It was fun trying out a lot of NES games this month thanks to the NES collection on the Switch subscription service and a few available on collections on Xbox. I also had a few cartriges too for the original experience. Here's what I got to this week plus new stuff.
River City Ransom: (on Switch) - It was fun punching the heck out of everyone and eating a bunch of food for boosts. I never had enough for a book in order to add new skills though. Lately I find myself needing a little more direction in games, and so a wide open world discourages me. This game, though, has so many surprising things you can do on a NES.
Mega Man 3: (on Legacy Collection, Xbox) - Failed again to make any progress on any of the levels, and I tried them all.
Ninja Gaiden: (on Switch) - I ran across a glitch where the character froze trying to climb a wall. Weird.
Super Mario Bros 2: (on Switch) - I kept trying to jump on heads but could only use them to stand on. How does a SMB game not let you jump on heads to vanquish enemies? (I know the answer, but still).
The following are my favorites of the top 18 games I played on IGN's Top 100 list. I went back to them daily all month long.
Dragon Warrior: I got to about level 10 before another death got me mad. How many times can you resurrect in this game? I thought there was a limit, but it seems not. Maybe death is not so bad a thing in this game? It seems I always venture a little bit too far and a single enemy gets me eventually. But maybe I shouldn't let that get to me and keep going - that it's part of the experience and unavoidable?
Final Fantasy: I got the cartridge and played it daily on both Retron 3 and the Pixel Remaster on Switch. Boy, the original is so much slower in pace than the remaster. I still enjoyed it though and will again next year. The remaster is fantastic and fixes so many things in the original to make it totally enjoyable in 2024. I was at level 17 and exploring the Marsh Caves when I finished up for now.
New stuff I spent more than an hour with this week:
Coral Island (Game Pass) - This is in essense Animal Crossing but with humans and in a more realistic setting. It does a great job of handing out missions enough to keep me from feeling lost too, something I'm adverse to lately in open world and survival games. I was enjoying it but decided to move on after a while. I think the number of tasks were getting too much for me after a while: mining, planting, hunting, fishing, socializing, collecting, talking to spirits. . . It was begining to overwelm me.
Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery (Game Pass) - A very simple but entertaining point-and-click adventure game. I've done two of the three stories so far. The main interest is the dialog and light humor. It's something easy between more complex games.
Warhammer 40K: Darktide (Game Pass) - This is a spiffy looking FPS but the missions are mandatory online four player co-op. It's fun but I kind of lose track of the story. Battles are around a half hour of endless mayhem across maps that seem somewhat random or disconnected from any central story. I know it's all tied to a struggle between groups in this vast Warhammer universe, but I feel kind of lost in it. It's fun though, good melee combat and shooting.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 (Game Pass) - This is a much improved game from the first one, which I liked but eventually stopped playing because I didn't like the car handling that much. Here the handling is spot on. The more I thought about it though, the more it seemed like Forza Horizon, and then when I looked at the other features of this game it was obvious. They borrowed heavily from Forza Horizon: wheel spins, customizable cars, controls, modes, sticker customizing, track editor and I don't know what else. I love it though. Why not copy a good thing? I'll be coming back to this one.
Evil West (Game Pass) - This is fantastic. Reminds me of this old OG Xbox game Darkwatch I used to play - old west meets supernatural horror. You have guns but the real attraction is the melee fighting and special powers in your gauntlet. I'm shocking foes all over the place and chucking them into environmental hazzards like it was Bulletstorm. Bosses make you mix it up so you have to use both guns and melee attacks. The game is mostly linear with arenas in between where the battles take place. Then you might have a hub area to explore and buy upgrades. Pretty traditional design, but it looks great and plays smooth as silk. Blooody chunks everywhere. What's not to like? I'm enjoying the heck out of it like it was 2006 again but with 2024 graphics.
Finally, I started the Diablo IV download on Game Pass. I assumed it was the full game, but I kept seeing "trial" listed next to it (which I've played already). I'll find out next week when I play it for the long haul.
How's yer week?
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