30.12 Minutes - 5 Hours - 5/10 - Xbox Series X

Really tough one this as there was so much that could’ve been done better and it simply wasn’t intuitive in any sense but I still got a little enjoyment from it and I didn’t hate the story like many others.

Not a fan of the point and click style and really didn’t think it needed to be implemented here, and with the need for quickly achieving things when the loops get busy it’s easy to slip and miss opportunities with said controls. The story and loops whilst interesting are a little daft and are very difficult to work out without a guide as it doesn’t feel natural to guess or attempt the next steps. The only celeb voice addition that’s worthy is Dafoe as the other two I would never have guessed in a million years. But, it’s a little different, it’s a little odd, it’s interesting, has a lot of odd but fun layers to laugh at, and again it’s part of Gamepass and feels like another thing I’d have missed out on entirely had it not been for the service.

All in all it was an interesting if flawed way to spend a few hours.

90. Roundguard - Switch (2hrs)

Replayed Peggle and still want more Peggle?  This might be the jam you need.  It turns the basics into a roguelike and although some of the systems are a wee bit slapdash it absolutely works for the most part.  Instead of clearing coloured pegs you need to kill enemies to clear screens, but there's an HP trade-off as you'll trade hits for specific amount.  Which means healing perks and health potions are a major strategy consideration.  Your character levels up as you progress, and - as expected given the sub-genre - most things reset when you die.  There's a mana bar too, with some interesting character specific special moves, plus plenty of trinkets/perks to get to grips with.  You'll be route planning through three areas with the aid of a map (we're talking three routes max at the bottom of each screen), all of which end with a boss, and it's a lot less budget than a quick glance would suggest.  I've managed to bumble through with the Warrior character, but the Rogue class is far more interesting thanks to a double jump special (fire once, slow time, select trajectory with the stick, dash attack).  I've only had a couple of runs with her so far and it seems to give the whole thing a leg-up into the [8] zone.  Will be playing more of this for sure, Mrs. Moot reckons she's got what it takes to beat my score.  My only real complaint is how long a successful run takes, but you can save & quit so it's not a big deal.  Not as good as Peggle 2, but unexpectedly legit and currently FIVE POUNDS.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Gaming historians would absolutely fucking love this if it had been a JP only Dreamcast Treasure game.

It's like you put that in there just to make me feel sick.

I started it. It seemed ok.

Got Hoa in the wishlist but it can wait for half price, sounds like a one and done.

22. Rock N' Roll Racing (SNES) - 5hrs

Was gonna pick up the Blizzard Collection to play this, but then thought sod it, and just booted up the ROM on the SNES mini.

This has actually aged quite well imo. The controls are nice and responsive, it looks the part and the chip tune renditions of classic rock tracks never get dull surprisingly, despite there only being a handful on rotation.

The only real issues I have is the difficulty is a bit unbalanced, and it can drag in places.

It starts off really easy and then gets quite tough as you have to juggle buying new vehicles and upgrading them with your winnings.

Once you have accumulated enough points in a season you can skip ahead, but at the risk of losing earnings from the remaining races. So you reluctantly play on despite not needing the points so you don't miss out on the cash.

Then when you get the best vehicle and have it maxed out, it becomes as easy as the opening few seasons. I maxed everything out with two seasons to go, so I didn't have to grind at the mid point as much as I thought, but I wasn't to know that at the time.

Despite that, it's good fun and I really enjoyed it.

7/10

edit: bumping the score up, was considering an 8 originally and after playing the multiplayer I think its definitely deserved...

8/10

My list

And one of those is only a problem on the switch.

More as we get it.

Yeah, part of me feels harsh for not giving it an 8, it's really good.

92. The Art(ifice)ful Escape - Xbox Series S (4hrs)

A bogus journey with enough flamboyance to disguise itself as an excellent adventure; something something time to face the music.  For an hour or so I thought this might be a cheeky contender for the contestable spots on my GotY list but by the time the credits rolled I might've booed an encore.  I didn't dislike it on the whole, so let's get that out the way first, but the foundations of the experience are eyebrow-raisingly creaky and it starts to run out of steam roughly halfway.  It's basically a hugely flashy narrative adventure built on top of a laughably wonky platformer with occasional rudimentary (and largely poor) Simon Says pattern parroting.  There are some lovely touches here and there and the dialogue isn't half bad for the most part, but after a strong opening the plot just kinda noodles its way thorough a series of bum notes.  It didn't help that the folk tunes the main character may or may not be turning his back on were much more appealing to my ears than the kiss the sky while surfing with an alien dressed as Ziggy Stardust stuff. 

It's a vibe, and I'm happy to make allowances for some games with iffy mechanics (see Below on the previous page, or at least my attempt to gloss over its shortcomings), but they have to deserve it.  This just about pulls it off, but I think I'll wrap this up now before I talk myself into a lower score.  [6] feels about right, on a bad day I could go lower.  

 

24. Rushing Beat (SNES) - 1hr 15mins

Hard not to enjoy a scrolling beat 'em up in co-op, but this pushed it.

Washed out graphics, completely forgettable music and a move set that most 8-Bit entries in the genre would be embarrassed to have.

It really was a dull playthrough overall, which dragged on for at least half hour to long.

But like I said, as long as they're co-op I tend to get some enjoyment from them.

5/10

---

25. Rushing Beat Ran (SNES) - 1hr 30mins

Another run-of-the-mill scrolling beat 'em up.

Marginally better than the first, but still ultimately lacking compared to its peers.

5/10

---

26. Rushing Beat Syura (SNES) - 1hr 20mins

More of the same, but has a bat shit story involving aliens. Obviously being a Japanese game I had no idea what was going on, but all I did know was I'd rather be beating up street punks than generic aliens.

Probably the pick of the trilogy, but the alien aspect made me wish I was playing Rushing Beat Ran.

5/10

My list

14. Warioware - Get It Together

It's Warioware, it's slight, it's insane. Saw the last of the story mode this morning and obviously it opened up some extra stuff. I'll definitely give the Wario Cup ranked stuff a go, and still have some mini games to unlock, but the end did come a little fast for me.
Biggest disappointment is that it doesn't have the little toys / doodads from the gatcha system. The gatcha mechanics only opens costumes / ranked mode levelling up etc. But still, good fun all round.

35: Everybody's Golf World Tour (single player) (PS3) 8/10

Golf games turn me into a goldilocks kind of whinger.  It doesn't matter how good a game it is, I'm always left having a cry about something.  It seems I'll never love a golf game as much as those early months with PS Vita's Everybody's Golf.  

This one is pretty much the same as that one, except with no online challenges (they might have been there once upon a time, but are long gone).  It's still a top game, and I imagine it only gets better with multiplayer.  There's really not too much wrong with it.  Ball behaves as it should, you have a decent range of courses and characters that can be modified with different balls and clubs.  You unlock new characters, clubs and balls by doing different challenges (ie 9/19 holes @ a course with different weather conditions, mirrored courses etc).  You have a really nice sense of progression.  I did think the final head to head challenge was a real bastard though.  The lady you play against toys with you.  Like, early on she's chipping in birdies and eagles, then halfway through she'll miss a 2 mitre putt just to give you hope, before fucking you up over the last couple of holes.  I only beat her after AT LEAST a dozen tries when I nailed a few arsey chip ins myself.

Trying to think of exactly what I'd want from a golf game.  It would be something like.

Plays like Everybody's Golf
Looks like Mario Golf BUT only has courses with green grass (none if this castle of desert bullshit)
A Smash Bros level roster with like 10 different unlockable outfits etc
A NBA 2K career mode
A Daily Challenge Thing

36: Saints Row 4 (PC) 9/10

Swapping to a superhero game from a gta game was a masterstroke.  This game does have quite a few problems but I think they are pretty much cancelled out by allowing your character to run fast, jump high and glide everywhere.  This is one of the few games where I like to explore the whole map because getting around is too much fun.  I do like playing dress ups in computer games and Saints Row is second best at letting you make your character look as awesome or silly as you like (equal best, for some reason, is every wrestling game, ever).  It has the infectious fun momentum of SR3's opening hours but maintains it for the length of the game.

There are too many 'do this challenge 5 times' bits, and any mission that takes your powers away just reminds you how much better this game is as a superhero game.  Still though this was a blast and just as good as I remembered it being.

37: Saints Row Gat Out Of Hell (PC) 5/10

I bounced off this back in the day.  Big mistake getting you to play as Johnny Gat instead of your created character.  He does nothing for me.  I never played SR 1 and 2 really.  I don't get why I'm supposed to love him.  He's just some bloke.  

Bigger problems are this is JUST 'do this challenge 5 times' and your powers are removed.  You do eventually get them back, and in fact you can now fly rathe than glide.  By the end of the game, flying is very good.  It was a misstep to have these powers unlocked over time.  Further your can't play dress ups.  This game takes away most of what I enjoy from the previous.  Also the game is set in hell and it looks like generic shit.  I did think the Devil, his daughter and the other new characters looked alright though.  Pretty ordinary all up.

Do you remember why you didn't play it much?  Didn't get along with it or just not in the mood?

Holding out hope that there'll be a 20gb patch for Super Rush with a bunch of new modes and such.  That adventure mode was something else! Already feels like a half remembered amalgam of a few different games.  Good on them for having a crack I guess.

Wariospeedwagon wrote:

Do you remember why you didn't play it much?  Didn't get along with it or just not in the mood? Holding out hope that there'll be a 20gb patch for Super Rush with a bunch of new modes and such.  That adventure mode was something else! Already feels like a half remembered amalgam of a few different games.  Good on them for having a crack I guess.

I didn't play much at the time, believe it or not.  Was a weird few years for me in terms of gaming, especially before the indies took hold.  I was still pretending videogames were my main hobby and kinda forcing myself to keep up with the Joneses.  At one point I was finishing maybe six or seven games a year but still buying plenty more, and clockwatching every time I sat down to play (forcing myself to play for more than 45mins).  I blame the demise of the Dreamcast, I still dabbled but it took me a while to get my mojo back.  I  owned a couple of PS2/3 games that never even saw the disc drive, and one of them was Gradius V #FML