Category Archives: Games played

July Games 2020

July Games

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Completions, plural! Had to happen eventually I suppose, particularly as I’ve been playing two of these games for ages.

Games completed this month

Spider-Man GOTY - July Games

Spider-man – PS4

First of my completions this month, I finished the main story on Spider-man. I know a lot of my friends got so into this that they went for the full 100% completion. Unfortunately it suffers from far too much open-world “busy work” for my liking, and I didn’t enjoy the combat enough to persevere through repetitive ‘hideouts’ etc. I did really like the rest of the game though, and very much looking forward to playing the Miles Morales game on PlayStation 5.

This is the physical copy* of the Game of the Year edition I have, although I bought it digitally from the PlayStation Store.

Modern Warfare - June Games

Modern Warfare – PC

Also managed to finish the Modern Warfare campaign this month. Very much enjoyed it, nothing too imaginative but a good all round experience. Still dipping into the multiplayer occasionally, but I didn’t enjoy Warzone. Tetris 99 remains the only Battle Royale game I care about.

I think you can only buy the PC version direct from Battle.net, but you can get the console editions here*

FAR: Lone Sails - PC - June Games

FAR: Lone Sails – PC

Played the entirety of this during July, although to be fair it is about 3 hours long. Very pretty and compelling little adventure with some fairly straightforward puzzles. It’s a bit like Limbo in how it plays. Enjoyed it, but tough to recommend unless you can get it cheap, there isn’t a lot here.

Games played during July

Super Puzzle Fighter - PS3

Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix – PS3

Great to dust this one off for a bit of two player battle. The PS3 version is pretty nice even if my usual default is to play the Saturn version.

Porsche Challenge - July Games

Porsche Challenge – PS1 (Played on PS3)

This was being talked about again on Twitter and I had a real craving to revisit it. It holds up really well although it is taking me a bit of time to get used to the difficulty again.

51 Worldwide Games - Switch

51 Worldwide Classics – Switch

Enjoying this, although the online doesn’t seem quite as well put together as it could be. Hopefully they’ll continue to improve it with updates.

I think I ordered from shopto.net to get a free notebook and pen (because stationary) but is also available on Amazon*

Super Arcade Racing - PC

Super Arcade Racing – PC

As mentioned last month, this is one I played at Rezzed in 2019. I’ve been playing a bit of the single player story mode. The story is a mildly amusing excuse to have a load of races. The racing itself is great fun though, would be nice to play it with some friends, but quite happy continuing with just the single player for now.

Project Highrise - July Games

Project Highrise – PC

Don’t even remember when I picked this up, but I was just looking for something a bit laid back to play and I was taken by the idea of a Skyscraper sim. Seems pretty good, and had an enjoyable hour or so with it. Think I made some mistakes early on though, might be worth reading up a bit if you’re going to put any amount of time into the game. I think

I’m playing on PC, but it can be had cheaply via Amazon* on the consoles. Well cheap on Xbox or PS4, and twice as much on Switch…

July Pick-ups

8bitdo Wireless Core Grafx Mini Controller

8bitdo Wireless Core Grafx Mini Pad

Pre-ordered last month, and it turned up in July. Very pleased to report that this works perfectly with no noticeable input delay. Played around with a couple of shmups to test and I am very happy with this controller.

Amazon link*

MicroSD Card - July Games

128GB MicroSD Card – PSTV

Okay so buying a MicroSD isn’t very interesting in itself, however, last weekend of July I finally sat down and installed Custom Firmware on both my PS Vita and PSTV. Some months ago I picked up 2 SD2Vita adaptors to get around the pricey storage issue with these devices. I have installed this 128GB card in the PSTV and installed a bunch of my favourite PlayStation 1 games on there (along with a few standout PSP games) pretty pleased with it overall. Not sure whether I’ll install any emulators or anything on either device yet, we’ll see.

This is the micro sd card* and although I got mine from eBay, this looks like the SD2Vita* adaptors I have.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

June Games

June Games

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Late again and back to zero completions. Yay. I have now added a new section called pre-orders though as apparently that’s also something I do.

Games played during June

April Games 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch

Yep, the more things change the more they stay the same. I’m still enjoying this, and do have a few more things I want to finish before I’m ready to stop playing. Not least catching all the bugs and fish now that I’ve finally completed the fossils in my museum.

It seems both Switches, and the game are in relatively short supply at the moment, although you can at least pick up a download code from Amazon*. Won’t help if you don’t have the console though!

Dead Storm Pirates - PS3

Dead Storm Pirates – PS3

We were in the mood for a light gun fix and rather than the usual House of the Dead session, we fancied something different. Deadstorm Pirates is a fantastic arcade port, and really fun with PS Move controllers.

Modern Warfare - June Games

Modern Warfare – PC

Managed a couple of sessions online in June, but did not get much value out of my Season Pass for Season 3 (I will not be paying for the new Season 4). It’s still great fun in multiplayer though and I have crept a little further through the campaign too.

I think you can only buy the PC version direct from Battle.net, but you can get the console editions here*

Laytons Mystery Journey - June Games

Layton’s Mystery Journey – Switch

Picked this up again after I inexplicably stopped playing before. Have progressed quite a bit so hope to stick with it.

Amazon link*

June Pick-ups

Vasara Collection - Switch

Vasara Collection – Switch

My ongoing mission to buy all the games that can be played vertically using the flip grip on Switch (but still only play Animal Crossing) continues. Much like last month, this popped up in a sale for less than the price of a beer.

Civilization 6 Expansion Bundle - Switch

Civilization VI DLC Pack – Switch

Couldn’t resist picking this bundle up when it went on sale. Heard so many people tell me how much better the game is with the expansions. Now I just have to get round to playing it again.

PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini

Core Grafx Mini

It arrived, and it’s fantastic! As discussed back in April I’ve been waiting for this for a while. So pleased with it, finding great games I’ve never played before and it all feels very polished. Excellent.

Amazon link*

C&C Remastered - PC

Command & Conquer Remastered – PC

Given the relative disappointment many people had with the remastering of Warcraft 3, I held back my expectations for this. Need not have worried though, it is superb. Very much enjoying playing the original C&C campaign properly (back in the day I only really played Red Alert). I’m hoping to perhaps get some multiplayer skirmishes happening too.

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality – Itch.io – PC

This was such an obvious bargain that it was impossible to ignore. As it happened all the money went to a great cause too. I’ve never been much of a fan of itch.io as a platform, but glad to have picked this up. Now just need to find a way to navigate the 1000+ included games.

51 Worldwide Games - Switch

51 Worldwide Classics – Switch

Really pleased with this too, 42 All-Time Classics was one of my favourite and most played Nintendo DS games, so happy they’ve brought this premise back.

I think I ordered from shopto.net to get a free notebook and pen (because stationary) but is also available on Amazon*

Wireless Retrobit Mega Drive Pad

After receiving the Saturn one of these for my birthday last month I was keen to get this one for my Mega Drive. Very pleased to report it is equally impressive and I’m now enjoying wireless 16 bit gaming from the sofa.

Available on Amazon*

Beyond Blue - PC

Beyond Blue – PC

Played the demo of this back at Rezzed last year where it was my game of the show. I haven’t got round to playing it yet and thanks to the generous £10 off any games vouchers from Epic, I think this was also my first purchase from the Epic Games Store.

Duke Nukem 3D - Switch

Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour – Switch

Didn’t even know this was coming, and it launched for around £3. I’m not the biggest fan of the game, but I do have some fond memories of it and was happy to pay that price to have it available on my Switch.

Sonic the Fighters - Xbox 360/One - June Games

Sonic the Fighters – Xbox 360 / Xbox One

Yeah. It was £1.60. Not entirely sure why I bought it, but still. It’s not as bad as it sounds.

FAR: Lone Sails - PC - June Games

FAR: Lone Sails – PC

I know nothing about this other than it looked pretty and sounded intriguing. Was in the Steam sale so I grabbed it along with the game below.

Super Arcade Racing - PC

Super Arcade Racing – PC

Also one I played at Rezzed in 2019, I’d almost forgot about it when it popped up in the Steam sale for £2. Really good fun and hope I get a chance to play some local multiplayer split-screen on it.

Pre-orders

Madden 21 - PS4

Madden 2021 – PS4

Very much out of character for me, it is very rare I buy a sports game at launch. However, the pandemic has meant I’ve been really missing sports and now really fancy playing a season or two of madden with my buddy. As it happens we’re both intending to get launch PS5 consoles, and EA have announced you can get the PS5 version of the game as a free upgrade if you buy the PS4 edition. Happy to pre-order on the basis that it’ll be a game for my new console when it arrives too.

8bitdo Wireless Core Grafx Mini Controller

8bitdo Wireless Core Grafx Mini Pad

Although the mini console itself came out last month, there is still a delay on the official second controllers. After gaining those wireless pads for my Saturn and Mega Drive I really fancied a wireless one for this too. I saw this one up for pre-order, releasing before the official wired one, and for the same price. I’ve therefore switched my order over and am looking forward to it turning up. I’m a bit skeptical about quality as my other 8bitdo pad is unreliable at best, but that one has dual analogue sticks and relies on bluetooth. Hoping this one is better having a more simplistic setup and dedicated dongle. Fingers crossed!

Amazon link*

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

Streets of Rage 4 Header Image

May Games

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An actual completion, and a bit more variety in the game playing department. Pretty late with my post again though.

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” Douglas Adams.

Completed this month

Streets of Rage 4 - Xbox One - GamePass

Streets of Rage 4 – GamePass

What a great game this is, girlfriend and I finally managed to beat the last boss. We’re still playing it though, and now working on unlocking all the other classic playable characters. Excellent fun.

Games played during May

April Games 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch

Predictably I’m still playing this everyday with no end in sight. Patiently waiting for them to bring along Brewster in an update though.

It seems both Switches, and the game are in relatively short supply at the moment, although you can at least pick up a download code from Amazon*. Won’t help if you don’t have the console though!

April Games - Chess Ultra

Chess Ultra – PC & Switch

Enjoying playing chess again, and the asynchronous gameplay is handy for playing with my friend when we’re not both online. Still really annoying there is no notification for when it’s your go though, you have to periodically load it up to check. Ho-hum.

SNK Gals Fighter - Switch

SNK Gals Fighters – Switch

Have spent a bit of time with this now, and am really convinced we need more of the Neo Geo Pocket library bringing to Switch. Bring them all, and I’ll buy them!

Power Rangers DLC - Season One - Switch

Power Rangers: Battle For the Grid – Switch

Thanks to my new Cronus Zen (detailed below) I now have use of my Hori arcade stick on my Switch. Great excuse to revisit Power Rangers and play some of the story mode.

Spider-Man GOTY - May Games

Spider-Man – PS4

As mentioned below, this month I bought a new TV. As yet I don’t have any 4K capable games machines, I’ll probably hold out for a PS5 for that now. However, I do have some games that support HDR on my existing consoles, so I finally got round to starting Spider-Man. Really enjoying this and so far it does live up to the hype. We’ll see if in a month or two it shows up on my completion list.

Now pretty cheap on Amazon*

SEGA Ages Fantasy Zone - February Games

Fantasy Zone – Switch

Much as with Power Rangers, I found myself playing a bit of this again once I got my arcade stick running.

Forza Horizon 4 – Xbox One

Felt the urge to do some racing this month, and went back to Forza Horizon 4 to pick up where I left off in the LEGO DLC. Made a lot of good progress, not sure if I’ll 100% it though, for that I’ll have to do all the drifting challenges and we all know those are rubbish.

Pac-man 256 - PC

Pacman 256 – PC

A few of my friends starting playing this recently, and although I picked it up years ago, I’m not sure I ever spent any real time with it. Have enjoyed an hour or so of high score chasing but not sure I’ll stick with it.

May Pick-ups

New Television - May Games

New Television

As the pandemic crisis continues, so does the cancellation of public events. Over the last few years I’ve been regularly attending the NFL London games, and have held a season ticket each year. As they’ve now been cancelled for 2020, I decided to put the money I would have spent on tickets, travel and beer towards a new TV. As it happens I think I have enough left over to pick up NFL GamePass when the season starts up.

It was also an opportunity to tidy up the wiring behind the consoles, and in doing so I also packed up a number of systems I wasn’t playing as much. They’re still easily accessible in the loft should I fancy playing anything from them, but for now my Dreamcast, Wii, original Xbox and PS2 are removed from the permanent lineup. (To be fair the N64 only survived because it shares a SCART block with the Saturn and Mega Drive so wasn’t adding much extra cabling.

For anyone interested, it’s a 55″ LG LED 4K HDR screen and my Mega Drive looks fantastic on it via the OSSC*. Haha.

Aero Fighters 2 - Switch

Aero Fighters 2 – Switch

Another one that can be played vertically on the flipgrip, this was on sale for silly money so seemed a good time to pick it up.

Mini Trains - Switch

Mini Trains – Switch

Speaking of silly money, this was 80p. Haven’t played it yet, trains though.

Looking for Heals - PC

Looking for Heals – PC (Early Access)

I’ve been intrigued by this for a while. A single player dungeon crawler type game, where you play as a healer. Not sure how well it’ll play but as a healer main in games like World of Warcraft, I’m looking forward to finding out.

Cronus Zen

Cronus Zen

My buddy hooked me up with an early release of these, following a discussion about controllers on Instagram. Much like the CronusMax I bought back in 2015 and discussed on my cross-platform peripherals post, the Cronus Zen is a tool for allowing you to use a variety of controllers on games systems they weren’t intended for. It also has a secondary (to me) function in modding & presumably cheating in games, in the style of old school GameShark or Action Replay carts. I do still use my CronusMax to use my 360 arcade stick on my Xbox One, now with this Cronus Zen I can also use it on the Switch. Result.

The Cronus Zen is available direct from Cronus and well worth looking into if you want to use a favourite controller on other systems.

Dragon Blaze - Switch

Dragon Blaze – Switch

Another sale, another vertical shmup for the Switch. This one has dragons though! I did regret buying this immediately afterwards when I realised it was included in a bundle of other shmups I could have bought instead. Oh well, I did realise before I bought Gunbird 1 & 2 as well, so I may still pick up those bundles later.

Puzzle Bobble 2 - Switch

Puzzle Bobble 2 – Switch

Yeah I cracked and paid full price for this, because as covered in my Puzzle Games round up, I love this game and really wanted to play on the Switch. This is a nice “no-frills” arcade port, and I’ve had fun with it already. Even if the old Saturn version is still the better option.

SEGA AGES Thunder Force AC - Switch

Thunder Force AC – Switch

Another fantastic SEGA AGES release on Switch, pretty much buying all these of games I like, to encourage more games receiving the SEGA AGES treatment. Unlike the Neo Geo ports above, these are very polished releases, with often extra content or quality of life improvements added.

RetroBit Saturn Wireless Pad

Wireless Retrobit Saturn Pad

This was a birthday gift, and is fantastic. Playing on my SEGA Saturn with a high quality modern wireless controller in 2020 feels a lot like witchcraft. Think I’ll treat myself to the Mega Drive one as well next. So very, very good.

Available on Amazon*

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

April Games Header

April Games

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Cheating a bit on the completions as I’m going to still be playing the game for a while. Managed to pick up a bunch more games as usual though, as well as some pre-loved bargains.

Completed this month

April Games 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch

As I said, not much of a completion as there is still lots to do, but I finished the “story” to get K.K. Slider playing a concert and roll the credits. Counts for me. (If only so I can claim to at least have finished one game this year!)

It seems both Switches, and the game are in relatively short supply at the moment, although you can at least pick up a download code from Amazon*. Won’t help if you don’t have the console though!

Games played during April

Modern Warfare - February Games

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – PC

Still my multiplayer game of choice, really is so very polished. Didn’t manage to play any more Overwatch sadly. Also thought about going back for a go on Destiny 2 but didn’t do that either. Oh well.

You can pick up the Xbox One and PS4 versions on Amazon*. I think the PC version is only available digitally, I personally grabbed a code from Green Man Gaming, where it was on sale.

March Games - Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo Tetris – Switch

Yep, still playing a lot of this of course. Can’t see this changing any time soon.

Switch edition is available here on Amazon* (I also have it on PC and PS4, we just tend to mostly play Switch.

Streets of Rage 2 - Mega Drive

Streets of Rage 2 – Mega Drive

Continuing the theme from last month, the excitement for Streets of Rage 4 is real.

Golden Axe 3 - Mega Drive

Golden Axe III – Mega Drive

As above, we continued the Mega Drive love and played more Golden Axe. These brawlers are still some of the best local cooperative multiplayer games. Man the dragons are pretty sucky in Golden Axe 3 though right?

April Pick-ups

April Games - Chess Ultra

Chess Ultra – PC & Switch

Managed to buy this twice. Was on the look out for a nice new chess game and this had good reviews. It was on sale for a couple of quid on Steam so grabbed it. Shortly after it was heavily reduced on Switch as well which felt the more convienient way to play.

Sisters Royale - Switch

Sisters Royale – Switch

Another game that went on sale for not much at all. It seems to be a well reviewed vertical shmup. To be honest I just grabbed it to play using the flip grip for my Switch. Can see me buying more of these after stumbling across the list of compatible games on this site.

Indie Horror Bundle 1 - Switch

Indie Horror Bundle 1 – Switch

Triple pack of Switch games including Uncanny Valley, Paranautical Activity and Slain: Back from Hell. I’ve seen a lot of these bundles on the Switch eShop, and largely passed them by as they looked a bit suspect. However, I fancied picking up Slain and this bundle being on offer made it ridiculously cheap. Not sure if I’ll play the other two games or not, but I’ll at least have a look.

Streets of Rage 4 - Xbox One - GamePass

Streets of Rage 4 – GamePass

Hurrah, it’s out and has reviewed really well. Can’t wait to get stuck into this. In a very pleasant surprise I was intending to buy this on Switch (and had added £50 credit to my account ready) then a few days before it was due I found out it was going straight onto GamePass for PC and Xbox One. Great result!

Power Rangers DLC - Season One - Switch

Power Rangers: Battle For the Grid DLC 1 – Switch

A sale on this first DLC pass meant I could finally justify (sort of) buying extra characters for a game we barely play. When we do play, I know I want to be able to play as Lord Zedd.

PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini

PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini & Extra Controler (Pre-order)

In April I celebrated completing a formal, work-related, qualification that I had been studying for over the last 12 months alongside working full time. This pre-order is my reward to myself, but the current pandemic means the device has been indefinitely delayed. Hopefully we’ll have a new release date soon. I also ordered a second controller, I anticipate that being worth while if only for Parasol Stars. The device is exlusive to Amazon in the UK but they are still taking pre-orders here*.

Modern Warfare - Season 3

Modern Warfare Season 3 – PC

After enjoying Season 2 I had no problem picking up the new pass. Although I don’t play enough to really make the most of it, I do like having the extra level of unlockables as I play.

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy - Switch

Sphinx & the Cursed Mummy – Switch

Although I picked this up digitally on PC back in November 2018 I couldn’t resist when the physical Switch port popped up for £8.

Not quite as cheap, but still affordable, this is available on Amazon*.

Sine Mora EX - Switch

Sine Mora EX – Switch

When buying Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy I spotted this on the same site also for £8. Really enjoyed it back on the 360 (think I played a bit on PC & maybe Vita too) so couldn’t resist owning it again on Switch.

Wild Guns Reloaded - Switch

Wild Guns Reloaded – Switch

Yep, another sale, another impulse purchase. This lockdown is costing me a fortune. This is apparently a remake of an old SNES game, I never played the original but I’ve heard good things about this update.

SNK Gals Fighter - Switch

SNK Gals Fighters – Switch

Had no idea this port of the Neo Geo Pocket Color (NGPC) game was coming until it was out. I had never played the original Gals Fighters, but I loved my NGPC and the fighting games on there were all very polished. I love how this emulator has been setup with display customisations including being able to pick which model of NGPC is used for the surround (I use the camoflauge blue one, as that’s the version I owned). I really want to see more of these ports – specially Neo Turf Masters and the Capcom vs SNK games. They did port the NGPC version of Samurai Shodown 2 already but it was exclusive to those who pre-ordered the new Samurai Shodown, and I missed it. 🙁

Switch Wireless Pad

Enhanced Wireless Controller – Switch

The wired spare controller I picked up a while back that my girlfriend uses for local multiplayer on the Switch has developed the dreaded ‘drift’. As you can imagine it was ruining Tetris & Puyo Puyo when the controller permanently moves things sideways on its own. Hopefully this one will last longer! I did also want to get it quickly so we were ready for Streets of Rage 4, but that was before we realised we could get the game on GamePass instead.

Retro Game Pads

“Retro” Controllers

A thoughourly nice chap on Twitter was having a clearout, and selling off some bits. I initially just purchased this mint retrobit Sega Saturn controller (along with a boxset of the 80s Willy Fog cartoon not in pic), and he threw in the other two Saturn pads for free. The Xbox Pad S was also from him, and I bought it along with the books below.

Gaming Books
Gaming Books

Gaming Books

Along with all the above controllers, the same guy was clearing out some books. I took the majority of the gaming related ones, the C64 and Neo Geo books are the main ones I wanted but there are plenty of gems here. The MYST, Doom, Master System and Terrible Old Games books were already mine, but all the others in the photos were new to me. I did read Console Wars and Service Games already on my kindle, but it’s nice to have them on the shelf.

Beta Access

As with last year, EGX had again kindly supplied me with a press pass for the upcoming EGX Rezzed event. Although the event has been cancelled due to the pandemic, they have continued to provide me with press packs etc. This has included some keys for early access games.

Empires in Ruins

Empires in Ruins – PC

Of the keys I’ve received, Empires in Ruins was the most appealing to me. It’s a hybrid of Tower Defense and 4X turn based strategy. Looking forward to spending more time with this.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

April Games 2020

March Games

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Still no games completed, rounding off Q1 2020 nicely. I’m also pretty late with this post, but that’s down to a combination of a minor worldwide pandemic meaning I’ve been doing a lot of additional hours at work (albeit from home – stay safe kids) but I’ve also been finishing off my studies. Final assignment was submitted just before Easter, now I’m just waiting to find out if I passed.

We also found time to put out a new bonus “pandemic pod” episode of the podcast. Topical as the team and I discussed games and other tips to get us through the current period of isolation.

Games played during March

Modern Warfare - February Games

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – PC

I’ve continued playing and enjoying this. I made a start on the campaign which is fun so far but I’m still mostly playing the multiplayer. Played one go on the free “battle royale” Warzone mode with my nephew. It’s fine, but dull in the build up like all the other ones. I’d probably play it if I hadn’t bought the full game, but I can’t find a reason to play it when all the other multiplayer modes (not you infection) are more interesting.

You can pick up the Xbox One and PS4 versions on Amazon*. I think the PC version is only available digitally, I personally grabbed a code from Green Man Gaming, where it was on sale.

March Games - Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo Tetris – Switch

“Lockdown” has meant my girlfriend and I have been playing quite a few games together. As ever Puyo Puyo Tetris is the main one, and in the latter half of March we were playing an hour or so every evening.

Switch edition is available here on Amazon* (I also have it on PC and PS4, we just tend to mostly play Switch.

March Games - Overwatch - PC

Overwatch – PC

Managed to get a good session on Overwatch this month, hoping to spend more time with it ahead of Overwatch 2 arriving. Still a fantastic game, although so much has changed since I used to play that it was a bit like starting over. Oh well.

Available from Amazon*

Raging Justice March Games

Raging Justice – PC

We’re looking forward to the arrival of Streets of Rage 4 in this house, and in the meantime we’ve been back to this for our street brawling fix. Still a very enjoyable game but hopefully not much longer to wait for Streets of Rage 4. Looks like it should be out towards the end of April.

March Games - Animal Crossing New Horizons

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch

What I’ve mostly been playing, and will probably still dominate my April and May playtime too. It’s the perfect lockdown game, being very much a gaming “happy place”.

It seems both Switches, and the game are in relatively short supply at the moment, although you can at least pick up a download code from Amazon*. Won’t help if you don’t have the console though!

March Games - Golden Axe - Mega Drive

Golden Axe – Mega Drive

We also returned to this classic for some brawler action in March, and fired up the Mega Drive. We had a good run but we finally fell against the last boss. Maybe next time Death Adder!

If you don’t already have a Mega Drive, you can pick up one of the mini ones (when they’re in stock) from here*. Unlike the previous mini versions of the Mega Drive console, these ones are really good quality and properly support modern televisions. It does have Golden Axe on already.

Tetris 99

Tetris 99 – Switch

Hadn’t been on this for a while, but have been playing a few rounds again in between bouts on Puyo Puyo Tetris. It’s still fantastic.

March Pick-ups

March Games - Black Mesa - PC

Black Mesa – PC

Impulse buy I haven’t played properly yet, this is the remake of the original Half-Life. It’s had some great reviews so hopefully I’ll get round to playing at some point. Maybe after I clear the Modern Warfare campaign…

March Games - LEGO DC Super Villains

LEGO DC Super Villains – Xbox One

Another one brought on by the pandemic. Fancied something substantial I could play co-cooperatively with my girlfriend. We’ve enjoyed a few of the Lego games now, and as our favourite DC characters are Riddler and Penguin, this has already proven quite a success.

All editions are available from Amazon here*, I went for the Xbox One as that’s where we’ve played most of these Lego titles. I’m a bit gutted I don’t have the Amazon DLC as I got mine from GAME. That Black Lightning mini-fig looks pretty cool.

March Games - Squidlit - Nintendo Switch

Squidink – Switch

Just a bit of a curiosity, a modern game created using the original GameBoy palette. Haven’t tried it yet but it was on sale for 80p so thought it was worth a look.

March Games - Doom 64 - Nintendo Switch

Doom 64 – Switch

This almost passed me by, I thought it was only going to be included with pre-orders for the new Doom Eternal game, and since I am waiting to pick that up when I don’t have a backlog of First Person Shooters to play, I thought I’d miss out. However, it appeared for £3.99 on the eshop and some solid reviews so thought I’d give it a go. I’ve done the first couple of levels just to check it out. It holds up well and is very nice on the Switch.

Humble Bundle March

Humble Conquer Covid-19 Bundle – PC

I’m no stranger to Humble Bundles in general, and already owned most of the games in this pack. However it was still worth it for the handful of games I didn’t have, and the money went to a good cause. The headline title was definitely Hollow Knight, yes I’ve played it already but it’s worth shouting about again.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

Fantasy Zone Header - February Games

February Games

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Already a bit concerned about the lack of games completed this year, and given what I’ve mostly been playing that doesn’t look like changing anytime soon. Unless I can stop playing multiplayer stuff for long enough to finish one of these campaign modes…

Games played during February

Modern Warfare - February Games

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – PC

After playing a bunch of online multiplayer on the PS4 version in split-screen at my mates house over Super Bowl weekend, I discovered this had full cross platform multiplayer support. I bought the PC version online while I was in the airport waiting to come home. Have played quite a bit of this now, mostly the multiplayer and maybe an hour of the campaign. It’s fantastic that I can just party up with my friend on his PS4 playing with a pad, which I play with keyboard and mouse on my PC. It was also a nice bonus that when I logged in, all my progress from the weekend on PS4 carried over.

You can pick up the Xbox One and PS4 versions on Amazon*. I think the PC version is only available digitally, I personally grabbed a code from Green Man Gaming, where it was on sale.

Ritual of the Night - September Games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Switch

Still plugging away at this, very happy with the Switch version now and it’s definitely my preferred way to play even given the performance dip versus the other ports.

Various editions available here* from Amazon – and I can now happily also recommend the Switch version too

February Pick-ups

Firewall Zero Hour VR - February Games

Firewall Zero Hour – PSVR

I think I’ve included PS+, Games with Gold and other ‘free’ games in my pickups on previous posts, so I’ll maintain that trend and add this one. I’ve heard good things, and always like to add to the VR library.

SEGA Ages Fantasy Zone - February Games

SEGA Ages Fantasy Zone – Switch

I love Fantasy Zone, and the Master System port made the list of “also-rans” in my All-time Top 5 Games list. So this new addition to the SEGA Ages range on Switch was a no-brainer. It’s a port of the Arcade game and I don’t think I’ve ever cleared that one so I’ll be hoping to rectify that. Further evidence for me needing an arcade stick though, it is not great to control in handheld mode with the joy cons.

Modern Warfare Season 2 - February Games

Modern Warfare Season 2 Pass – PC

Wouldn’t usually go for this sort of content, but knowing I was going to be playing quite a bit of this online for the near future I didn’t mind paying out a few quid for the extra things to unlock as I go. My mate picked it up as well.

Dusk - PC - February Games

Dusk – PC

This popped up on sale and curiosity got the better of me. They’ve really nailed the 90s aesthetic for FPS games of that era. It looks great and plays exactly as those games did. Not entirely sure I’m happy that I paid £11 or whatever for a game that feels 25 years old, but still. It’s certainly polished.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

Header - January Games

January Games

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Fashionably late thanks to me spending last weekend on Super Bowl excitement, here’s a look back at my January gaming.

Games played during January

Demon's Tilt - December Games

Demon’s Tilt – Switch

I’ve carried on with this, and the Switch might be my preferred version too. As expected, now I’ve got the flip grip discussed further down, the system is a perfect fit for pinball.

January Games - Injustice 2

Injustice 2 – PS4

Managed to spend a bit of time playing Injustice 2 with my partner again. After watching the DC animated movie Justice League vs Teen Titans* which I received for Christmas, we were very much in the mood to smash Superman about with a selection of other heroes (and Ninja Turtles).

A Way Out - January Games

A Way Out – PS4

After picking this up back in April 2019 I finally got around to playing some. Along with Phil from the podcast, we’re probably somewhere between 25 – 50% of the way through. Hopefully we can find time for another online session soon.

Destiny 2 – PC

Fell down a bit of a hole with this. I bounced off the PS4 version fairly quickly when it was free with PS+. However with the move to free 2 play, my PC Gaming group were interested in it as something we could be playing together. We’ve only actually had one session where we (unsuccessfully) did some of the PvP stuff, but I stuck with the game and played quite a lot over a couple of weeks. It’s a great game moment to moment, but the MMO trappings mean it’s difficult to feel like there is any sort of end point. I’ll probably ween myself off it to play something with a more straightforward campaign.

WarCraft III Reforged - January Games

Warcraft 3: Reforged – PC

Unlike the rest of the internet apparently, I’m really enjoying this. Granted I wasn’t interested in any multiplayer beyond 2 – 4 player matches for fun with my friend groups, and never really spent much time with the Custom Games. I’m having a good time replaying my favourite RTS story game, with nice looking graphics. Blizzard being Blizzard, they’ll no doubt continue to patch it, but I think we do have to accept they’re just not the company they used to be.

January Pick-ups

Ritual of the Night - September Games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Switch

After considering it last month, I managed to pick up a physical copy of the Switch version with some vouchers I had left over from Christmas. The Switch version has received another performance improvement update, and is now a pretty competent port. It is never going to be as pretty or as smooth as the other versions, but it is now perfectly playable. For me, the convenience of being able to play it handheld makes up for the compromise in quality. I’ve put about 5 hours in now, and pretty much caught up with where I was on the Xbox version.

Various editions available here* from Amazon

Flip Grip - January 2020

Flip Grip – Switch

Soon after posting last months update, I ordered the mentioned flip grip, which allows you to play the Switch in handheld mode with the screen rotated 90 degrees to be vertical / portrait (also referred to as TATE). Perfect for pinball as mentioned above, and for vertical shmups, this also influenced my next two purchases (and added about 6 more to my wishlist). Nintendo Life published this list of best TATE Switch games which gave me some ideas too.

Anger Force Reloaded - Switch

Anger Force Reloaded – Switch

This is a nice little vertical shmup. Like the graphics style and it seems pretty fun, haven’t dug too deep yet though but it is great to play with the Flip Grip.

January Games - Stern Pinball Arcade

Stern Pinball Arcade – Switch

More vertical pinball! This a great set of replicas of the real machines. I picked this up from Argos where it was £9.99 for an annoying plastic box with the download code for the digital version inside. It was less than half what it would have cost to buy from the eShop though so still the best way to go. Especially since activating it gave me £3 worth of eShop gold coins too.

Constructor Plus - January Games

Constructor Plus – Switch

Another one from Argos. They had an offer on where all the £9.99 games were 2 for £15. Felt like this was worth a punt as I was buying pinball anyway (the rest of the games in the deal looked garbage). I played a lot of the original Constructor game on the PC years ago, so hoping to get some fun from this version.

Retired during December

Monster Boy - Switch

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – Switch

Couldn’t quite get into this as much as I’d hoped to. Certainly glad I didn’t pay full price. Not sure what the problem is though. I’ll try coming back to it. For now I’m sticking with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for my Metroidvania and platforming fix.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

2020 in Games

2020 in Games

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As history repeats itself right here on my blog, once again I played very little from my intended playlist as planned at the start of 2019. Will I learn from this? No, I shall give the list a shake and roll it forward anyway!

Played in 2019

1. Gears of War 4 – Xbox One

It’s still here! We still haven’t finished this but we did play a bit more. I’m sure this could be our year! Maybe we’ll jump straight to Gears 5 when we’re done.

2. Riven – Saturn

Hurrah, this was on my 2019 list, and I even completed it. Well done me. Reminder that MYST 3 should be on the list for 2020 then.

3. Quantum Break – Xbox One

I did try to play this, but abandoned it back in March due to it not being any good. Oh well.

4. The Witcher 3 – Xbox One

Another one I tried to play, but although it is undoubtedly a great game, it just wasn’t for me. I’ll stick to reading the books and now watching the TV show.

10 games for 2019

1. Super Metroid – Switch / SNES

Will be the third year for this on the list now, I’m more confident I’ll get to it with it now being playable on the Switch, but I’ve decided 2020 is the last time I plan to play it. If I don’t get to it this year it can go back on the shelf.

2. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void – PC

Keeping this on the list as well, just haven’t played enough PC games this year.

3. Fable Anniversary – Xbox One

Yep, let’s keep this too. I did make a bit of a start with it ahead of the discussion on the Original Xbox episode of the podcast, but I need to make more of an effort.

4. Indigo Prophecy: Fahrenheit – PS4

Another one being given its last chance in 2020. If I don’t get to it this year… blah blah.

5. Marvel’s Spider-man – PS4

Well I did get round to buying Spider-man towards the end of 2019, so I definitely intend to play it this year.

6. The Last Express – PC

“Last one on the list that I’ve brought with me from last year. Gotta have a train game!” – Think I’ll keep that quote from last year too…

7. Warcraft III: Reforged – PC

Warcraft III remains at the top of my All-Time Top 5 RTS Games post, although this remake got pushed back into January 2020 for release. Definitely ready to play it this year now.

8. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Switch

Also due out this year after getting delayed in 2019, I’ll certainly be playing this from launch. Unlike this time last year, I now have the Switch ready for it.

Monster Boy - Switch

9. Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – Switch

One I picked up in December, hoping to get to it properly soon so it deserves a place here.

Myst 3 Exile - 2020 in games

10. Myst III: Exile – PC

As promised after successfully playing Riven last year, let’s continue with more MYST. I think I’ll be playing on PC, but I do have a couple of console versions kicking around too.

2020 releases I’m looking forward too

Along with Warcraft III: Reforged and Animal Crossing, just a couple of other mentions:

1. Doom Eternal – PS4

Still looking forward to this, and I think we can expect it in 2020.

Halo Infinite - 2020 in games

2. Halo Infinite – Xbox One / PC

I am interested to see more of this, although must concede that I still didn’t finish 4 or 5. I put that down to wanting to play co-op eventually though and having a bunch of games in the queue to clear first.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps - 2020 in Games

3. Ori and the Will of the Wisps – Xbox One

Really enjoyed the first game, so will definitely give this one a go. Specially as it’s coming to Game Pass.

Hollow Knight: Silksong - 2020 in Games

4. Hollow Knight: Silksong

I’m not even sure this will make a 2020 release, but the first game is one of the best I’ve ever played so will be all over this when it does come out.

December Games 2019

December Games

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Ahead of my end of year post that’ll appear (hopefully) early January, first we’ll close out with gaming goings on from December. Looks like another month with nothing completed too.

Games played during December

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - December Games

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Switch

Like any good December, the majority of my gaming this month has been multiplayer. Wish I’d started practising in November though. At least Mario Kart remains a good time even when you’re not winning…

December Games - Puyo Puyo Tetris

Puyo Puyo Tetris – Switch

This Christmas featured a good amount of Tetris, and a lot of the Puyo Puyo Tetris multiplayer variety. Such a great multiplayer title, and a great way to round out what has been a year of Tetris really.

December Pick-ups

Monster Boy - Switch

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom – Switch

I have been interested in Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for a while. It got a substantial 50% discount in a December sale on the Nintendo eShop so decided it was finally time to pick it up. Haven’t played much yet, but it looks incredible running. Looking forward to getting stuck in.

Halo Reach PC - December Games

Halo Reach – PC (Game Pass)

Yes of course I’ve played this before, but was very interested in trying the new PC port. Remains one of the best games in the series, and looks great in this version. Looking forward to them adding more of the games to the PC version of the Master Chief Collection.

Cities Skylines - December Games

Cities Skylines Add-ons – PC

Humble Bundle had a strategy bundle up during December, and although I already owned most of the games, it was worth a purchase for the various Cities Skylines expansions I hadn’t picked up yet.

Demon's Tilt - December Games

Demon’s Tilt – Switch

I was already feeling spoilt when the Xbox One version of this excellent pinball game appeared on Game Pass. I didn’t realise a Switch version was coming until the day before it released. It was a day one purchase for me, particularly since the developer’s gave me a code for the PC version so I could do this Demon’s Tilt preview. For one of my favourite games of the year, I was certainly happy to throw some money at them for a Switch version.

Now I just need one of those flip grips, so I can play with a vertical screen.

December Games - Dicey Dungeons

Dicey Dungeons – PC

First of two games gifted from my Steam wish list by a good friend. I did mention this briefly on my EGX Rezzed blog post, now glad to be able to play the finished game.

Islanders - December Games

Islanders – PC

The second of the Steam games I received for Christmas, I don’t really know anything about other than the description from the store page. It looks great though!

Streaming / Podcast Recording PC

I had been considering putting together a second PC that I could dedicate to recording and editing the podcast for a while. It also occurred to me that the same hardware would be suitable for handling streaming if I decided to try that. Fortunately my partner’s work were auctioning off some old hardware and I picked up a 2017 Dell laptop on the cheap. I’ve since doubled the RAM up to the limit of 8GB, and added a 480 GB SSD*. It is now pretty nippy and should be up for the task.

I didn’t really know where to start with things like audio mixers and capture cards, but have gone for the below based on some bits I’ve read, and will see how I get on. I went with the HD60 rather than the HD60 S thanks to the former’s hardware encoding. This should shift some of the load away from the CPU in the older laptop.

Mixer: Behringer Xenyx QX1002USB*
Capture Card:https://amzn.to/39qGFRx*

Of course I don’t actually know what I’m doing with any of this yet, but I’ll figure it out. Maybe.

Retired during December

Ritual of the Night - September Games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Xbox One

I’ve retired this for a while due to not getting as much time on the Xbox as I’d like. I’m presently in two minds about grabbing the Switch version despite the performance issues just so I can play it more regularly. We’ll see.

Various editions available here* from Amazon

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

November Games - PC Upgrade

November Games

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Another month without completions, can mostly put that down to my nipping off to Egypt for some winter sun. Did spend a small fortune though. On with the games.

(Also now updated the post as some old text reappeared when I posted it before, had a few weird errors on here lately)

Games played during November

Super Fantasy Zone - November Games

SEGA Mega Drive and Master System

Thanks to my OSSC purchase detailed below, I spent a healthy amount of time with my Mega Drive this month, playing a variety of both Mega Drive & Master System ROMs via my EverDrive. I think the most playtime went to Super Fantasy Zone and The Ninja. Didn’t manage to clear either of them, although I did get to the last boss on Super Fantasy Zone a couple of times. Just couldn’t remember how I was supposed to beat him.

Ticket to Ride - November Games

Ticket to Ride – Mobile & Steam

I play so much digital Ticket to Ride, I had to include it eventually. Also during November I managed to play a fair bit of the board game as well so seemed a good time. The mobile app is the best board game adaptation I’ve found, and works really well for a group of friends to be able to maintain an asynchronous turn-based game over a few days. It’s also a nice touch that I can fire it up on my computer when I’m at my desk and continue the same games.

Why not buy one of the board games?* I’ve got the Europe main game, along with Netherlands and Japan/Italy expansions.

Ritual of the Night - September Games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night – Xbox One

Still playing this when I get time, it really is a worthy Symphony of the Night successor. Have almost caved and bought it on the switch a couple of times recently. Must check in on how those performance patches are coming along.

Also your apparently monthly reminder to check out the Castlevania episode of Maximum Power Up.

PS4, Xbox One and Switch versions available here* As mentioned previously, I’d skip the Switch version unless you don’t have access to the other platforms, or if the portability makes you think it’d be worth taking the performance hit.

Lego Speed Champions

Forza Horizon 4 – Xbox One

Realised I hadn’t played Forza Horizon 4 in a while, so loaded it up for a bit of a session this November. Still one of the finest racing games I’ve ever played, although I think I stopped playing because the LEGO challenges were starting to get a bit tricky!

November Pick-ups

ossc - November Games

Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC)

A bit of an extravagance this, but it sort of saved me money. I was considering one of the fancy Analogue Mega Sg systems, but the price was putting me off. However, I realised that I could get the OSSC for £100+ cheaper than one of those would cost me (factoring in international shipping and customs charges). The OSSC provides fancy up-scaling and scan-line generation like the Mega Sg, but using my existing Mega Drive & EverDrive combo. It also has the added benefit of working with my other retro systems too so a clear winner really. I just need to spend more time configuring it for the other consoles.

I got this OSSC* from Amazon, as it is open source, other people make them too and you can buy from other sources.

WarCraft III Reforged - November Games

WarCraft III Reforged – PC

I was always going to grab the WarCraft 3 remaster when it came out, as it is one of my favourite games and my all-time favourite RTS game. I just plumped for the pre-order so I could have a look at the beta. Looking forward to the full release now.

Laytons Mystery Journey - November Games

Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires’ Conspiracy: Deluxe Edition – Switch

Ridiculous title aside, I really fancied this after playing it at EGX 2019. I’m having fun with it, although either I’ve got smarter since the first game, or (more likely) this is a much easier game than I remember. It’s pretty quaint anyway, and at least having bought the physical edition I can trade it in when I’m done.

Available from Amazon here*, I preordered this one as it was cheapest I could find

Blood & Truth PSVR - November Games

Blood & Truth – PSVR

Only heard really good things about this, and I loved the short “London Heist” game they put out as part of PlayStation VR Worlds. Haven’t had chance to play yet but it popped up in the Black Friday sale so looking forward to getting time with it next time I’m on the PSVR.

Spider-Man GOTY - November Games

Spider-Man: Game of the Year – PS4

Also on the PlayStation Black Friday sale, I finally picked up Spider-Man. Not sure paying extra for the Game of the Year edition with all the DLC was sensible, but here we are. Now I just need to find time to play.

PC Upgrade - November Games

PC Upgrade

So, as planned last month I did head to Overclockers Black Friday sale for my PC Upgrade. I picked up a 500GB 970 EVO Plus Samsung Solid State hard drive of the m.2 persuasion and one of the PowerColor Red Devil line of AMD Radeon 5700 XT cards. While I was at it I also upgraded my chair, to one of these fancy ones. Hopefully start to play more PC games again now and make the most of the extra firepower! I think when I next upgrade it’ll finally be time to replace the case I’ve had for so long now. The featured image for this post is the top of my current case, with the stickers that came with all the hardware it has housed along the way.

The Hard Drive* & GPU* are the same price on Amazon too

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones, which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.