Games, Games, Games - Part One

With the pandemic outbreak that has spread around the world, we certainly live in interesting times. For the last six weeks I’ve been working from home, writing user manuals and product testing. I’ve set up a little makeshift desk with my Surface Pro and an iPad to keep me company. I’m lucky to work for a business that gives me a lot of flexibility in regards to what hours I work, as long as my projects are submitted on time. The upside to working from home is that I save two hours of travel time a day, which means there’s more time dedicated to playing games! I set myself a challenge by selecting a minimum of two games per system to finish. This is what I’ve selected:

Geometry War: Retro Evolved 2 - Released in 2008, this is the sequel to Geometry Wars by the now-defunct Bizarre Creations. I’ve only played this here and there throughout the years but now’s the time to knuckle down and see how much I can score.

Mutant Storm Reloaded - This is a multi-directional shooter by the sorely missed PomPom Games. One of the first games that I downloaded on release way back in 2005, the highest I’ve gone is room 52 out of a total of 89.

Project Sylpheed - Purchased this on release in 2007, it’s been one of those games on the ‘to be played’ list that’s been there forever. The graphics look awesome, let’s see how it plays.

Super Stardust HD - A brilliant twin-stick shooter by the fab developer Housemarque. I’ve got pretty far with this one but I’ve decided to start from scratch. The graphics still mesmerize me.

Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype - A graphically stunning horizontal shooter released in 2008 and developed by SideQuest Studios. I had a go of this today to see how it plays and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to exploring it a lot more.

Black - Having played first-person shooters mainly on the PC, I wasn’t a particular fan playing these on a console. That is until I played Black. Developed by Criterion Games and released in 2006, it felt right playing it with a controller instead of a keyboard & mouse. The graphics are great, it has destructible environments and atmospheric sound. Purchased this on release, played it heavily but then life got in the way and haven’t played it since. Time to fix that.

Outrun 2 - I hate to admit it but I’ve never played this game! My copy is still shrink-wrapped and sitting on the bookshelf begging to be opened. Developed by Sega and ported over to the XBOX by Sumo Digital, it was released in 2004 to rave reviews.

Strikers 1945 - I love shooters yet I’ve only dabbled in Psikyo’s range of games mainly in the arcades. I’ve never sat down and played their ports on the various consoles. Released on the PlayStation and the Saturn in 1996, this is a vertical shooter with a WW2 type theme. Really looking forward to giving this a go.

RayStorm - I played this heaps back in the day, probably one of my favorite games on the system. Originally released in the arcades in 1996 by Taito on the FX-1B (arcade version of the PlayStation) system and then ported over in ‘97, this is the middle game in the “Ray” series. It’s time to finish this.

New Super Mario Bros. - Unfortunately I’ve been quite lax with my Mario games in the last 10 or 15 years. Super Mario 64 was the last one that I put a decent amount of time into and only dabbling with the Wii, Wii U, and portable versions. I thought I would start with this before getting onto the Galaxy games.

Punch-Out!! - One of my fav Nintendo series is Punch-Out!! and having finished the NES and SNES editions, it's time to get onto the Wii version.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade - There's something alluring about Vanillaware's game catalog. Odin Sphere on the PS2 and Dragon's Crown on the PS3 are quite stunning and this looks equally as good. Released in 2009, the graphics look like a work of art and is frequently listed as a hidden gem on the system.

Strike Series (Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Urban Strike) - When you think of the Strike Series, you typically think of the Mega Drive versions. However, I've clocked the SNES version of Desert Strike and finished the PC version of Jungle Strike. Urban Strike is the one I've played the least. Now it's time to finish all three on the Mega Drive.

Bari-Arm - Known as Android Assault in the west, the Japanese version was released in 1993 and developed by Human Entertainment. It was certainly a title that got overlooked upon release and received unfairly low scores in some magazine at the time.

Super Aleste - This is one of the few games listed here that I've played and finished several times. Released in 1992 and developed by Compile, this is part of the Aleste series that's available on many different consoles. What makes this version unique, is its use of vibrant colour and Mode 7 effects to create one of the best shooters on the system.

Super Mario World - The first game I played on the SNES way back in 1991 when I purchased the Japanese version on import. After all these years, it's time to revisit this unforgettable classic.

Defender of the Crown - One of my favourite games on the Amiga and Commodore 64, the ST version has been converted to the Jaguar. Purchased this limited edition version along with the ST mouse adapter from Atari Age. Looking forward to giving this a red hot go.