That shouldn’t make any difference, it’s a great game from the get-go. That’s what I like about it. Ecen just 15-20 levels is enough to appreciate it.

Pretty sure it's the second level that has a warp to World 4 if I'm remembering correctly.

Search for that and you might get it a bit more. There's also a Star Road ala SMW.

Mario games since SMW only open up with post credits/extras.

That's where the NSMB games fell a bit flat and another reason why U is the real deal, it really should be New World not New Bros.

6: NBA Live 19 (XB1) 7/10

Only played the Street World Tour mode, in which you create a player from the ground up, have them team up with a squad of NBA legends (or just average players at the start) and take on all comers on street courts around the world.  

It reminded me a bit of a realistic version of the old PS2 era NBA Street games.  I think I would have preferred to play something a bit more arcadey like those, but this was still pretty good.

There's a lot of variations of game rules (like first to a certain score, dunks are worth 10 points, etc) to keep it fresh and it mostly works, although some rules are a bit rubbish (I once won a game by securing an unopposed defensive rebound.  Riveting stuff).  You win currency and can spend it on new clothes, tattoos, or good basketball players.  This mode pushes player customisation pretty hard and it's okay but a bit limited.  Like, you can buy certain items, other stuff is unlocked as you play.  Most of the good stuff is locked away in obscurity; I got lucky with a radical Shawn Kemp Supersonics jersey early and wore that for most of the game (the shop mostly offers generic singlets, and you can only see so many pairs of black track pants with a tiny logo on them before you stop caring).

You can pick what type of player you can be, and also your sex which is pretty cool.  I played as a tiny thin woman with jedi passing skills just because.  It was pretty fun but she was too tiny to dunk, which sucked since being a show off is a big part of this mode.  While I like that girls are an option, I with the hair cuts were up to scratch - there is a mass effect-like array of receding haircuts and rock hard ponytails that don't animate on offer. 

It's mostly fun to play, though it's probably at its best about halfway through the campaign - at the very top levels, the game doesn't seem to know what to do with basketball gods.  Like, you'll try to run around Shaquille O'Neill, who is standing stationery in the key, to grab an offensive rebound.  But (presumably) because he has top defensive stats, the game won't let you run in a straight line to the empty space under the basket.  It will make you run on an angle so you crash into Shaq and he blocks you from getting close.  It seems to be compensating for the AI not being good enough to behave like an NBA legend.  You'll also see Lebron bricking dunks when great defensive players are in his vicinity.  Admittedly Shaq's a pretty girthy bloke and it could all just be simulating his gravitational pull.

That was more words than expected.  Pretty enjoyable stuff, but I feel done with it.  Was a fine game to play while listening to podcasts.

9: Metal Gear Solid 2 Vita - 7/10
Actually became a chore to play this to the end. The least enjoyable MGS for me. Kojima at his worst and such irritating sections I gave up reloading the save to go for the perfect scores and just hit continue. Still a good game but nowhere near great.

8. VR Worlds - PS4

Right, so I'm starting to notice a pattern developing with a few of these VR titles - they're overpriced.  I paid £10 for this, which is more than fine, but I believe the original RRP was £25, and for a glorified demo disc that's a wee bit rich.  The games, from bottom to top:

Ocean Descent

Fairly enjoyable one-and-done VR experience.  It's the sort of thing you'd use to showcase Playstation VR to mates who've never played it, but only in a world where Star Wars Rogue One VR, The London Heist (spoilers: that one's good) and Rush of Blood to the Head didn't exist.   

VR Luge

Didn't really do it for me.  It's passable, but there's no reason why this couldn't have been a lot better.  It works, it's fun for a while, but the devs hardly reached for the stars here.  

Scavengers Odyssey 

Now we're in pretty good territory, this was a decent FPSVR experience.  Controls are solid and it looks nifty, but be warned - it chucked me around so much I needed to suck boiled sweets to avoid a visit from Uncle Dick.  Definitely the poster child for 'queasy' from the VR experiences I've had so far.  Good though, and of a passable length for a multi-game package.

Danger Ball

Genuinely good VR pong game, all controlled with head flicks/leans/swipes but criminally lacking in a multiplayer online mode.  I'd probably buy a fleshed out full game based on the basics here.  Good stuff.

The London Heist

Wow.  Even both barrels of mock stock didn't take the shine off; a top tier cockney caper that's surprisingly well acted throughout.  Ya fackin' two-Bob mugglewump.  It's all over bar the shouting within half an hour and there are only really two (traditionally) playable sections, but while it lasts this is probably the best thing not starring Astro Bot on PSVR.  Even the shooting galleries are good, I just want more.

[7] overall for the package, less at full price.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

8. VR Worlds - PS4

Danger Ball

Genuinely good VR pong game, all controlled with head flicks/leans/swipes but criminally lacking in a multiplayer online mode.  I'd probably buy a fleshed out full game based on the basics here.  Good stuff.
.

'Spark' is the multiplayer version of this, supposedly it's really good.

Theres also a version of it in rec room that's nowhere near as good as spark.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

That does look good, just watched a trailer, but Move controllers rather than head movements is a swing and a miss for me.  I should check out the Headmaster demo really, keep meaning to try it.

Ive always presumed this is gonna feel like the worst kind of Kinect game.

03 - Fire Emblem Awakening Started in (I think) 2014, I finally completed it now. 70,5 hours on the 3DS clock. My first real strategy game, and I loved every bit of it. Realized way too late how the reclassing etc works (if I would have known before that you can plan skills etc I'd have put more time into that). More reason to look forward to a Switch version.

Think I'm done with Resident Evil 2 - At least I've not played it in a week and feel no need to go back.  I've done 2 and a half of a possible 4 campaign variations. 

Could see myself going back at some point to play the other campaigns.  If only to use the Claire motorcycle outfit I payed extra money for!  

It's mostly a quality game that I enjoyed very much.  It's mostly so well paced, doling out just enough ammo and supplies to see you through.  Making you um and ahh over which bits of equipment you should put in your limited inventory stash.  A good mix of puzzles, traps and old fashioned gun fights.  It all feels very good.

It's all good stuff except for Mr X, a terrible character who just about ruins the game.  There are ways to deal with him but he makes the game far less enjoyable than it needs to be.  When I think about finishing my 3rd campaign I think 'The Mr X bit is coming up now.  I can't be bothered' and that hasn't changed in a week.  Oh well.

Still good stuff on the whole.  I give it an 8.

Just finished the post credits content in octopath traveler - came in at a pretty hefty 25+ hours.  This included mopping up dozens of half finished side quests, clearing optional dungeons, some old fashioned grinding and of course beating the big bad douchebag at the end.  Of that stuff:

Side quests: The journal in this game is not good.  It tells you bugger all.  I don't mind if they don't want to completely spell out the quest (so that you're not just following quest markers on a map) but it's just about impossible to tell what you're supposed to be doing at all, unless you drop everything and do each quest as it comes up.  Never mind coming back to the game several months later!  You need to use a guide.  Not ideal.  It's still fulfilling in a way, getting money, items, exp, checking things off your list.  Need to do better than this though.

Optional dungeons: Good stuff on the whole, figuring out what the enemies are like and how to break them, with a tough fight at the end.  It's mostly higher level stuff, so you get lots of EXP and handy items for your trouble.  The highlight of the return for me.

Grinding: A little too much!  I just wish the characters who are not in your party level up with everyone else.  Would save a shedload of time.

Big Baddie fight: Very tough, but a bit too tedious!  He doesn't muck around and can kill you very quickly if your not paying attention.  He's at the end of a boss run that you can't save after and takes and hour.  Bit of a dick move.

It was quite good but not as good as the main game.  Glad the game is complete.

Bit of a South Park Fractured But Whole spoiler following:

Heh, I was going to do that one.

Edit: Wait, I thought this was the love letter thread for some reason.

Is that the one with the bonus levels where you have to pop the bubbles as the dog?

6. Earthworm Jim (Megadrive)
Another one I hadn't finished. The bungee jump level either always finished me off or sucked so many lives away I was screwed after that. This game is no fun. The animation is still top-drawer. The plasma pistol still gives off a satisfying put-put-put. That's the good. The wacky enemies and jokes should be fun but the game is so frustrating that I wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. Bosses have no life bars and are absolute sponges so half the time you're not sure if you're doing any damage. The enemies are way more manoeuvrable than you. The hitboxes and collision detection is weird and arbitrary. The layout of the levels is absolute chaos. 

I remember thinking the bonus stages were fun. They aren't, they’re possibly the worst bonus stages ever. Firstly, they're compulsory and you can die and lose health like a normal level.  If you lose the race against Psycrow you have to have a boss fight. It's almost impossible to get enough blue orbs in later stages to actually get a bonus continue so you don't gain anything. So it's just a regular level, over and over again. And if you've edged the previous level with a sliver of health left, you'll lose it here, or against psycrow. 

Hard games are fine but this is one of those where you really can't help but lose health and lives just by trying to navigate around. The game might want you to go right but doesn't show you where so you just have to jump, move the screen forward and see. Oh great there's a little shiny hook that it wants you to grab on but you haven't got enough time now because you didn’t know it’s there and whoops you're in a giant pit of spikes and you’re dead. There’s stuff like that all over the place. The last level is nearly all that.  

It’s funny because they wanted to use this game to launch a whole multi-media franchise but then made it so weirdly inaccessible. If they’d made it easier, something like Sonic, that with a bit of practice you can rattle through repeatedly, it would have been way better. They aren’t a million miles away from having a decent game. But there’s a lot of bizarre and shit decisions made on the gameplay front. The animation and character design is the only thing that’s good about it. And that really is good.  One thumb down.

I was thinking about playing 2 until I played 1 again.

And with that absurdity I think I've drawn level with last year's total. Piece of piss this 52 games lark. 

I have got Zelda BOTW on the go as well. About 30 hours deep into that so there's real games being played as well.