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Shall we say 9pm then? Still need to have dinner.

Ok, so I’d forgotten the other game I completed last year before Tears of the Kingdom started taking up all of my gaming time! Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (PS4) I was leant this by my sister-in-law so felt the need to play it, despite my less-than-stellar experience with the Crash Trilogy. Thankfully they did a great job of updating the gameplay and addressing many of the issues with the original titles, while still feeling like a Crash game. Better highlighting where you’re going to land, having the camera pan out a little further for those levels you run towards the camera, and forgoing the lives system (as you’ll still die a lot!) all make a dramatic difference! There’s more variety with more characters (even if I didn’t know some of them, having been introduced post-Crash 3) and gameplay styles and it looks lovely. There are bonuses for doing well in levels (dying few times, collecting apples, finding secret gems) although you can complete the game without getting them. These felt fairly rewarding until coming across some levels where I was never going to complete them dying so few times without investing a heavy amount of time to learn those levels. Then finding out that for full completion I’d need to do this for every level TWICE that wasn’t for me. I feel quite satisfied to have beaten the final boss and I’ve no urge to play through it again. Happy to have played it and feel Crash has improved, and I feel quite content to give this back to my sister-in-law.

Hmm can't say I've noticed anything particularly bad but I can ask @Shorty if he's aware of any issues on the server side

Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey NA release: 15th November 1996 PAL release: 1st March 1997 JP release: 28th February 1998 Developer: Atari Games Publisher: Midway/GT Interactive N64 Magazine Score: 75% Sports games are a type of game where you get as much out of them as you want, providing you enjoy the core gameplay. Seasons can be incredibly long, and lots of these games are similar (especially yearly updates), so for the most part, I will be playing a bunch of matches and checking out different rules and settings. My main knowledge of ice hockey is an EA game I played on the Mega Drive, but it’s a simple enough game to work out: get the puck into the opposing goal. I also picked the only team I recognized: the Mighty Ducks. Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey is very smooth, fast paced and a lot of fun. The controls are simple to use and there’s nothing to complicate things. I mainly played with Arcade settings, but more serious players can use Simulation settings which add things like fouls and injury time. You can also choose to have more realistic size ice rinks and up to 5 players. The characters look a bit blocky, but in a way that is quite adorable these days. The game looks nice and clean, with the puck easy to see. There are also some nice silly little touches like the goalkeeper turning into a wall to signify a great save – with the voiced commentary making a reference to it. You can play a single match, although oddly you can’t select your opponent without using a cheat code (the computer chooses at random). There is also a season mode which has a few options like half or full. Other than that, there aren’t a lot of nodes for the game. Still, the core matches are a lot of fun and I can imagine it being great in multiplayer. Remake or Remaster? I think a remaster or new game would be quite nice. Sports games these days are either serious or cartoony, so serious-but-a-bit silly would be a nice change. Official Ways to get the game There’s no official way to play Wayne Gretzky’s 3D Hockey, and I don’t know enough about modern sports games to recommend an alternative.

Update for Smash Remix! Gotta say, one of the characters added is absolutely inspired! And it's not the one that @RedShell so obviously bribed the modders to include.

Watched the first three. We are so back.

@BowserBasher Damn! You were SO close to the miracle roll! In order to win the game on the last turn, you needed to roll a 10, then win the 50:50 coin flip to get an extra dice block, then roll a 3 with the extra Pirahna Plant dice block… The odds of you actually getting the 10 and winning the coin flip? 5%… You actually pulled off a 5% arse pull! Sadly you actually needed the 3… so the real odds of you winning were a staggering ~1.6%, and… So don’t feel too bad!

And there I was constantly refreshing the N64 app and wondering why you hadn't opened a room lol

Right, @BowserBasher and @S.C.G. You up for the games tonight?

It’s a shame that arcade-style sports games basically don’t exist anymore. The Dreamcast was really the last console that leaned heavily into the genre, as simulation sports really took over from the PS2 onwards; and the last vestiges of the genre were snuffed out alongside the death of Midway in 2008. The N64 does have a good few examples in its library though, and it’s a particular strength of the platform (though not quite to the same extent as the Dreamcast; certainly more so than the PS1 and Saturn). Though WG3DH is a good place for the genre to start on the console, there’s certainly better to come.

no pokewalker, but aside from that, its complete.

Not yet, might try it again at some point, but the bosses really put me off.

I won't have a lot of time for gaming once all these JRPGs start to get released...I might have time for one but it's probably not going to happen Current plan is to only buy FFVII: Rebirth and take release day + the following Friday off and blast through most of the game during the weekend This year's gonna be great

No, it's been like trudging through treacle for days now. It's definitely not just you. Must be some nasty gunk caught in the servers or something, 'cause it's really annoying!

Did you play through the bonus campaign and tackle the true final bosses? Both are really tough and drawn out. I think it's a big reason why the player trophy percentage takes hit when you compare the percentage of players who finished with the standard ending and the percentage who finished the game with the true ending. It's pretty brutal.

Thanks for the games. Here's a link to this week's stream... - - - - - N-Europe Get Together! 04/01/2024)

So, this trailer/ad (I mean, I guess they're all ads?) for the games coming up on PlayStation in 2024 is interesting...because the Snake Eater remake and Silent Hill 2 remake are both included. Obviously a huge asterisk that plans can change, and a caveat on the official editorial page for this trailer/ad that: But, I mean, damn? I thought these games were shaking up to be 2025 at the earliest, and it's really curious that they've just been announced to be coming this year, well, here of all places. Even wilder when you consider just last week PlayStation Access dropped that video @Hero-of-Time shared. We've also had a State of Play in Feb or March each year for a while more, so maybe we aren't far off finding out more? So, anyways, Konami, if you could just drop a Silent Hill collection (that works) to drive some hype for the 2 remake, you know..? So I don't need to spend ungodly amounts on picking those up on the retro market? K thx

I'll be mainly focusing on my N64 games, but I will be playing a few odd ones. Finished Alan Wake II on the 1st then moved on to Sonic Superstars (which I'll post here rather than bumping the All Sonic games thread) Alan Wake II Release Date: 27th October 2023 Developer: Remedy Games Publisher: Epic Games Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series Version Played: Xbox Series S I enjoyed the first Alan Wake a lot. Even though the gameplay wasn’t anything special – it was a decent action game – there was something about the atmosphere that captured me. It told the story of a writer that ends up getting his horror story twisted by a “dark presence” and finding himself getting trapped in it. A sequel was eagerly awaited and then teased inside Quantum Break, although it still didn’t come until after Control – however, Control had more direct links and even an appearance from Alan Wake in one of its DLCs. Now, 13 years later, we finally get a sequel to Alan Wake and it’s even better than I could have imagined. The combat is much smoother (although still not something that could hold up a game on its own), but the story and atmosphere are where the game truly shines. This time, you play as two characters, with Alan Wake’s part taking place in the dark place as he tries to rewrite his stories to escape, and FBI agent Saga Anderson investigating some murders happening in the town of Bright Falls. On top of Saga’s surname ringing a bell for fans of the series, her partner is Alex Casey, who coincidentally (or perhaps not) shares a name with the fictional detective in Alan Wake’s earlier books. He was originally a reference to Max Payne, renamed due to rights, and this is even more solidified by casting the same voice actor as Max Payne (James McCaffrey) while creative lead Sam Lake provides the voice model, just like he did from Max Payne. There are also a few characters from Quantum Break that are in a way reused in Alan Wake II in different ways – but it isn’t just lazy reuse, as different revisions is a big theme of the game. I won’t get into too many details of the actual story. It does leave a lot of unanswered questions, but all the inconsistencies and oddities along the way all seem important and purposeful – one character from the first game is completely redefined, for example. On top of that, while the first game was horror-themed, this one is an actual horror game. The game uses every method to create a sense of unease. While the game does utilise jump scares, the jump scares themselves aren’t supposed to scare you, they’re just part of the atmosphere to create the feel of the game – the only jump scare that made me leap on its own wasn’t even a horror moment. Other parts of the cauldron are the lighting and shadows – with the shadows moving – and sound effects. In the first game, you knew to expect an enemy after each “talkie” bit, but in Alan Wake II you don’t always encounter one (and in some cases, can be actually avoided), yet it’s a much scarier as a result. The possibility of an encounter with something unknown is immensely more frightening than a fight with another generic enemy. But it’s not just the horror feeling that’s done using a mixture of different parts, the story itself is told in many different ways. The game mixes in live action parts (which, due to the graphics, blend in surprisingly well), such as a talk show and a 15 minute Finnish short film. Music also plays a large part, both within gameplay, with my favourite band Poets of the Fall reprising their role as Old Gods of Asgard – this time even portraying their live action versions, which was partly foreshadowed in American Nightmare – and some songs from other characters, with one particular moment causing me to create a separate save file just so I can go through that section whenever I want. The songs played at the end of chapters are also very important to the game and, if you pay attention to the lyrics, can reveal new details, as most were specifically created for the game. Alan Wake II is a phenomenal experience. It’s packed with details and is incredibly suspenseful the entire way though. I’m already eagerly awaiting the DLC, Control 2 and the next Alan Wake to find out more about this bizarre and wonderful universe. Alan Wake II is easily one of my favourite gaming experiences. (I had issues with screenshots at some points, due to sharing settings not being right, plus for a lot of it I was so immersed I forgot to take screenshots) --- Sonic Superstars Release Date: 17th October 2023 Developer: Arzest, Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Platforms: PC, PS5/5, Xbox One/Series, Switch Version Played: Xbox Series S Sonic Superstars is a new 2D Sonic game, but in a wonderful looking 3D visual style. The core gameplay is similar to the original Sonic games, with Sonic’s movement and physics replicated extremely well, making Sonic Superstars feel right at home to fans of the originals. While the game is designed for local co-op, the levels in the game don’t feel compromised in any way and work perfectly well when playing on your own. You can also swap characters between levels if you wish, and a few bonus acts focus on specific characters, being fully built around their traits. Level design is great in Superstars, having lots of alternative routes and featuring lots of gimmicks. There is no reliance on blind jumps, although some obstacles can be difficult to avoid. Most missed jumps and falls will send you down to slower routes. You will eventually reach bottomless pits, but they feel well deserved rather than cheap tricks. Chaos Emeralds have a bigger use in gameplay than in previous games, as each one (found by entering hidden rings and completing a decent special stage) will provide Sonic (or Tails, Knuckles or Amy – plus a new character you can unlock) with a new ability, which can be activated during a stage. These abilities are interesting and fun, but aren’t integrated into the game very well and I found myself completely forgetting about the system – but on the other side of things, it also means they don’t get in the way either (in a way that some people feel Wisps did). The biggest issue with Sonic Superstars is the bosses. In terms of design, they’re a nice mix of different and interesting bosses, however as the game was designed for co-op, you can only hit them once during an attack sequence – no getting any sneaky extra hits in. The bosses spend most of their time invincible as you wait far too long between potential attacks. To make matters worse, some bosses are extremely long with platforming sections in between each stage, with no checkpoints throughout the entire thing. The frustrating thing is that it wouldn’t take much to change the bosses into incredibly fun ones. Sonic Superstars is an extremely solid 2D Sonic game and feels like a great modern take on that style of gameplay (as opposed to Mania keeping things more in the past). It’s a shame that the bosses spoil the fun, as if those were improved, Superstars would be among the best Sonic games.

Yup, the Attack Scarf. By far, the best accessory for Mario. Boosts all of his stats by 30, and also protects against instant death attacks. Only Mario can wear it. Combine it with the second best piece of armour, and it makes him almost invincible, with little downside. Unfortunately, the best armour is what you get for 100 jumps... That's 85 jumps with a 3 frame window. Even I'm not that loony to go for it!

It's 2024! Hope you all have a fabulous year.

You know, deep down, I deserved to win that time. Don't be such a blowhard!