite my console being in rest mode.

Anyway. I think what I loved the most about the game despite its story was its overall aesthetic. It had the look of something out of an epic sci-fi novel from the 50s (went back to look. The novel it's actually based on was published in the early 60s, so that checks out).

Visually stunning as these types of games usually are.

Playing on PS5 there were a small number of technical hiccups, mostly framerate-related -- sometimes the game struggled to stay at 60fps or rather the frame-pacing was off at times. Things like that give me a headache if it's consistent but thankfully it wasn't too often. I reckon if anyone's gonna play this and they have a somewhat decent PC, to play it there. It was available on PS Plus so that's how I managed to play it.

Overall very good game, if a bit narratively complicated at times (it's one of those games where a lot of explanations to parts of the story can be unveiled through reading logs etc.)

Conclusively, I do recommend it.

Retr0gamer

It's Unreal engine so it's going to be a bad time on PC as well.

Gamer Bhoy 89

@Retr0gamer Yeah, I have a pretty rough relationship with Unreal Engine games on PC at the moment. They're making my think my computer is absolute dog-shyte at running them, giving me a false perspective. Oblivion Remastered couldn't be more of a perfect example for me. Haven't done one quest on it because I just can't get it to run decent without making it look rubbish. I don't recall UE ever being that bad in prior iterations. Oh well.

1. Timesplitters || PlayStation 5
2. Dynasty Warriors Origins || PlayStation 5
3. Red Dead Redemption || PlayStation 5
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 || PC
5. Grand Theft Auto V || PC
6. Streets of Rage || Mega Drive
7. Streets of Rage 2 || Mega Drive
8. Streets of Rage 3 || Mega Drive
9. Devil May Cry || PC
10. Metal Slug || PC
11. Metal Slug X || PC
12. Mercs || Mega Drive
13. Revenge of Shinobi || Mega Drive
14. Shinobi 3 || Mega Drive
15. Super Mario Land || Game Boy
16. Castlevania Legends || Game Boy
17. Castlevania Chronicles || PlayStation
18. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow || PC
19. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge || Game Boy
20. Castlevania Bloodlines || Mega Drive
21. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood || TurboGrafx-16
22. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach || PlayStation 5
23. Emily is Away || PC
24. Emily is Away Too || PC
25. Half-Life || PC
26. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered || PC
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas || PC
28. Tekken 8 || PlayStation 5
29. Tekken 3 || PlayStation 5
30. Mortal Kombat 1 || PlayStation 5
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair || PlayStation 5
32. The Invincible || PlayStation 5
33. Guilty Gear || PC

Guilty Gear

I was still in the mood to play a 2D fighter after beating MK1 last week, but I dunno why I picked this one.

It was good, I guess, but the final two fights were insanely cheap. And speaking of cheap, I don't know if those Insta-Kill moves were a good idea to implement. They were way too easy to pull off - more of a cheat, really. This was all I could muster after losing so many times. I tried experimenting with different characters but I landed on who I'll probably main going forward (Ky: his sword attacks are class). I also don't know if it was just my brain but it did feel like the cpu was reading my inputs at almost every opportunity (which gave them a likewise easy shot at insta-killing me). It's not a very balanced fighting game and I'd hope they got better going forward, given this was only the first one. I also heard it was made by one dude, and someone on a message board put it pretty aptly; "This is essentially a Mugen game with worse controls and physics." Couldn't agree more.

I do own a GG game on PS4 but for the life of my I couldn't recall which one it was. I barely touched it.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)

Kingdom Hearts 2

People that like this game either haven't played it or are perverts.

I can't say I totally disliked it but it's wasn't great either and has an unearned reputation as a classic because of a crazy fanbase.

Kingdom Hearts takes place after the first KH game with Sora, Goofy and Donald playing out boring truncated versions of Disney movies while taking on the new threat of a bunch of J-Pop rejects called Organisation XIII. Except not really because you have to play a GBA spin off title to understand what is going on. Except there's another lie there because I played said GBA spin off and I still don't know what the hell is supposed to be happening. Of course story is the least important part of a game but when you have to watch some many long cutscenes about it while getting a earful of friendship speeches it can really negatively affect the game.

Still the gameplay should save it if it's any good and, it doesn't really even though it's not terrible. The game is a little better paced than the first game. Each world takes only an hour to beat while the return trip will take only 30 minutes which makes it a great game to play in chunks. What gets sacrificed here is level design as every stage now is an extremely linear jaunt from the starting area to the boss fight. There is one exception to this pacing and it's the absolutely god awful opening. The game opens with a 5 hour section that is incredibly boring and a real chore to get through. It's not fun and I've dropped this game multiple times because of how bad the opening is. It's horrendous.

The game is one of these character action games that is from a time when games hasn't quite caught up to Devil May Cry. Therefore it's loose and you can't cancel moves and can get stuck in combos. defensive options are limited to a hard to use parry. Some easier to use options are unlocked but it takes until the end of the game for these to show up. Good thing the game is pretty easy and you can get by with button mashing. There are some pretty challenging boss fights towards the end. The game also doesn't do a good job of explaining it's mechanics and you can be a good bit through the game until you realise you can equip the abilities you have earned.

Aesthetically the game is a real looking. It was technically incredible for a PS2 game but even now the simple shapes and shading with the wonderful character models really stand out. There's some absolutely wild boss fights. It's very much about the spectacle. Yoko Shimomura proves she is still the goat with an amazing soundtrack this game doesn't deserve.

I came into this game expecting to hate it but it's not altogether bad. The final mix edition even adds some new challenging boss fights that make you engage with the games mechanics the way the base game doesn't and some of these bosses can feel like something out of sekiro at times. Yes, that took me by surprise. If you have a work colleague that tells you to play this game because it's absolutely peak, ignore them. It's not awful but it's certainly not worth your time.

Parodius (MSX)

Konami was pretty prolific on MSX and a few of their biggest series got their start on the system, including Metal Gear. Another one of these series is Parodius. The MSX system came with two cartridge slots and many Konami games had easter eggs that let you play remixed parody version of their games if two matching games were in each slot. This proved to be massively popular and as a result Konami decided to make a full on parody game, Parodius, a play on parody and their popular shooter Parodius. Parodius would spawn a franchise that was quite popular and was even quite important for a time, the european release a collectiin of the first two arcade Parodius games would release during the launch period of the PS1. This would be the envy of US gamers that couldn't play it and was also regarded as one of the best reasons to own a PS1 console during its early days.

Many people believe Parodius got it's start as that first arcade game but it was preceded by this MSX release. This game sets the standard for the series going forward, playing very much like a Gradius game with it's power up meter but keeping elements of other Konami games, such as the bell system from twinbee. What sets Parodius apart from other shoot'em ups of the time are the wild graphics that take the mickey out of other Konami games as well as japanese culture.

Parodius is one of the finest shooters on the MSX. Its fast, colourful and has a great soundtrack enhanced by Konami's SCC sound chip. Level design and bosses are excellent. The game is very tough but never gets egregiously so like the arcade Gradius games, it's hard to recover from a death but not impossible.

If there is one flaw it's something the game can't help. The MSX can't do background scrolling and as a result the backgrounds scroll on a tile basis, rather than pixel basis, while sprites scroll smoothly. It creates a very jerky look to the screen that can be distracting at first but you do get used to it. That said I picked this as a retrogame high score challenge and even people that play a lot of retrogames found it too distracting and didn't give it a chance. Well their loss as this is a fantastic shooter and a contender for the best on any 8bit system.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)

Tokyo Crash Mobs

I kind of miss the 3DS for these kinds of games. While indie gaming remains strong, the 3DS digital store was filled with small curiosities from Japanese companies.

Tokyo Crash Mobs is a pretty simple premise. The developer Mitchell takes its puzzloop series of puzzle games and gives it a bizarre new visual twist and adds some gameplay flourishes that really make use of the 3DS touch screen and gyro features. It works brilliantly.

You are probably familiar with puzzloop. The concept has been shamelessly stolen by less scrupulous developers and there are loads of lesser copies like Luxor or Zuma. I suppose we wouldn't have plants vs zombies if popcap didn't get their first big hit ripping puzzloop off. It's basically a match three game where you fire coloured marbles from a central cannon as a line of marbles snakes towards an end point.

The first thing that stands out is how weird Tokyo Crash Mobs is. The game uses digitized actors, called scenesters, in place of marbles. It gives the game a surreal feel that I haven't felt since those early digitized games like mortal Kombat or NARC. Levels are separated by weird live action fmv sequences that are very surreal. Good look figuring out what it's all about.

The game also makes some changes to the puzzloop gameplay. Firstly the game is entirely controlled by the touch screen which works remarkably well. Stages alternate between playing as Savannah and Grace. One can throw scenesters, while another rolls them, which forces you to approach levels differently. The scenesters themselves can cause trouble, carrying pots, cutting in line, stopping for a chat and calling more friends into the line or randomly jumping. The game also introduces a boss stage that is gyro control. It has you taking onna ninja in third person who creates coloured clones of himself around you. You have to rotate the 3DS and aim your own coloured ninjas to eliminate them while avoiding attacks.

Tokyo Crash Mobs is a surreal and fun take on a classic puzzle game. The surreal visuals and video intermissions are weird but highly entertaining and the new mechanics it adds to the puzzloop formula keep it fresh and make it a worthwhile addition to the series.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)
30. Kid Icarus Uprising (3DS)

Kid Icarus Uprising

It's a shame that Sakurai and his team is constantly in the smash bros mines because they are one of the most talented game developers around. Kid Icarus Uprising is a testament to that even if it has some issues.

Kid icarus's gameplay is split between on the rails shooting segments and on foot third person areas. Both are controlled with a combination of stylus and the circle pad. While this works quite well, you can't help but feel that the game would benefit immensely with a twin stick set up. The game is ripe for a switch remake.

Despite the controls causing some nasty hand cramp the game is still worth preserving with because it's just that good.its a very generous game with 25 stages. With so much content you'd expect a lot of repetition but the game constantly surprises with new twists on level design, visuals and gameplay elements. Some of the enemy designs are very creative and there's a shedload of bosses that are all fun engagements.

It's presentation that sets Uprising apart. It's visually stunning, one of the best looking games, if not the best looking game on the 3DS. It even puts to shame most Vita games. The music is wonderful with contributions from legendary composers like yuzo koshiro, motoi sakuraba and Matsunori Mitsuda. The special sauce is provided by the setting and banter between characters. It has a lot of fun with the Greek mythology setting. Characters will constantly banter with each other throughout stages. It's done in such a way that is doesn't interfere while also being quite amusing at times. I also really liked the call backs to the original game and music stings.

Kid Icarus Uprising is a highlight of the 3DS library. It's baffling that there hasn't been a switch remake as it would be a very simple home run for Nintendo.

Gamer Bhoy 89

1. Timesplitters || PlayStation 5
2. Dynasty Warriors Origins || PlayStation 5
3. Red Dead Redemption || PlayStation 5
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 || PC
5. Grand Theft Auto V || PC
6. Streets of Rage || Mega Drive
7. Streets of Rage 2 || Mega Drive
8. Streets of Rage 3 || Mega Drive
9. Devil May Cry || PC
10. Metal Slug || PC
11. Metal Slug X || PC
12. Mercs || Mega Drive
13. Revenge of Shinobi || Mega Drive
14. Shinobi 3 || Mega Drive
15. Super Mario Land || Game Boy
16. Castlevania Legends || Game Boy
17. Castlevania Chronicles || PlayStation
18. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow || PC
19. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge || Game Boy
20. Castlevania Bloodlines || Mega Drive
21. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood || TurboGrafx-16
22. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach || PlayStation 5
23. Emily is Away || PC
24. Emily is Away Too || PC
25. Half-Life || PC
26. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered || PC
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas || PC
28. Tekken 8 || PlayStation 5
29. Tekken 3 || PlayStation 5
30. Mortal Kombat 1 || PlayStation 5
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair || PlayStation 5
32. The Invincible || PlayStation 5
33. Guilty Gear || PC
34. Ratchet & Clank || PlayStation 3

RATCHET & CLANK (PS3)

Here's a series I never paid much attention to growing up. Fun, zany 3D platformer. I was originally going to play the PS4 remake but I figured I'd play the original first. I think my biggest complaint, even though it's pointless to moan about today, is the checkpoint system. Yeah, it's a game of its time, but can't ignore how frustrating it was to get pretty far in a section, only to clumsily mess up a jump (it happens lol) and end up back a lot further than I imagined. The final boss was particularly tough, though. Took me about 5 or 6 attempts to get the pattern down, but overall I had a fun time with this.

Mr.Fantastic

1. Metaphor:ReFantazio | PS5
2. Ninja Gaiden Black | Series X
3. Still wakes the deep | Series X
4. Tactical Breach Wizards | Steam Deck
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Series X
6. Avowed | Series X
7. Astro Bot | PS5
8. Thank goodness you're here | Steam Deck
9. Silent Hill 2 Remake | PS5
10. Star Wars Outlaws | PS5
11. Blue Prince | Series X
12. Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 | Series x
13. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black | Series X
14. Doom: The Dark Ages | Series X
15. Saga Frontier 2 Remastered | Switch 2
16. Death Stranding 2:On the beach | PS5
17. Hades 2 | Switch 2
18. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Switch 2
19. Dispatch | PS5

Dispatch

As a lover of the early 2010s Walking dead series by telltale this was great. There is not much game in this other than the decisions and the mangement sim, but the story and characters make up for it. I really enjoyed it. Gonna do a replay I reckon and make different choices.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)
30. Kid Icarus Uprising (3DS)
31. Fatal Fury (Arcade)

Fatal Fury

Fatal Fury is a weird game as it was developed before street fighter 2 became a global phenomenon. As a result it's a single player focused fighting game without some of the staples of fighting games like a combo system. It was developed by the original creator of street fighter after they left Capcom so it's more like a follow up to that game.

What I didn't expect from Fatal Fury is how much fun it is. Each fight feels like a boss fight with patterns you have to learn and exploit. Being single player, the enemies you fight have a lot of flair and personality that wouldn't work in a game like street fighter as they just wouldn't work if a player could control them. Many enemies have different forms and so real bullshit moves. It's a great looking a sounding game, it was created to sell the neo geo system and would have been a technical marvel on release.

da gamer

Alan wake 2 - PS5

Space marine 2 - PS5

Indiana Jones and the great circle - Xbox series S

Tomb raider 3 - PS5

Life is strange 2 - PS4

Tekken 8 - PS5

Warhammer 40k boltgun - PS5

Broken sword 2 remastered - Steam deck

Doom the dark ages - Xbox series S

Totally rad - Nes

Spider-Man 2 - PS5

Deliver us mars - Steam deck

Mafia the old country - PS5

Assassins creed mirage - PS5

Silent Hill 2 - PS5

Heretic - Steam deck

Battlefield 6 - PS5

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123958364#Comment_123958364

1. The case of the golden idol (Xbox): A point and click puzzle game. Originally started it in late 2024 to tick the box for the xbox achievements, but I really enjoyed this. I added the 2 DLCs (The Spider of Lanka and The Lemurian Vampire), and finished these off last night. The DLC wasn't as good, and some of the puzzles were overly complicated to the point of relying on guesswork, but the main game was excellent with a quirky humour too. There is a sequel to the game (The Rise of the Golden Idol) which I believe is free on mobile with Netflix, so I'll have to take a look at that.
   
2. Spider-man Remastered (PC/Steamdeck): I played this on the PS4, but really enjoyed this playthrough on the steam deck. Ran perfectly most of the time and the gameplay is great. Swinging around New York is very satisfying. The voice cast here is excellent too. Played the 3 DLC stories too (Under the banner of The City that Never Sleeps). Moving onto Miles Morales game now.
   
3. The Rise of the Golden Idol (Android): This is the sequel to the case of the golden idol and I really enjoyed this too. It's free on Android if you have a Netflix account and playing this on a tablet was a much better experience than playing the first on Xbox. The first game is also on Android via Netflix games, so I'd go that route if you want to play either. Like the first, there is a quirk sense of humour and there is an overall story tying the various scenarios together. Also like the first, some of the puzzles are so complication that you kind of have to just guess, but it's good fun all the same.
   
4. Call of Duty - Black Ops 2 (Xbox): Towards the end of last year I played Black Ops 6 which I really enjoyed so I decided to go back and play the older titles. I enjoyed Black Ops 1 too, but boy did I not like this game. The story is split between the past and future (although the future was 2025, so we are the future now) and I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't care about the story and I found the mechanics a little bit clunky. I don't know, just wasn't for me. I have started Black Ops 3 now (I picked up both games at same time in CEX) and it seems better, so I'll probably play through that next.
   
5. Spider-man Mile Morales (PC/Steamdeck): I loved the original Spider-man, so figured this would be good too. It was at times, but I found it hard to get stuck into the story. I like how the mechanics are deliberately not as smooth as Spider-man (because Miles is still learning), but it was only okay. I put this game down ages ago, and only because I'm down with the flu decided to pick it back up this week to finish it. No interest in going back to do all the little side-quests to 100% it which is telling.
   
6. Botany Manor (PC): Thanks to @JimBurnley and their recommendation I downloaded this last week and finished it just now (it leaves gamepass at midnight so just got it in). Lovely little puzzle game where you wander around a manor potting flowers and making them grow. The difficulty wasn't too high and logic made the puzzles okay to follow. Completed it with all achievements too.
   
7. Descenders (Xbox): This isn't a game you "complete" really, as it's a prodecurally generated downhill bike game. But I did get through the full course from start to finish which triggered the credits so I'll take it. Quite a fun game, not much to it, but something that is great to stick on for like 15/20 mins. I had been struggling to find any game to get into for ages, but enjoying this and still tipping away at it.
   
8. Spray Paint Simulator (PC): These games are objectively boring. Just move your mouse about for an hour to spray paint a van. But they really scratch an itch, cleared it just now. The bridge level was rough though for anyone who has gotten through it already.
   
9. Nice day for fishing (PC): This is a game set in the Epic NPC Man world if you know that from youtube (here's an example), a simple enough pixel-art game where you play as a fisherman and do quests and stuff. Played on my ROG Ally, was perfect for that, enjoyable game. Not too complicated or anything, but fun.
   
10. Hollow Knight (PC): Finished this eventually. Played it on my ally which I keep next to my desk so it was handy to play for 5 minutes between meetings. Found the game enjoyable at times but unnecessarily difficult too. I understand making games hard is a valid choice, but some of the gameplay elements (in particular how far away some of the save points are from boss battles meaning you have to play a long while to get back to where you were) felt like it just stole the joy from the game. I have started the sequel but think I'll give up on it to be honest - I don't mind games that are challenging but they do also need to be fun.
11. Powerwasher Simulator 2 (PC/Handheld): There is no reason this game should be good. It's just moving your joystick a little bit with cartoony graphics. Did I play it constantly? Yes. Did I get 100% achievements? Yes. Did I start re-playing the first game as a result? Yes. Would I play it again? Yes.

CastorTroy

Mix of old and newer this year. All first time playthroughs, so I do eventually get to games in the backlog

1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
2. Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
3. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
4. The Warriors
5. Prince of Persia The Lost Crown
6. No More Heroes 3
7. Astro Bot
8. Bayonetta Origins
9. Devil May Cry
10. Hue
11. Star Wars Outlaws
12. Splatoon 3 Side Order DLC
13. Suicide Squad
14. What Remains of Edith Finch
15. Alan Wake
16. Alan Wake American Nightmare
17. Unravel 2
18. Dante's Inferno
19. Shadows of the damned
20. Sonic Frontiers
21. Gris
22. Until Dawn
23. Keeper

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)
30. Kid Icarus Uprising (3DS)
31. Fatal Fury (Arcade)
32. Shinobi (3DS)

Shinobi (3DS)

This game got criminally ignored at release. Shinobi had a bit of a bad name after the terrible GBA game. Shinobi came out during the launch window of the 3DS when the system was deeply unpopular and from a developer that had mostly made licensed games for handhelds. Very few places even reviewed it. That's a shame because developer Griptonite obviously went all out with this game. It's a fantastic game that's just a little shy of being a classic.

Shinobi plays like a classic 16 bit action game. It takes the controls and movement of the Megadrive classic Shinobi 3 and build on it, adding some flashier combat moves that while totally optional, can let you add some flair, almost devil may cry style. You also have a parry move, something uncommon back then, that is very useful and satisfying to use. Platforming and combat are tight and controlling Jiro feels smooth. Level design is excellent, with some fiendish enemy placement. Boss designs are great as well although a few I felt went on a little too long and had too much health but that's a minor complaint.

The game is very tough. From the third stage on the challenge really ramps up and the final stage in particular has some fiendish platforming. While you have a generous 6 lives you will lose them all and end up having to repeat stages from the beginning. This might be an issue for some people are stages are quite long but I found it a good compromise between player friendly modern games and the old school mentality of making you play from the beginning of the game.

Graphically the game is quite basic but I really liked the art that gives it a comic book look. I'm sure it also helps the game run at 60 fps. There's some mini game stages what have you move into the screen while dodging hazards that aren't as well thought out as the main game.

Shinobi 3DS is one of the systems hidden gems and a worthy addition to the Shinobi franchise. A few little niggles hold it back from true greatness but it's well worth anyone's time.

Mr.Fantastic

1. Metaphor:ReFantazio | PS5
2. Ninja Gaiden Black | Series X
3. Still wakes the deep | Series X
4. Tactical Breach Wizards | Steam Deck
5. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Series X
6. Avowed | Series X
7. Astro Bot | PS5
8. Thank goodness you're here | Steam Deck
9. Silent Hill 2 Remake | PS5
10. Star Wars Outlaws | PS5
11. Blue Prince | Series X
12. Clair Obscura: Expedition 33 | Series X
13. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black | Series X
14. Doom: The Dark Ages | Series X
15. Saga Frontier 2 Remastered | Switch 2
16. Death Stranding 2:On the beach | PS5
17. Hades 2 | Switch 2
18. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom | Switch 2
19. Dispatch | PS5
20. Hollow Knight: Silksong | Switch 2

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Like everyone else on the internet this was a long time coming. Absolutely enthralled by it, also went and saw a behind the scenes exhibition in ACMI in melbourne where the game creators showed the development of pharloom over the years.

Spoiler Warning

Fully finished this with act 3 and around 85 percent completion, think I have done most of it but the lost lace fight took me around 30 tries.

Really enjoyed it.

This will probably be my last game for this year. I am currently playing kingdom come deliverance and, I think I am around halfway but its a long slog.

Anois_

1. The Last Campfire [Xbox]
2. Cyberpunk 2077 [Xbox]

Cyberpunk 2077

What a game. I really enjoyed it but I'm not finished as I still have the majority of those NCPD scanner hustles to do. There is so many of them that I may jump into the game every so often over the next few months when I'm bored. I also bought the PL DLC but I'm going to play something else before I dive back into CP.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)
30. Kid Icarus Uprising (3DS)
31. Fatal Fury (Arcade)
32. Shinobi (3DS)
33. Mario Kart World (Switch 2)

Mario Kart World

I suppose it rolled credits on this so it counts and I'll no doubt come back to play it but don't feel the drive to do everything in this game.

It's not that Mario kart world is bad, it's just massively disappointing. It was always going to be tough to follow up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It took one of the greatest racing games of all time then doubled the amount of content to a staggering 96 tracks. Where could Mario Kart go from there?

Open world seemed like the perfect fit for Mario kart, Mario Kart by way of Forza Horizon. They fumbled it and they really shouldn't have because everything is in place for a great Mario kart. It's a great looking game with some of the best track design and controls of the series. The music is incredible with lots of big band renditions of classic tunes, it could well be the best videogames soundtrack this year. Unfortunately the whole thing is poisoned by Nintendo trying to make "road races" a thing.

The open world is squandered here. You can do a free roam mode but with not objectives it's completely aimless and you quickly get bored of it. Road races are point to point races that end with a single lap of a track and it's how all races in the single player game work other than the opening three lap race. They just don't work well. The racing is boring as it's most a big wide straight road. The single lap of a track is not enough, you spy shortcuts but have no chance to give them a try as you've only the single lap through the track. Point to point racing isnt new to Mario kart but they've never been this boring.

These road races pretty much ruin the single player game, although I think Nintendo finally relented and they aren't ruining online play. There's some good stuff here. The wall riding is an excellent addition that allows for some crazy expressive high level play. The tracks, when the game allows you to do three laps, are some of the best in the series, and the Battle Royale knockout mode makes the road races work and is the best addition to the game. It's a shame the game is spoiled slightly by Nintendo trying to push a much hated addition.

Gamer Bhoy 89

1. Timesplitters || PlayStation 5
2. Dynasty Warriors Origins || PlayStation 5
3. Red Dead Redemption || PlayStation 5
4. Red Dead Redemption 2 || PC
5. Grand Theft Auto V || PC
6. Streets of Rage || Mega Drive
7. Streets of Rage 2 || Mega Drive
8. Streets of Rage 3 || Mega Drive
9. Devil May Cry || PC
10. Metal Slug || PC
11. Metal Slug X || PC
12. Mercs || Mega Drive
13. Revenge of Shinobi || Mega Drive
14. Shinobi 3 || Mega Drive
15. Super Mario Land || Game Boy
16. Castlevania Legends || Game Boy
17. Castlevania Chronicles || PlayStation
18. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow || PC
19. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge || Game Boy
20. Castlevania Bloodlines || Mega Drive
21. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood || TurboGrafx-16
22. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach || PlayStation 5
23. Emily is Away || PC
24. Emily is Away Too || PC
25. Half-Life || PC
26. Star Wars: Dark Forces Remastered || PC
27. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas || PC
28. Tekken 8 || PlayStation 5
29. Tekken 3 || PlayStation 5
30. Mortal Kombat 1 || PlayStation 5
31. Earth Defense Force 4.1: Shadow of the New Despair || PlayStation 5
32. The Invincible || PlayStation 5
33. Guilty Gear || PC
34. Ratchet & Clank || PlayStation 3
35. Pokémon Sword || Switch 2

POKÉMON SWORD (SWITCH 2)

Good game but not a great Pokémon game. The jump to Switch from predomimant handheld instalments hurt this one. There is no National Dex (a staple for these games prior). My favourite of the past 10 years remains to be Brilliant Diamond. My daughter said Violet/Scarlet are improved for the Switch 2 so I have an excuse to jump in (provided my ADHD doesn't kick in soon...........who am I gowling? It will). If it has a National Dex I'll be happy but I doubt it.

Mr.Saturn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124035191#Comment_124035191

Fair play, first time I've seen anything positive said about the Gen 4 remakes.

Retr0gamer

1. Wizardry Variants Daphne (Mobile)
2. Spiderman (2018) (PC)
3. Track & Field (Arcade)
4. Ace Combat 6 (XBox 360)
5. Mars after Midnight (Playdate)
6. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (PC)
7. Super Mario Wonder (Switch)
8. Dragon Quest 3 HD 2D (PC)
9. The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES)
10. Thronglets (Android)
11. Castlevania 3: Dracula's Curse (NES)
12. Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4)
13. Tomb Raider 2: The Golden Mask (PC)
14. Gimmick! (NES)
15. Faselei! (NeoGeo Pocket Colour)
16. Tomb Raider 3: The Lost Artifact (PC)
17. Dragon Quest Monsters (GBC)
18. Hammerin' Hero (PSP)
19. Parappa the Rapper (PSP)
20. Philosoma (PS1)
21. Sin and Punishment (N64)
22. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PC)
23. Xenoblade 2 (Switch)
24. Brandish: The Dark Revenant (PSP)
25. Midnight Resistance (Arcade)
26. Silent Hill f (PC)
27. Kingdom Hearts 2 (PC)
28. Parodius (MSX)
29. Tokyo Crash Mobs (3DS)
30. Kid Icarus Uprising (3DS)
31. Fatal Fury (Arcade)
32. Shinobi (3DS)
33. Mario Kart World (Switch 2)
34. Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)

Metroid: Samus Returns

Great to see MercuryStream grow as a developer. Castlevania: Mirror of Fate was one of the worst modern metroidvanias but Nintendo saw something in them and tasked them with a remake of the divisive Metroid 2. They did an excellent job with it that's just short of greatness, a lot of which is due to having to stick to the structure of the original game. They would go on to develop the excellent Metroid Dread.

Samus Returns is a bit different from your traditional metroidvania. You are tasked with defeating a certain number of metroids. The world is broken up into a few areas which makes backtracking a bit less organic as you've no reason to return to areas unless it's to hunt for missed items.

The game builds on the original game with some nice additions. Bosses are more deadly and have a few surprises. I also like how ou get some abilities very early that would normally be reserved for the late game.

When Samus Returns was released it coincides with the fan remake of Metroid 2, AM2R. AM2R is the better game but it feels more like super Metroid whereas Samus Returns is a lot more faithful to the original game. Both are well worth your time playing.