Tag Archives: Retrogaming

August Games

August Games

Played quite a bit this month, as well as falling down a rabbit hole of older games too. I had a couple of weeks to myself before starting a new job in the middle of August so there was plenty of time for games. I also realised I could backdate my account on How long to beat? with records of games I played prior to creating it, using my Xbox achievements and PlayStation trophies. It now has a fairly accurate picture of everything I finished since 2007. Probably not the most productive use of an afternoon, but I do enjoy me some stats.

Games completed this month

Open Roads - August Games

Open Roads – Xbox Series X

This was next Xbox title up to tick along the achievements for the Xbox rewards. A fun little story, I love GamePass for stuff like this that I probably wouldn’t have bought otherwise.


Dredge - The Pale Reach

Dredge: The Pale Reach – Xbox Series X

This DLC had a nice sale so I picked it up and played through the story. I do still want to go back and mop up side quests etc. I think they’ve sneaked out some more DLC as well though.


SEGA Fighting Games

SEGA Fighting Games – Xbox 360 / Series X

Apologies for lifting someone’s video thumbnail for this image, but it very nicely covered the three games I played. In my visit to my Xbox back catalogue, I realised I’d bought all these games, and barely played any of them. I put that to rights, hooked up the fight stick and spent a couple of hours playing all three of Virtua Fighter 2, Sonic the Fighters and Fighting Vipers, and getting all the achievements on each. Sonic is a bit of a novelty but the other two hold up really well.


Neo Geo Battle - August Games

NeoGeo Battle Coliseum – Xbox 360 / Series X

Didn’t even remember buying this, but while I was playing the fighting games I clocked this too. Didn’t go after all the achievements though, they were a bit more involved and also included some online stuff.


Who Shot Johnny Rock? – Arcade / Pi4

As planned last month, I set up my spare Raspberry Pi4 with the “Barebones” Batocera image for my Sinden lightguns. It was all as straightforward as I’d hoped, and I was soon playing even more games on my modern tv. I used to love Who Shot Johnny Rock? on the CDi, but even better I now have the HD version of the arcade game. Highly entertaining to play through, Mad Dog McCree next then!


Games played during August

Returnal - PS5

Returnal – PS5

Last month’s pick up, I’ve made a bit of a start with this. Really love how it feels to play, and it looks incredible. Very difficult though with the roguelike elements so we’ll see how much progress I actually make with it. I’ve managed to defeat one boss and get to the second so far.


Tatsunoko vs Capcom

Tatsunoko vs Capcom Ultimate All-Stars – Wii / SteamDeck

Dabbling with emulation on my SteamDeck, I can now play this Nintendo Wii exclusive without having to set up the Wii itself. It’s a really fun versus fighter, even if I don’t really know the Tatsunoko characters very well. I’d love to see more of these things or just a new Marvel or SNK vs Capcom would be nice. Also playing on the Deck meant I could play it with a proper fight stick, as I discovered the one I bought for the Switch works perfectly on there. I even printed new art for it and got my Cricut machine to cut it out for me.

It seems to be getting harder to get hold of, but this is the stick I have*. It doesn’t really say much about connecting to anything other than a Switch, but it just showed up on my SteamDeck as a bluetooth controller and worked perfectly.


Tekken 7 - Xbox Series X

Tekken 7 – Xbox Series X

This month we apparently played fighting games. I dabbled a bit with the single player content in Tekken 7, it’s good fun but a bit late to be getting into it really. I’ll probably pick up 8 but may wait for a decent discount or some kind of bundle with DLC characters.


Raiden V - August Games

Raiden V – Xbox Series X

While the stick was hooked up it seemed like a good idea to play a shmup too. I know Raiden V isn’t very well regarded but I enjoy it for what it is.


Forza Motorsport – Xbox Series X

I also gave this another try. I played through a couple more of the cups, racing remains great fun but the career mode is so dull. I’ll probably drop back into it on occasion, thanks to my new purchase below I’ve got the space to keep it installed anyway.


CYGNI – PC

I heard good things about this prior to release, and it was free on the Epic Game Store at launch so I was looking forward to getting stuck in. Sadly I really didn’t enjoy it. I was expecting something a bit more traditionally arcade, but it’s something else. The controls are a bit erratic and the systems seem designed around you being expected to crash so there are loads of shields. That’s not really my bag. A pity.


Geometry Wars 3 – Vita & PS4/5

Fortunately, conversations with a friend involved us digging out our PlayStation Vita systems and tinkering with those. I spent 20 minutes faffing through the things I had installed on there, then 2 hours playing Geometry Wars 3. Annoyingly the leaderboards and trophies are separate on the PS4/5 version, and I wanted to play on the big screen so I moved over to that one. I did complete the campaign mode a while back but there are achievements and high scores to chase so I’ve been doing a bit of that.


What’s been on the arcade?

Arcade Cabinet

Thanks again to the purchase below, I freed up the external SSD drive I was using for backwards compatible games on my Xbox Series X. I swapped this with the slower drive in my arcade. The startup time and loading on the bigger games is much improved. Some individual games may need tweaks to their controls but I pretty much have it all configured how I want it. There are now video clips for all games on there which makes for a nice random attract mode when it is idling. I’ve also set up a few systems I didn’t have access to before.

It’s taken me far too long to properly get into RetroAchievements, but now I have, they’re set up on my arcade machine, my SteamDeck emulators and my lightgun build. Nice to have even more stats and goals to chase when playing classic games. This is my profile for it, I should add it to the gaming page on here too.

For the first time in ages, I also got back to the Ten Pence Arcade monthly game, they are playing Yie Ar Kung Fu, which was my favourite game on the Commodore 16 when I was about 5 years old.


Games purchased this month

2TB Storage Expansion for Xbox

Not a game as such, but I finally upgraded the storage for my Series X. This is mostly inspired by me changing internet provider. My download speed is dramatically slower than it was, so I wanted to go back to having everything I might want to play installed, so I don’t have a day to wait when I decide to play something new.

These* seem to have had a bit of a price drop recently, still pricey though.


Games retired in August

World of Warcraft Dragon Flight

World of Warcraft – PC

Well I did it, about two weeks before the two months of game time expired, I got bored of WoW again. Very much enjoyed myself while I was playing it though. At least not wanting to carry on playing has saved me from buying another expansion and renewing the subscription.

*As usual, these links are affiliate ones (if I’ve actually included any), which may earn me a small commission if you buy something.

All-time Top 5 JRPGs

Decided an update for this post was necessary. Some minor text updates and a new entry. If you’re interested in the original list (it’s pretty similar) you can read it here.


Octopath Traveler - Switch

Number 5 – Octopath Traveler (Switch)

I’m still playing this at time of writing, but over 60 hours in and confident of its position on this list. It’s not going to topple my top 4, but I’m still having a great time. Playing in parallel with my ex-wife, sharing tips (and a variety of game over screens) over What’s App, a process we first followed playing a game further down this list. If anything the main thing Octopath suffers from, is that the game further down came out after and improved on it so much. If we’d played them the other way round I would probably hold this in higher regard.

The choice of eight protagonists to form your party of four is interesting, but in reality you need to keep swapping one out to progress the various stories, which just becomes a bit annoying in trying to balance levels. Octopath Traveler is now on GamePass, and available for Xbox and PC as well as the Switch version I’m playing.

Switch version on Amazon*


Top 5 JRPGs

Number 4 – Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)

A game I played mostly by chance, got a bargain on release without knowing anything about it and fired it up just to see what it was. I was blown away by the graphics, it was easily the best looking game I’d seen so far on a console, and at first was just playing to admire the aesthetics. I got sucked in though, and it became the first JRPG I ever saw through to completion. The story was ridiculous, which I suspect may be an essential criteria for a JRPG, and the costume designs left me questioning the usefulness of such armor in a swordfight.

I really liked the combat though, and the timing based boost you could give to your attacks was surprisingly satisfying. I sometimes think I might replay this, but then I laugh at the thought of me replaying anything, never mind a 40+ hour epic, and the impulse goes away.

While you can probably find a second hand copy kicking around, you can also buy this digitally here, and it does seem to go on sale quite often. It’s an Xbox 360 game but plays great on an Xbox One or the new Xbox Series S / X.


Panzer Dragoon Saga - Top 5 RPGs

Number 3 – Panzer Dragoon Saga (Sega Saturn)

Played through this for the first time back in 2017, and I am amazed how well it has held up. I was a big fan of Panzer Dragoon and Panzer Dragoon Zwei first time round on the Saturn, and this is doubtless the main reason I took to Saga the way I did. The art style was consistent with the previous games, and immediately felt like a comfortable return to that world.

The shift to turn-based combat was a concern before I started, I didn’t know how the previous rail-shooter style would translate. I need not have worried, the combat is superb, with the two basic attacks being lifted straight out of the other games to feel instantly familiar. The need to constantly keep re-positioning around the enemies and the bonus to attack speed granted for attacking as you move ensures that the combat remains engaging.

I found the controls in general to be very well done, particularly in the parts where you’re navigating the world on your dragon. When revisiting early 3D games you often have to make allowances for the controls and/or camera, but I can honestly say I had no issues with either.

While the story here is no exception to my understanding of the JRPG norm, I did find myself happily reading all the subtitles and enjoying the many cut-scenes. This extra flavour for the world is a big part of why I’ve gone back to playing the original games, and why I’m optimistic that I might even beat them this time round.

Bit of a nightmare recommending ways to play this. Not sure how well it runs under SEGA Saturn emulation. Best option would probably be a modded SEGA Saturn and downloading it (is what I did). It’s a pricey game to buy second hand if you can find one.)


Top 5 JRPGs

Number 2 – Bravely Default 2 (Switch)

This did come very close to toppling number 1, played through this recently and loved it. This was the game I played alongside my ex-wife before Octopath Traveler and having someone to discuss progress, strategy and which are the best outfits very much helped. The characters and various systems in Bravely Default 2 are very satisfying and improve on the first game in every way. You can even see the blueprints of Octopath in this, and again they have all been built on and improved to make this.

Frankly if Bravely Default 2 had Chopin, it would probably take the top spot.

At time of writing you can still get the nice bundle with stickers, poster and postcards from Amazon*.


Eternal Sonata - Top 5 JRPGs

Number 1 – Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360)

Or, the one time I liked cel-shaded graphics.

I know about as much about JRPGs on the whole as I do Classical Music. The only composer I really like is Chopin, so the premise of this game immediately had me intrigued. The game is set inside a dream Frédéric Chopin has while he dies of Tuberculosis. Yeah. We’re well set up for another nonsense story, but this one did really hook me.

Until Eternal Sonata, I always found cel-shading to be a bit of a novelty. It’s such a perfect fit for making the whole game feel like an elaborate cartoon. It’s joyful, twee and yet manages to be interestingly educational at the same time, as along with the story cut-scenes it also has video history lessons relating to Chopin’s life. (From reading some commentary these weren’t to everyone’s taste, but I loved it)

The music in the game is obviously Chopin influenced, and accordingly spectacular. There are very few game soundtracks I listen to outside of playing the games, but the 4 disc album produced for this is still a staple on my iPod.

I remain annoyed the PS3 release afterwards had extra content, as I didn’t want to start over from the beginning after I completed it on the 360. I think I’d happily replay it now though if it was given a refresh for the modern consoles.

I’ve heard plenty of critique about Eternal Sonata, more than one person declare it “the worst JRPG I ever played”. I take some amusement from this, as it seems likely that as a generalisation, I can still say I don’t like JRPGs, and perhaps I like the ones I do because they are outliers within the genre.


Mentions?

Top 5 JRPGs

Bravely Default (3DS)

I gave this a go when struggling to find something other than Animal Crossing or Mario Kart to play on my 3DS. Discussions about it described a game with a similar feel to Final Fantasy VII which made me think perhaps I’d enjoy it. I was aware of the “outrage” at the changes made for the Western release from the anti video game censorship crowd, but they all seemed like changes for the better to me, so figured I’d give it a go.

I mostly enjoyed the game for maybe 18 hours. The story was nonsense and even with the localisation there was a a sufficient creepy ‘ick’ factor that never quite went away. (I think it was hard to distance from the fact that these characters were originally written to be 15 years old). However, the gameplay mechanics were fun, and I liked the ‘job’ system in building my party. It all got a bit grindy and dull though, and I just lost the will to come back to it.

If you read this and still want to play, here’s Bravely Default via Amazon*

Top 5 JRPGs

Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Final Fantasy VII on the original PlayStation was my first JRPG, and apparently, the first one many of my friends played too. This game was a fairly major event back in a high school, and for a while it seemed everyone was playing FFVII. I was quite enjoying it, albeit a departure from my usual choice of game. I do remember that trying to navigate the world map while also dealing with random encounters tested my patience, but the whole thing collapsed when my memory card corrupted around 20 hours in. I appreciate in the grand scheme of things, 20 hours isn’t very long, but that was pretty huge for me at the time, and certainly more than I’d be happy to play over.

I pretty much swore off the genre after this, and it would be quite a few years before I was to try them again. I am considering playing the remake though, and giving it another chance as a modern game.

*Can’t update an old blog post without throwing in some affiliate links. If you buy something from one of the Amazon ones on this page, I’ll get a small cut. Thanks.

NERG – A Retro Pilgrimage

For the second year running I decided to make the 350 mile journey north to attend North East Retro Gaming, what is rapidly becoming my favourite retro event in the calendar. After a five hour train journey went quite pleasantly, I arrived in Newcastle early afternoon on the Friday, the day before the event. I was met by fellow Maximum Power-Up podcasters Phil and Paul (Phil kindly providing his house Friday & Saturday nights as our base) and we made our way into the event to observe the setup, get an early look at the bargains, and generally be under people’s feet.

Arcade Games

As usual with these events, there was a great selection of free to play arcade games setup. Included a few photos of some of them here, taken during the setup when you could actually see them without people in the way.

Outrun & Space Harrier sit down cabs - NERG
Yes I took advantage of the time before opening to play these bad boys. No regrets.

Games

Along with the arcade, there was also a huge selection of pinball tables and various classic games consoles. I somehow managed to barely take any photos of those, although Phil & I did play a bunch of Pinball.

Digital Pinball

This custom digital pinball cabinet was one of my favourite things at the event. So very cool, and great fun to play.

Virtual Pinball
I’m still not 100% what software this was running, but I definitely want one for Pinball FX.

Maximum Power Up grudge match

I think lessons had been learned after last year, and there was no 3 player Bomberman with me. 🙁 However, Phil & Paul did find time to go head-to-head on some PlayStation 2 football game. It wasn’t Sensible Soccer though so I left them to it…

Maximum Power Up Football Face-off
No, I don’t know who won. I’m just going to assume it wasn’t Paul.

Other games

While the football was going on, I spent some time with my old friend Virtua Cop. This PS2 collection of the first two games is a great package. Almost makes me think about getting a CRT Television so I could play it with light guns at home. I think I’ll stick to my collection of light gun games I can play on a modern tv though.

PS2 Virtua Cop Elite
I really wish they’d bought this collection to the Wii or PS3 Move

Also really nice to see TxK playable here, via a lesser spotted PSTV.

TxK on a PSTV
Always nice to see the greatest game ever, TxK, playable at an event

Vendors

Flash House Brewing Co

As usual Flash House had produced an official pale ale for the occasion, very much enjoyed a few pints of NERG 2019. The Oro Honey Pils was pretty good too.

NERG Pale Ale
A personal favourite amongst the vendors

Allan’s Japanese Retro Games

The ever pleasant Allan was in attendance, for what I believe was his first appearance at NERG. He specialises in import Japanese games and hardware and always has a huge amount of the more rare titles. Always nice to see Allan, even if I only tend to buy controllers from him.

Allan's Japanese Retro Games
Complete with Phil elbow deep in Famicom carts. As usual.

North East Retro Den

As per last year, these guys were present, and this was also where I spent the majority of my money. Most of the stuff I picked up below was from their stall. Particularly fitting was the 5 Game Boy games, as I bought my Game Boy from them at NERG last year.

NERG Haul
The stuff I picked up from NERG, including an original xbox that was a gift from Phil.

The last of my highlights, (although there were certainly many other cool stores there), Sore Thumbs Retro Games were also at NERG. To be honest though I saw much more of Lee in the pub Saturday evening, and when we retired back to Phil’s to watch the wrestling. Well, I gave up trying to follow what was going on at 2 am, but I understand Phil, Lee and co made it to 5:30 am.

I did find time on the Saturday to join my good buddy Shaun Holley, from Ten Pence Arcade podcast fame, as he recorded a short walk-around audio clip at the event, if the audio is serviceable I’m sure Shaun will include it in their upcoming episode.

Sunday

While I’d booked up to be at NERG the whole weekend with my train home being Monday morning, just before I headed north I found out I had a job interview at 9:30 am the following Wednesday. I thus called the Sunday a bit short, and headed to my hotel a little after 2 pm where I proceeded to develop the presentation element of my interview. Fortunately I managed to secure the job, so it was worth the effort!

Summary

For pure enjoyment and atmosphere, NERG is almost tied with Play Blackpool as being my favourite retro event. Blackpool tends to just about have the edge for me because more of my friends tend to be able to get there. However Blackpool seems to have moved to take place in October now, which is already taken up by Eurogamer and the London NFL games for which I’m a season ticket holder. So I think maybe NERG steals the crown by default, even with the combined 10 hours of trains in the round trip.

See you next year NERG!

Tesla vs Lovecraft - September Gaming

November Games

Busy month in games land, with me managing to complete, play, and buy a bunch of games, and even abandon one for good measure. The 2018 playlist has all but been forgotten. Will review that for 2019 I think, roll some games forward and have a bit of a reshuffle.


Games completed during November

Tesla vs Lovecraft – PS4

Had an absolute blast with this. As you might imagine from the title, Tesla vs Lovecraft doesn’t take itself very seriously. It’s a lovely twin-stick arena shooter in the Robotron style. It’s not as polished as Housemarque’s excellent Nex Machina, but it’s not too far behind.

Rollers of the Realm – PC

I do love a bit of pinball, and couldn’t pass this premise up. It’s a party based RPG, where all the combat and exploration takes place in pinball table-based arenas. The various classes of character are different types of pinball, had a lot of fun playing through this one.

Forza Motorsport 7 – Xbox One

Finally finished the single player championship on this. The patched out all the lootbox trash I complained about previously, and it’s a much better experience for it. The mods remain clunky, hopefully we’ll have it resolved from the beginning when the inevitable Forza Motorsport 8 arrives.


Games abandoned this month

Watch Dogs 2 – PS4

I knew when I bought this, it was a gamble. I don’t generally get on well with open world games, but I’d been enjoying watching Mr. Robot so much that I thought I’d give it a go for the hacker vibe. I managed about 3 hours. Was enjoying the story and how on the nose some of the missions were, but the majority of the game play is everything I find tedious in Grand Theft Auto. Oh well, I tried.


Also played this month

Forza Horizon 4Forza Horizon 4 – Xbox One & PC

Still playing and loving this, looking forward to the first expansion turning up in December.

 

 

Tetris Effect Demo – PSVR

Granted I don’t usually include demos in this round up. Mostly because I don’t play many, but this is something special. An incredible experience in VR, but couldn’t bring myself to pay the asking price of £35 for another copy of Tetris, especially when I already have a substantial queue of VR games to play. Will grab it in a sale I think!

God of War – PS4

Only picked this up this month too, but managed to get on it pretty quickly after I gave up on Watch Dogs.  I’m about 6 hours in I think, and having a great time so far. It’s already the best in the series for me.

Forza Motorsport 5 & 6 – Xbox One

As well as completing the main championship on Forza 7 during November, I also put a bunch of time into these two games. Mostly mopping up Forza Rewards achievements, so that I get more free credits in Forza Horizon 4.


Games picked up during November

Cities Skylines Snowfall – PC

Bought myself this bit of DLC for Cities Skylines, in a bid to convince myself to get round to playing the game properly. I’ve had a bit of a go, but hoping to spend more time on the snow content during December.

 

PlayStation 2 Slim

I’ve never really spent much time with the PS2. It mostly passed me by at the time, as I was too busy playing Dreamcast, GameCube and Xbox. Finally decided to rectify this, and picked up a cheap used console from CeX.

 

Batman Arkham VR – PSVR

Haven’t got round to playing it yet, but I’ve heard so much good stuff about this game, decided to grab it during the Autumn sales. Looking forward to getting on it eventually.

 

Tempest 4000 – PC

Another one from the wishlist, finally grabbed Tempest 4000. I’d have preferred it for PS4 but the price difference was crazy. Great game though!

 

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy – PC

Loved this back on the original Xbox, picked the PC version up on Steam for the nostalgia hit.

 

DX-Ball 2: 20th Anniversary – PC

Had no idea this was even a thing! I loved DX Ball 1 & 2 way back when (20 years ago apparently!) and this update is just how I remember it. One of my favourite Arkanoid clones.

Pinball FX3 Jurassic World Pack – PC

Took advantage of the steam sale to add a few more tables to my Pinball FX3 collection. These Jurassic Park / World themed ones are excellent.

Forza Horizon 4

October Games

A month without any games completed again. I did manage a fair amount of gaming, but I put the lack of completions down to a combination of playing the new Forza Horizon, and playing games that are much too difficult for me to complete for the latest Maximum Power-Up podcast episode “Run & Gun”. Teehee.


Games abandoned during October

Dead Space – Xbox 360 / Xbox One

I give up. After hinting about it last month, I still haven’t picked this up again since. I made it to Chapter 5 or something, further than any of my previous attempts. It’s disappointing because the story and atmosphere of Dead Space are superb and very much my kind of thing. I just don’t enjoy the gameplay enough, time to let it go and make room for something else. Maybe one of the many FPS games from my backlog.


Played this month

Forza Horizon 4 – XB1 & PC

Pretty much all I’ve played this month aside from podcast research. The game is a masterpiece. Consider it my new All-Time Favourite Racer. I’m also very much enjoying playing it on both PC and Xbox One depending on where I am in the house. Still plenty to do, and I haven’t even taken it online at all yet.


Games picked up during October

Shadow Warrior 2 – PC

Pretty sure this was free on the humble store or Good Old Games as part of a promotion. Really enjoyed the first one, as well as the original game first time round. Looking forward to maybe playing this one day. Perhaps if I finish the first one…

ToeJam & Earl – Xbox 360 / Xbox One

This is a port of the two Mega Drive games. Grabbed them in a sale just for the convienience of having them on the Xbox One as well.

 

Fighting Vipers – Xbox 360 / Xbox One

A game that mostly passed me by on the SEGA Saturn, I picked this edition up just to spend a bit of time with it, if only to better appreciate the Fighting Vipers side of the Fighters Megamix roster.

 

Virtua Fighter 2 – Xbox 360 / Xbox One

Have played this to death ever since first getting a Saturn back in the day, but after confirming its place in my All-Time Top 5 fighting games, I thought I’d get it for the Xbox while I was buying Fighting Vipers, because why not.

Halo Wars: DE – PC

I think the people over at Steam who decide which games to put on sale had read my last blog post. This popped up for a bargain price, and I’m excited to give an RTS set in the Halo Universe a proper go with keyboard & mouse controls.

 

 

All-Time Top 5 Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games

Before I’d even had chance to finish my Top 5 Fighting games ; @swooper_d had managed to convince me I needed to do this list too. Depending on the kind of RTS games you’re used to, there are going to be plenty of notable absences here. My Top 5 are all of the ‘build base, smash opponent variety’ because that’s what I like.

The Top 5 are also all PC games, which is pretty much the only acceptable place to play RTS games, with a notable exception picked up in the ‘honourable mentions’ at the end.


5) Age of Empires 2

War Elephants. I had so much fun playing Age of Empires 2 online with friends, and most of that fun involved being Persia and creating War Elephants. Not sure I ever won any matches, but it was a great time. It got a bit of a ‘HD’ re-release on Steam a little while back. I almost convinced a few people to play but they took one look at the dated interface and gave up!

4) Red Alert 3

Possibly the most “over the top” of the series, I just find this game highly amusing to play. It doesn’t quite recapture the joy of the original Red Alert, but it holds up much better to play now. The presentation, audio and cut scenes are all so very slick and it has a great campaign for co-operative play with a buddy. Now my favourite Command & Conquer game.

3) StarCraft 2

I was late to the StarCraft party, never really played the original game outside of a few skirmishes, and at the time it felt very similar to a game I was also dabbling with, Dark Reign. StarCraft 2 though, came along when the RTS scene had become a bit stale. This game is stunning, and although I’ve barely touched the multiplayer (mostly out of fear) the single player campaign and story is superb.

2) Total Annihilation

The most satisying in scale RTS game I have ever played, battles on Total Annihilation always felt epic. Right down to having in game maps that were so big you needed 128mb of RAM (imagine it) just to play them. The scale was spiritually superceeded by the Supreme Commander and Plantetary Annihilation games, but none have really recaptured the actual fun of the original. I should also shout out the PC Zone cover discs that used to include user created content for games at the time. (Wasn’t quite so easy to just grab such things from the internet back then.) Extra maps and units for Total Annihilation were regular features and greatly added to the enjoyment of the game.

1) WarCraft 3

No surprise if you’ve read my top 5 games of all time post, but WarCraft 3 remains my favourite ever RTS. As per my original post, this is still the only RTS game where I completed the whole campaign. I even managed to complete the campaign from the expansion, The Frozen Throne. I’m now two thirds through StarCraft 2 though so as soon as I settle down to play Legacy of the Void, I’ll have managed to finish two, like some kind of superhuman. WarCraft 3 is both my favourite multiplayer RTS as well as my favourite campaign, and yes also responsible for the many years of my life that went into World of Warcraft. I patiently await a true WarCraft 4.


Honourable Mentions and also-rans:

Command & Conquer: Red Alert – PS1 & PC

The first RTS that made me really pay attention. The original Command & Conquer never really grabbed me in the same way as Red Alert did. Thankfully a Playstation mouse made the console version viable and with the use of a link cable many head to head skirmishes took place on there. It was still best on PC though, and I had many a late night playing 3 player LAN games.

Dawn of War II

While I definitely had fun playing co-op Dawn of War 2, the lack of base-building was a real disappointment for me. The small numbers of units were a bit underwhelming too. I think I would have got more out of it if I cared for the licence, but one space marine is much the same as another…

Empire Earth

Making up in scale what it lacked in polish, Empire Earth was an entertaining idea. With battles spanning 500,000 years, the battles were all about the arms race and choosing the right time to attack. Make a mistake and you could be sending your men armed with bow & arrows to fight robots with laser guns. The game was otherwise pretty clunky, and the sequels didn’t quite manage to become essential, but at it’s core this is a great RTS for a battle with friends.

Age of Mythology

I really loved the theme for this, and after playing so much Age of Empires 2 I thought it would be the new go-to. None of my AoE 2 friends picked it up though, and I bounced off the single player campaign. Oh what could have been… As with AoE 2 I have picked up the HD re-release on Steam, so maybe it’ll still get some love one day.

Total Annihilation: Kingdoms

Much like Age of Mythology, I was really looking forward to a follow up for Total Annihilation. However this came out, and I just couldn’t get on with it. No one else I knew bought it either, so it was forgotten.

Halo Wars

The premise of this really appealed to me, but I had no desire to play on console when it came out on Xbox 360. I did have some joy playing Command & Conquer 3 on there, but soon gave way to frustration a few missions in when you needed to do anything even slightly fiddly. However, as Halo Wars and it’s sequel are now available on Xbox One with “Play Anywhere” I intend to pick them up at some point to play on PC, properly.

September Games

Returned to winning ways with a minor completion this month. I need to revisit the list of games I meant to play this year though, since I appear to have gone wildly off track. Haven’t given up on any during September, but I fear for Dead Space. If I don’t wrap that up during October I might have to write it off.


Games completed during September

Marvel vs Capcom Infinite – PS4

I picked this up during September, had a bit of a craving to play some Capcom fighting games (as will be evident from the below playlist). I had ignored this when it first came out due to the poor reception it received. While it’s a far cry from Capcom at their best, it is decent enough if you can pick it up cheap. I got it for around £14 with the 6 DLC characters. I played through the story mode on a day off and quite enjoyed it, not as much as the recent Injustice & Mortal Kombat games, but still an entertaining diversion.


Also played this month

X-Men vs Street Fighter – SEGA Saturn

One of the best crossover fighters, really enjoyed playing a bit of this again. Although the Juggernaut & Zangief team admittedly gave me quite the headache!

 

Street Fighter V – PS4

Seemed a recent patch reset my progress in the new Arcade modes on here, so I had to start over. I’ve now redone the first two. If I manage to do all 6 of them, I might count this as another completion.

Destiny 2 – PS4

A free game with PS Plus during September, I was pleased to be able to give this ago. I’ve played the first hour or so to get to the main hub so I could play with people, but haven’t yet felt the urge to go back to it. Felt a lot like playing the first one to be honest.


Games picked up during September

Tesla vs Lovecraft – PS4

Been waiting for this to pop up in a sale for a while, think it was around £4. As will be evident if you’ve listened to the recent Maximum Power-Up Podcast (or if you’ve met me…) I am always up for a game with a Lovecraftian influence, and also partial to a twin-stick shooter. I’ve put a couple of hours into Tesla vs Lovecraft now, and have been enjoying it. The game plays a lot like Nex Machina, although it’s not quite as deep / polished as that (not much is though).

SF x Tekken – PC

I used to own a retail version of this, but think I gave it away in a disappointed huff. However, I really wanted to play it again so picked up a Steam Code for a couple of quid. It is a fun game, but the micro-transaction pushing gem system is a travesty and pretty much spoils the whole thing. As a bit of a bonus, the fix I had to install to make it run properly on Windows 10 also unlocked all the extra characters, which was nice.

Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Ed. – XB1 / PC

I originally pre-ordered the standard retail edition of this. Forza Horizon 3 being my favourite racer of all time, I felt confident about a pre-order. However, after the recent upgrade to my PC I really wanted to be able to play it on there as well. Once the demo came out, I played it a bit on both the Xbox and PC, and took the plunge. Cancelled my ‘xbox one only’ physical pre-order and started shopping around for a good deal on the ‘cross-buy’ digital edition. I managed to upsell myself to the Ultimate Edition, thanks to finding a discounted code online, so I’ve been able to start playing the game a few days early.

Capcom Beat ’em Up Bundle – PS4

This appeared out of nowhere. Didn’t see any news about it ahead of release, but was a day one purchase when I saw the line up. Seven of Capcom’s Arcade Brawlers, two of which have never previously had home versions. Looking forward to playing some of these in local co-op.

Ta-da!

All-Time Top 5 Fighting Games

Another Top 5, these are getting harder to decide on, but if @swooper_d over on twitter can manage a top 30 of his favourite Fighting Games then I don’t really have any excuses not to do this one.

In reverse order as usual, and where I’ve put down the platform for each game, that’s just where I played the game most or currently. Many of these are available on other systems.


5) Street Fighter V – PS4

If this list was just on the strength of the actual gameplay sitting side by side with an evenly matched mate, then this would be comfortably way out in front. Unfortunately though, Capcom made some poor decisions around the original release of Street Fighter V, and although they have made numerous sizeable content updates, the game remains lacking for single player; and online is brutal if you’re not at least semi-pro. I know some people really dislike the art on this version too, but I love it, hence using it for my Arcade Stick.

Buy Street Fighter V on Amazon*

4) Marvel vs Capcom 2 – DC

Was tricky to decide which of the ‘versus’ series from Capcom to include, as there are so many great ones. This is probably the one I spent the most time with, and has an incredible roster of playable characters.

3) Virtua Fighter 2 & 5 – Saturn & Xbox 360

Cheating here but I’m including both Virtua Fighter 2 and 5 in this list as I couldn’t decide which I liked more. It’s really impressive how well the Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 2 holds up though. When I want to play some Virtua Fighter, it’s one of these two games I reach for, and it’s decided based on whichever is closest.

2) Injustice 2 – PS4

Even I’m surprised by how high this sits. However, if Street Fighter V was an excecise in how not to release a mainstream fighting game, Injustice 2 is a masterclass in how it should be done. Builds on the great DC Fanservice of the first game with another fun story mode, then adds the ‘multiverse’ content and introduces a gear chasing mechanic like Diablo. Don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time playing any fighting game on my own. This is also handsdown the best Mortal Kombat game. (Fight me, ideally on one of these games) That said Mortal Kombat XL is pretty solid fun too.

Buy Injustice 2 – (Yes the Legendary Edition is well worth it. Turtles!)*

1) Ultra Street Fighter IV – PS4 & PC

Street Fighter V wouldn’t have been anywhere near as disappointing if they hadn’t been following up the stellar work that had been done on this. Easily the best experience I’ve had all round with a fighting game, right down to the well delivered net play and matchmaking. I’ve gone with Ultra, as that’s what I mostly play now, but I have owned each iteration of SFIV and in my experience whichever you have access to is worth playing.

I think the PS4 version I have must be digital only, but they did re-release the Xbox 360 version in nice Xbox One packaging as it’s a backwards compatible title. You can get that USFIV here.*


Honourable Mentions:

Skull Girls – PC & PS4

Some of the artwork is dubious and cringey, but this is a joy to play. Embracing the familiar 6 button layout of Street Fighter, this feels instantly familar and very polished.

Fighters Megamix – Saturn

A real slice of Sega Fanservice, basically a mashup of Virtua Fighter and Fighting Vipers, fans were rewarded with unlockable characters from SEGA properties such as Sonic, Virtua Cop, and even the car from Daytona. This is excellent fun to play, and I’d probably rate it higher if I’d spent more time with the Fighting Vipers series.

Tekken Tag Tournament – PS2

The Tekken series has always been entertaining, but has never felt as balanced as other fighters. Particularly when compared to the Street Fighter or Virtua Fighter games. This is the game I had the most fun with. I picked up the sequel for PS3 in a sale but haven’t really got round to checking it out.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 – DC & Saturn

It’s a tough shout as to whether I’d go with Alpha 2 or 3, as I probably spent more time with the second game first time round. However, 3 is very much my go to these days, particularly now I have access to the excellent Japan only Saturn port.

The arcade version of this is included on the SF 30th Anniversary Collection here* (lacking all the great single player stuff from the home ports though sadly.

Vampire Savior – Saturn & PS3

In an alternate reality, Capcom abandoned Street Fighter and carried on making games in the Vampire / Darkstalkers series. 🙁
At least some of the characters live on in the Capcom vs games, but I’d really like another. Ideally a Street Fighter IV style reboot for the series.


*heinous affiliate links. If you click these and buy something, I’ll get a small commission towards hosting costs etc.

August Games

Well, had to happen eventually, but I managed a month without completing anything. This month does a have a new section though. Enter “Abandoned”. Games I was intending on completing that I gave up on.


Games abandoned during August

Wario Blast – Game Boy

Was very much enjoying replaying this on my shiny new Game Boy. Thought it was going to be a relatively straight forward completion to tick off. Not so, the last boss is an ass. I’ve watched videos of people doing it in less than a minute, but the timings are painful. Have given up, I think when I beat it back in the day it was in local co-op on my friends Super Game Boy. Maybe I’ll try again one day.

Here They Lie – PSVR

This was a free game on Playstation Plus, and I was looking forward to checking it out with my headset. The game starts off really interesting and very creepy. Unfortunately it also gave me the worst motion sickness I’ve had from VR yet. After about 20 minutes I had to give up, I had been enoying the game though so continued in 2D. Sadly what was an interesting experience in VR, was very ‘middle of the road’ without it. Glad I didn’t buy this.


Also played this month

90s FPS Games – PC

Following last month’s PC Upgrade, I’ve been making the most of my new hardware, by using it to play games I played back in the ’90s. This mostly involved finding modern engines for them, to add higher resolutions, improved lighting etc.  Played around with Doom, Heretic, Hexen, Hexen 2 and of course Quake 1 and 2.

Star Trek Bridge Crew – PSVR

A big part of the reason I picked up my headset in the first place, I finally got around to playing this online with a buddy. It was excellent, and I’m looking forward to our continuing adventures. Hopefully with another crew member if we can work the timings out.

Virtua Cop – SEGA Saturn

Spent a bit of time with this using the mouse I picked up earlier this year. It’s not as satisfying as a light gun would be, but is much more playable than using a pad. Nice to be able to play these old shooters at all.

 

 


August Pickups

Quake Champions: DLC Pack – PC

The Champions Pack DLC went on sale for £13, and I’d already put enough time into the game that I was happy to buy it. The pass unlocks all the current champions as well as any more that get added. I’ve also been doing much better in the game since I found out how to properly set up my mouse sensitivity & DPI settings for FPS games. I’m still playing a few rounds pretty much everyday.

Game Boy stuff

I went up to London for the Play Expo event this month. As usual I didn’t have much on my shopping list, but was pleased to pick up some games I wanted and a slipcase for my new Game Boy.

handheld game console

July Gaming

Another small indie completion this month, along with a bigger title I’ve been playing for a while.


Games completed during July

The Static Speaks My Name – PC

Another free indie game, I think I originally heard good things about this on a podcast. It almost has something mildly interesting to say about loneliness, mental health & death, but nothing too profound. Narrowly avoids disappearing up its own behind, but only if you don’t read the comments on Steam.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus – PS4

Not quite as great an experience as The New Order, but still a really good game. Very much enjoyed the story and shooting Nazis is always fun. It’s pretty tough though, a few frustrating parts almost spoil the experience in places. I’ve only finished the main campaign so far, time will tell if I put any more time into it.


Also played this month

Quake Champions – PC

Still in early access, I won a code for this from Twitter or somewhere. It has some frustrating trappings of the Free 2 Play model, but aside from the Champions which you can buy with a one off purchase, it’s pretty much just cosmetics in the loot system. It is great fun to play already though, and still fairly sparse in modes. I’ve been playing quite a bit, but struggling to climb the scoreboards on the solo instagib queue. Yet to decide if I just need practice to regain my Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament era skills, or if I’m just old and the required reaction times are far behind me.


July Pickups

PC Upgrade!

This bundle from overlockers.co.uk had been tempting me for a little while, when I realised I’d had my current CPU/Mainboard/RAM combo since 2012 I decided it was time for an upgrade. CPU is an AMD Ryzen 2600 and I plumped a little extra to double the RAM up to 16GB. It came with a free 250GB SSD, so that’s now in place as my new system drive.

I’m delighted with it, nice boost to performance and I think my old CPU was holding back the GTX 970 graphics card I got last year.

Elder Scrolls Online – PC

A few friends and I decided to give this a go now you don’t need a subscription. We’ve only played a couple of hours so far but it seems pretty nice. Might help me hold off trying out the new World of Warcraft expansion for a bit longer too.

Sonic Mania Plus – Xbox One

A surprise gift from my sister, seems she pre-ordered it back in May for my birthday and never told me, so it just turned up unannounced on release day. Was a perfect surprise as all the people talking about it on Twitter were tempting me into buying it myself. I’ve had a little go so far, it is as good as they say.

EZ-Flash Omega – Game Boy Advance

I’ve been in the market for a good flash card solution for the Game Boy Advance for a while. The EverDrive looked tempting but very pricey, and has an annoying oversize shell that wouldn’t fit flush in either my Game Boy Micro or Nintendo DS. A friend tipped me off to this though, and it’s perfect. Performance is close to the EverDrive, has interchangable shells so it’ll fit flush in either machine (I’ve gone with the DS one, and I think I’ll sell the Game Boy Micro on) and it cost less than a third of the price of the EverDrive.

Fable Anniversary – Xbox One (Xbox BC)

Finally picked this up in the Xbox Summer Sale. Never played the original Fable, but loved 2 & 3 back on the Xbox 360. Looking forward to finally checking out this version.

 

Custom Back-lit Nintendo Game Boy

I went up to NERG in July, and as well as generally having a great time with friends, I also picked up this beauty from the traders. It didn’t have the light fitted but I fell in love with the colour scheme and it was super cheap (they even threw in a copy of Tetris). Joe Bleeps was kind enough to fit the back light for me for a very reasonable fee.

The finished article is gorgeous, and now I’m going to pick up a few of the games I enjoyed as a nipper.