Your 2016 Gaming Diary

Sheikah · March 13, 2016

Finished Super Mario World via the Wii U VC (SNES Version) yesterday, I'd of liked to have played it on the SNES but I had it on the Wii so upgraded it for £1.50.

Anyway, playing this straight after Super Mario Bros.3, just wow. Nintendo were on fire here, they improved on nearly everything (I'll come back to that) that made 3 great.

Super Mario World is the greatest Mario 2D platformer. Hell, its probably Nintendo's greatest 2D Platformer.

The music and the level design are fantastic, a great mix of challenging yet fun levels. The special world levels, Jesus, they tested me.

One thing 3 has over World is the suits. Where is the Tanooki, Frog & Hammer Suits? I don't care for the bloody cape.

Next up, Super Mario Bros.2

QFT, SMW represents the pinnacle of 2D Mario. Nothing short of genius on display in that game.

I absolutely loved the cape, personally. It felt really cool to control.

nekunando · March 13, 2016

Super Mario World is the greatest Mario 2D platformer. Hell, its probably Nintendo's greatest 2D Platformer..

I certainly can't argue with that.. it's an unbelievable game and one of my absolute favourites :yay:

I don't care for the bloody cape..

I can, however, argue with that.. but only a little :heh: I love the cape in Super Mario World but one concession I will make on it is that it is all too easy to fly over a considerable number of levels and miss out on all the challenge and obstacles those stages may provide.

In fact, I believe that this is one of the reasons it has never returned!

drahkon · March 14, 2016

Made some progress with Assault Android Cactus. I think I've reached the final boss. But it's kicking my ass :laughing:

As soon as I'm done with the campaign I'll take a break from this game. I really want to get the Platinum, but it's gonna be a very difficult challenge. It's a great game, but I'm not in the mood to try and master a game right now. Think I'll wait for the Vita version. : peace:

I'm playing Persona 4 Golden, as well. It will probably take me a long time to finish this as I only play this for 30-60 minutes every two days or so

Call of Duty: Black Ops III Multiplayer is still the game I play most these days. Absolutely love it.

Currently Playing

____________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) long-term playthrough

Flame Over (PSVita) long-term playthrough

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) long-term playthrough

Persona 4 Golden (PSVita)

Assault Android Cactus (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

February

________________________________________________

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 2

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)

Peggle 2 (PS4)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Cadence+Melody Zones 1-4; Cadence All-Zones-Mode

March

________________________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Melody+Bard All-Zones-Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 4

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

Limbo (PS4)

Put on hold

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

Divinity: Original Sin (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

**Fierce_LiNk** · March 14, 2016

I'm playing through Tokyo Jungle on PS Now and I'm having a fantastic time with it. It's just fun. Some may say repetitive, but I like it a lot.

Looking forward to putting more time into it. Think I'm 5 chapters into the story mode, of which there are 14.

RedShell · March 15, 2016

I'm playing through Tokyo Jungle on PS Now and I'm having a fantastic time with it. It's just fun. Some may say repetitive, but I like it a lot.

Looking forward to putting more time into it. Think I'm 5 chapters into the story mode, of which there are 14.

Tokyo Jungle is one of my favourite PS3 games, absolutely love it. Wasn't too keen on some of the later chapters in story mode, but survival mode is legendary. Reaching 100+ years on that is so intense! :cool:

Glad to hear you're enjoying it.

BTW, there were rumors of a PS4 sequel going around a while back, here's hoping it'll happen.

Anyway, I finished Binary Domain the other day.

Super cheesy and action packed stuff, so I really enjoyed it :grin: but performance issues let it down a lot. :hmm: Man, the frame rate would often hit single figures! If ever a game needed remastering on current gen platforms, it be this one. Would love to play it at 1080p/60fps. :cool:

Also had a marathon session on Transformers: Devastation over the weekend, where I went through the story with the rest of the Autobots.

Including Grimlock, who I will never use again! :laughing: Yeah, his dino mode is annoying as hell, and you have to tap circle to dash, which actually messes up some of the context sensitive actions. :heh:

Tell you what though, this is an incredibly fun game to replay/speed run.

I also finished a playthrough on Commander difficulty last night, and completed all of the challenge missions.

Just some collectibles left to find and a few of the no damage silver trophies to get and I'll be 1 away from the platinum. It's highly unlikely that I'll be able to SS Rank the entire game on commander, but will give it a go. :hehe:

Had I played this game last year it would've easily made my top 10. Phenomenal game. :bowdown:

Beat:

in January:____________

Yakuza 5 (PS3) started in 2015

Little Battlers eXperience (3DS) started in 2015

Hardware: Rivals (PS4+)

in February:____________

Dragon Quest Heroes (PS4)

Rocket League (PS4+) beat in 2015

Radio Hammer (3DS)

Horizon Chase (iOS)

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (PS3+)

in March:____________

Transformers: Devastation (PS4)

Super Stardust HD (PS3+)

Binary Domain (PS3)

Total: 11

Yet to start:

-

Unfinished:

-

Stopped playing:

Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U) started in 2015

Hero-of-Time · March 15, 2016

It's highly unlikely that I'll be able to SS Rank the entire game on commander, but will give it a go.

There's a nice little work around for this, if a little tedious. You just create a back up save on a memory stick/cloud whenever you get a SS/S on a chapter. If you fail to get one on the next chapter you can then just reload from your back up.

You can also you a stupidly low level weapon and then do a dodge and do a crazy amount of headshots before the enemy blows up. It's supposed to make SS ranks very easy once you get the timing down.

Do it, @RedShell. Get that platinum!

**Rummy** · March 15, 2016

It felt like I was playing the game for the first time and you know what, it was amazing. This game holds up so well.

Breezed through the first 6 worlds but jesus christ, the difficulty level spikes with World 7 and 8.

Was this Yoshi's first appearance as he showed up as the King for World 7?

Anyway, what should I play next, Super Mario Bros.2 or Super Mario World??

I've done a few SMB3 runs in the last 10 years or so, and it's a game I don't think I appreciated enough as a kid(playing it for the first time in All-Stars, which we had after SMW and in which I preferred SMB2 at the time) but I think as I've gotten older I've really appreciated it more. Def agree with the difficulty jump - I struggled a lot with W5 as a kid, and felt 6 was trickyish, but 7 was just the worst. I'm better now I'm older but still hate the idea of even going through world 7! Out of curiosity were there any stages you found un-completable, that you ended up Jugem's Clouding them?

Aaaas for what next. Hmm. SMW is great(tried to marathon it in a day with mates last year...it became grindy and less fun than I planned though we did get to like world 5/6). However I'd say go for SMB2 next, then go for SMW after. Save the best til last

EDIT: Nvm! See you went for SMW! Didn't see the last page of the thread properly.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Rummy

Hero-of-Time · March 15, 2016

Aaaas for what next. Hmm. SMW is great(tried to marathon it in a day with mates last year...it became grindy and less fun than I planned though we did get to like world 5/6). However I'd say go for SMB2 next, then go for SMW after. Save the best til last

He finished Super Mario World the other day and is now working his way through SMB2, which he really isn't enjoying.

RedShell · March 15, 2016

There's a nice little work around for this, if a little tedious. You just create a back up save on a memory stick/cloud whenever you get a SS/S on a chapter. If you fail to get one on the next chapter you can then just reload from your back up.

You can also you a stupidly low level weapon and then do a dodge and do a crazy amount of headshots before the enemy blows up. It's supposed to make SS ranks very easy once you get the timing down.

Do it, @RedShell. Get that platinum!

Hehe. Cheers for the tips.

I enjoy the gameplay way too much to attempt it like that though. I'll either earn it the hard way, or not at all.

BTW, did you ever make a start on the game? Seeing as you ended up enjoying Bayonetta, you should love this.

Hero-of-Time · March 15, 2016

BTW, did you ever make a start on the game? Seeing as you ended up enjoying Bayonetta, you should love this.

Not yet. I know it's a short game but I just can't be chewed with it. I think the trophies are putting me off from playing it.

**Rummy** · March 15, 2016

He finished Super Mario World the other day and is now working his way through SMB2, which he really isn't enjoying.

Ahhh, my editing was not quite Ninja enough! Tbh I wondered if it might have been the case, and hence was thinking to suggest SMB2 before SMW. I love all of them for their different aspects, but I think SMW still holds the closest place to my heart of those from around that time.

Though sticking on the Mario and seeing you've played through a number of the GBA remake versions recently - how do you feel they compare? They made some little changes iirc(some making the games easier too) but I generally enjoyed them despite that. The collectables aspect added to SMB2 definitely gave me a bit of extra value for it too though.

Hero-of-Time · March 15, 2016

Ahhh, my editing was not quite Ninja enough! Tbh I wondered if it might have been the case, and hence was thinking to suggest SMB2 before SMW. I love all of them for their different aspects, but I think SMW still holds the closest place to my heart of those from around that time.

Though sticking on the Mario and seeing you've played through a number of the GBA remake versions recently - how do you feel they compare? They made some little changes iirc(some making the games easier too) but I generally enjoyed them despite that. The collectables aspect added to SMB2 definitely gave me a bit of extra value for it too though.

I really enjoyed all of them.

The visual upgrades and little touches that are made throughout the games are great. The added collectables for Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 2 add some length to the games and the inclusion of the eReader stuff on Super Mario Bros. 3 is fantastic.

drahkon · March 15, 2016

Started playing Salt and Sanctuary on PS4. First thoughts are in the dedicated thread : peace:

Currently Playing

____________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) long-term playthrough

Flame Over (PSVita) long-term playthrough

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) long-term playthrough

Persona 4 Golden (PSVita)

Assault Android Cactus (PS4)

Salt and Sanctuary (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

February

________________________________________________

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 2

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)

Peggle 2 (PS4)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Cadence+Melody Zones 1-4; Cadence All-Zones-Mode

March

________________________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Melody+Bard All-Zones-Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 4

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

Limbo (PS4)

Put on hold

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

Divinity: Original Sin (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

**lostmario** · March 15, 2016

I've done a few SMB3 runs in the last 10 years or so, and it's a game I don't think I appreciated enough as a kid(playing it for the first time in All-Stars, which we had after SMW and in which I preferred SMB2 at the time) but I think as I've gotten older I've really appreciated it more. Def agree with the difficulty jump - I struggled a lot with W5 as a kid, and felt 6 was trickyish, but 7 was just the worst. I'm better now I'm older but still hate the idea of even going through world 7! Out of curiosity were there any stages you found un-completable, that you ended up Jugem's Clouding them?

I enjoyed World 7 the most just for the fact the difficulty level spiked. It made it such a challenging set of levels to complete which on completion was really satisfying.

I don't think I clouded any of the levels, trying to remember if I did now.

Jonnas · March 16, 2016

Woot!

Nice, finally managed to defeat the final boss without dying!

Which game am I talking about? The one nobody besides me is playing. You're missing out on something great, I can tell you that much.

Freedom Planet

Audio

Donut%20Steel_zpswbrd0mzr.png

"Have I mentioned I'm not a Hedgehog?"

I've wanted to play this game ever since I heard about it, so I bought it on GOG as soon as I saw it on sale. I tried playing this back in November, but my PC decided to act all pouty, refusing to open GOG installers. Long story short, I have a new PC, and I played this. In fact, I finished it a month or so ago, but wanted to get the achievements as well.

So yeah, Freedom Planet is hyped as being the Shovel Knight of 16/32-bit platformers, and I find that to be a very accurate assessment. Taking cues from Sonic, Megaman X, Gunstar Heroes, Rocket Knight Adventures and even Yoshi's Island, this game really understands how to be fun.

You have 3 playable characters who all feel different from one another, creative level design, memorable bosses, plenty of collectibles, genuinely satisfying achievements...

Oh, and an incredibly catchy soundtrack

Audio

This game is so retro, I even found a place I wasn't supposed to reach

I didn't fully complete it: I haven't played the Hard modes yet. I was going to, but with DLC characters on the way, I think I'll save those runs for that release.

So yeah, I highly recommend this game. It was the first* game I finished in 2016, and it's better than any of the ones I played in 2015.

Played/Beat/Completed:

-Freedom Planet Beaten (Last played: 15th March)

Currently Playing:

-Deponia: The Complete Journey

-Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

*Technically, it isn't, but more on that on the next update

**Rummy** · March 16, 2016

I enjoyed World 7 the most just for the fact the difficulty level spiked. It made it such a challenging set of levels to complete which on completion was really satisfying.

I don't think I clouded any of the levels, trying to remember if I did now.

Was just Was just curious - I remember we skipped a few as kids, but the notable one was the World 8 fortress. Was years before I actually ever beat it properly, and I'm sure when I got Marcamillian to play through he actually thought it might be impossible :p

Hero-of-Time · March 16, 2016

This isn't one for the completed list as it was already on last years list. I wanted my 100th platinum to be a game I love and something special so I had to knuckle down and do around 12 hours of sphere grid grinding.

It is finally done! :bouncy:

My 100th Platinum!

drahkon · March 17, 2016

Congrats @Hero\-of\-Time :bowdown: What's your next goal, then? :p

I managed to beat the final boss on Assault Android Cactus just now. Man, the game is quite difficult. But still very enjoyable. As I've said earlier, I'm not in the mood to master the game, so getting the Platinum is on hold for quite some time.

Currently Playing

____________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) long-term playthrough

Flame Over (PSVita) long-term playthrough

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) long-term playthrough

Persona 4 Golden (PSVita)

Salt and Sanctuary (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

February

________________________________________________

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 2

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)

Peggle 2 (PS4)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Cadence+Melody Zones 1-4; Cadence All-Zones-Mode

March

________________________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Melody+Bard All-Zones-Mode

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 4

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

Limbo (PS4)

Assault Android Cactus (PS4)

Put on hold

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

Divinity: Original Sin (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

Hero-of-Time · March 18, 2016

I decided to put my new gadget through its paces and played through World of Illusion (MegaDrive) this evening. Still can't get over how good the games now look on my TV!

Classic game! I haven't played this since I was just a kid. It's kind of nice to play a game like this again. No trophies to hunt, no HUD with an array of options, just pure platforming fun.

The game can be punishing by today's standards. Losing all of your lives sends you to the continue menu. Selecting continue sends you back to the start of the world you're currently on. It reminded me of a time when you had to learn the layout of levels and enemies. Too many games just dish out lives left and right these days. Yes, I'm aware I sound like Cranky Kong!

It was great playing through various Disney settings. The shark boss from the Little Mermaid gave me a beating. The thing is probably the hardest boss in the game. Even the last boss was a pushover compared to him!

It's just a shame the game is a little short. Although you can play through it again as the other character if you want.

I may have a crack at Castle of Illusion or Quackshot tomorrow.

Edited March 18, 2016 by Hero-of-Time

**Fierce_LiNk** · March 18, 2016

I decided to put my new gadget through its paces and played through World of Illusion (MegaDrive) this evening. Still can't get over how good the games now look on my TV!

Classic game! I haven't played this since I was just a kid. It's kind of nice to play a game like this again. No trophies to hunt, no HUD with an array of options, just pure platforming fun.

The game can be punishing by today's standards. Losing all of your lives sends you to the continue menu. Selecting continue sends you back to the start of the world you're currently on. It reminded me of a time when you had to learn the layout of levels and enemies. Too many games just dish out lives left and right these days. Yes, I'm aware I sound like Cranky Kong!

It was great playing through various Disney settings. The shark boss from the Little Mermaid gave me a beating. The thing is probably the hardest boss in the game. Even the last boss was a pushover compared to him!

It's just a shame the game is a little short. Although you can play through it again as the other character if you want.

I may have a crack at Castle of Illusion or Quackshot tomorrow.

This was one of my favourite games when I was growing up.

I fucking loved the Disney theme and the music. Played this over and over again because I loved it so much.

Why did I have to grow up?! :shakehead :cry: :weep:

**lostmario** · March 19, 2016

Finished Super Mario Bros 2 last night.

I abandoned my playthrough earlier in the week as I was just not enjoying it but I gave it another go last night and got the last few worlds done.

It actually turned into an OK game by the end, the level design on the last few worlds was really good with some great boss battles.

At times it doesn't feel like a Mario game with a few of the enemies looking out of place in the Mario world.

Its crazy it took me so long to play this properly and finish it.

We had this on the NES and I played 1 & 3 instead, same when we got All Stars on the SNES.

I am glad that I finally played through the game.

Anyway, the ending is superb with Mario sleeping and all the cast of the game being shown and named.

drahkon · March 19, 2016

My girlfriend and I completed an All-Zones-Mode-Co-op-Run on Crypt of the Necrodancer yesterday. Actually she did most of the job because I took a ring that caused me to die in one hit (if you transmute this ring it becomes a +1 to all stats ring). :laughing:

Was great fun

Made some progress with Persona 4 Golden. 10 hours in, I'm grinding a bit. There's an (I assume) optional boss but he can kill my entire party in one hit. Not sure if I'll be able to beat it in the near future. Let's see if I can create a couple of great Personas to help.

I'm in the mood for a rather short game (3-5 hours) to complete, but have no idea which one I should play.

Currently Playing

____________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) long-term playthrough

Flame Over (PSVita) long-term playthrough

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) long-term playthrough

Persona 4 Golden (PSVita)

Salt and Sanctuary (PS4)

Completed

____________________________________

January

________________________________________________

Bastion (PS4/PSVita)

Tearaway (PSVita)

Transistor (PS4)

Life is Strange (PS4)

Ether One (PS4)

Tales from the Borderlands (PS4)

Defense Grid 2 (PS4)

Grimd Fandango Remastered (PS4)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4)

Rogue Legacy (PSVita) "last-trophy-run"

Dust: An Elysian Tale (PS4)

February

________________________________________________

The Wolf Among Us (PS4)

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 2

Super Mario 3D World (WiiU)

Peggle 2 (PS4)

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Cadence+Melody Zones 1-4; Cadence All-Zones-Mode

March

________________________________________________

Crypt of the Necrodancer (PS4/PSVita) Melody+Bard All-Zones-Mode; All-Zones-Mode Co-op

Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer (PS4) reached Prestige 4

The Unfinished Swan (PS4)

Limbo (PS4)

Assault Android Cactus (PS4)

Put on hold

____________________________________

GTA: Vice City (PS4)

Divinity: Original Sin (PS4)

This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PS4)

**lostmario** · March 20, 2016

Another Mario game beaten, this time Super Mario Bros.

With 2,3 & World beaten, it made sense to revisit this classic.

Still a joy to play, once again the difficulty spikes with World 8. World 8-3 I think I lost all my lives on due to the Hammer Bros being an absolute pain.

It has been a joy to play the SNES so much over the last week or so.

Next up, Yoshi's Island

Esequiel · March 20, 2016

Did you finish super Mario world properly with all 96 exits? It's still solid!

Mario 2 I always found to be fantastic, it was never intended to be a Mario game which always made the game itself more interesting to me and it shows with the different mechanics. Also, wart is a bad ass.

I'm playing Super Mario world 2 at the minute, it's great to finally own it but when the baby starts crying I want to throw the SNES through the window.

I found a decent retro shop in Sheffield @lostmario and another one in chesterfield.

Hero-of-Time · March 20, 2016

Finished Pokken Tournament (Wii U) yesterday.

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Decent game but let down with how the story mode is handled. Rather than having short snappy campaigns with each character, the whole thing is one giant mode, with fight after fight against the same Pokemon. Dunno why they just didn't stick with the Tekken/Street Fighter formula or if they wanted to try and be different they should have taken a page out of Project Justice or Tech Romancers book.

After your text yesterday, @lostmario I also started Yoshi's Island (Wii U VC).

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