Tag Archives: games

December Gaming

December Games

3 Replies

Well I did manage to finish one more game during December to close out the year, and also picked up a bunch more. Oops.

Completed this month

Yoku's Island Express

Yoku’s Island Express – Xbox One

I was originally going to skip this one. Although I was interested in the premise, the demo felt like a poor Ori & the Blind Forest knock off. However, back in October I started preparations for a pinball related podcast we were due to record towards the end of 2018. Due to scheduling conflicts, we have put this episode back to early 2019. I saw the retail version of this cheap in a sale and thought I could squeeze in some playtime before the recording, and talk about it good or bad on the podcast. I’m glad I gave it another chance though, it was a real joy to play. The pinball mechanics really come into their own as the game progresses.

Also played this month

Still in love with my GameBoy

Solar Striker – GameBoy

I was playing this in a high score challenge, a bit disappointed that I didn’t manage to complete it in one credit, but I put in some respectable performances all the same. Really enjoyable to be playing this on my backlit modded GameBoy, rather than needing to use an emulator.

Forza Horizon 4: Fortune Island – Xbox One

The first expansion for Forza Horizon 4 arrived in December. I haven’t had a lot of time with it yet, but first impressions are good. Looking forward to getting into it properly in January.

Pick-ups during December

One of the best prize bundles ever

Super Bomberman R Goodie Box – PS4

I was lucky enough to win this on Twitter. The game is a pretty solid Bomberman, although some of the timing seems a bit off compared to previous versions and may take a bit of getting used to. As well as a copy of the game, the box had some really good stuff. Three T-Shirts, a beanie hat, stickers, a poster and the box itself is really nice.

Pang Adventures – Xbox One

Had my eye on this for a while, and it appeared in the Winter sale for a couple of quid. Hopefully it’s as good as the original games.

Pinball Gold Pack – PC

Another one I’d got on my wishlist waiting for a sale. I paid £2.40 for this pack on Good Old Games, containing 20 tables from the old school pinball classics: Pinball Dreams 1 and 2, Pinball Illusions and Pinball Fantasies/Pinball Mania. These are the DOS versions which aren’t as highly regarded as they were on the Amiga, but still some solid pinball.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 – PC

Another pick up from Good Old Games. Although I did have this already, it was based on a dubious copy I’d acquired many years ago, and I’m glad to have it join my digital library. For more info on the game, do checkout the Run N Gun episode of the Maximum Power Up podcast, where I try to convince my suspicious co-hosts to play it.

Pinball FX 2 VR – PSVR

Yet more pinball! I already own all these tables in my Pinball FX3 collection on PC, however I have been meaning to get the VR version for a while. At this point the PSVR library is better than many consoles.

Witcher 3: GotY – Xbox One

This was a bit of a panic buy when I got an email from Microsoft saying I had £16 of credit that was going to expire in January. There wasn’t anything else I fancied in the Winter Sale so I plumped for finally picking up The Witcher 3. I have been interested in it for a while, as I enjoy the Witcher novels, but I’m not sure how I’ll get on with the open world. Now we’ll find out!

Sega Power Stick – Mega Drive

A surprise bargain I just saw in the windows of my local CeX. This is the stick I used to have for the Mega Drive before I sold my previous collection. Delighted to get it again, and it’s already improving some of my scores. Would still like to pick up a 6 button version, but it’s not really necessary for shmups.

Darius Burst Chronicles DLC – PS4

Probably a bit of a mistake since I’ve barely spent any time with the full game, I grabbed the Cave and SEGA DLC packs for this as they were on sale. Hopefully I’ll try those out at some point at least.

February Gaming

4 Replies

Just a couple of completions this month, I was going to include ‘Shoppe Keep’ as I thought I was ready to stop playing it, but apparently not. This month I also attended Play Expo in Blackpool, so there are a couple of bits from that to mention.

Games completed during February

halo2vistaHalo 2: Master Chief Collection – Xbox One

A fair few months in the works, my buddy and I finally cleared this in co-op. Great fun, but disappointed by the lack of a final Warthog level that I’d come to expect from Halo finales. Onto Gears of War 4 next!

wEWQWhat Remains of Edith Finch? – PS4

Initial similarities with Gone Home are pretty strong, but there are significant gameplay mechanics that move this slightly away from the ‘walking simulator’ standard. Great story and some pretty dramatic moments. Like Gone Home it’s about a 2 hour play-through, and definitely best experienced in one sitting. It’s worth mentioning that it does have some fairly sensitive subject matter too. It deals with death and loss, so maybe tread lightly if you’re concerned. I can imagine a couple of parts being quite brutal, although I think they actually handle it pretty well.

Also played during February

Power Drift – Arcade & Saturn

Managed to play the full hydraulic Arcade Machine version of this at Play Expo, a machine I’ve wanted to try forever. As such it got me back on the Saturn version, such a great game, and one I’d always choose to play over Outrun. Sorry.

header (1)Shoppe Keep – PS4

I have put too many hours into this. I need to stop.

 

Wulverblade-previewWulverblade – PS4

As with Shoppe Keep, this was one of my pick ups last month. I haven’t made a lot of progress, but managed to put a couple of hours into the Campaign on my own, and also play some arcade co-op. With 2 players it’s everything I loved about Golden Axe, such a great brawler.

February Pickups

Raspberry Pi 3

Finally pulled the trigger on getting one of these. I think it was the C64 Mini that made me do it. I had one of those pre-ordered over on Amazon for about £30 more than the cost of the Raspberry Pi. I saw sense, and cancelled the pre-order in favour of building a RetroPi system. Having a great time tinkering with it and playing a few games. Hoping to build it into a self-contained Arcade Stick that I can just hook up to the TV and play. We’ll see.

PuyoPuyoTetrisLogoPuyo Puyo Tetris – PC

This is the third time I’ve bought this game, but the digital Steam release was much cheaper than the others, and I’m hoping to play a bit online. Maybe I’ll even get a bit better at Puyo. If you like puzzle games like Tetris at all, I can’t recommend this enough, although this port isn’t as polished as the console ones, so maybe start there if you have the systems for it.

Hori Arcade Stick – Sega Saturn

The only thing I bought from the traders at Play Expo, I finally got an Arcade Stick for my Saturn. Really pleased with this, has a great weight to it, and the parts all feel good and responsive. Very much enjoying getting back to my shmups and fighting games on there now.