Tales Of Backloggery: Update 3

I've been diligently playing (is that an oxymoron?), and I've nearly completed the 6th generation.  I'm currently in the early phases of Rogue Galaxy, which is a lengthy JRPG, but after that it's just a quick tourney in Rubgy 08 before I can start the 7th generation.  I've also crossed the halfway mark overall, but that's not to say that the second half will go anywhere near as quickly.

To explain the grades, I am approaching each of them as someone who has experienced these games both before them and after, in many cases evaluating how they hold up.  S means among the best of all time, A-F should be self explanatory.

Update 1: I've completed game #43: Jak II (PS2)

Update 2: I've completed game #54: Halo 2 (Xbox)

Update 3: I've completed game #69: Bully (PS2)

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1. Super Mario World (SNES) ... S

• + I love that the "cheats" are secret levels rather than codes.
• - Coins and lives do not save between sessions.
• + Still fun and challenging in parts.

2. Super Ghouls And Ghosts (SNES) ... D

• = Unfortunately, the cartridge no longer works. (-,_ -)

3. ActRaiser (SNES) ... B

• - Platforming and action not as refined as I'd like.
• + City building and godhood works fantastic.
• - Menus can be a bit unfriendly.
• + My pick for franchise most deserving of a revival.

4. Paperboy 2 (SNES) ... D

• - High scores don't save
• - No depth
• + Still challenging and funny.

5. Home Alone (SNES) ... F

• - Too short, too easy
• - Little to nothing in common with film
• - No bonus for getting all items

6. The Lost Vikings (SNES) ... C

• + Think Trine, except fun and humorous.
• - When one of the three dies, forces you to continue to the end of the stage though you auto fail on exit.

7. Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) ... B

• + Still really challenging....
• - ...almost too much sometimes. Certainly too much other times.

8. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) ... S

• = Devastatingly, the cartridge no longer works. (-,_ -)

9. Super Mario Kart (SNES) .. C

• - Rubber band AI
• - Repetitive and predictable AI finishes each race
• + Fun, tricky tracks

10. Super Star Wars (SNES) ... D

• - Killed enemies respawn immediately
• - Vehicle controls cause rage quits

11. Star Fox (SNES) ... D

• - Can be difficult to see around ship
• - Lots of slowdown in heavy action

12. Super Mario All Stars (SNES) ... A

• + All games are still a blast to play
• - Downgraded because it's a collection.  I waver on whether those qualify for top honors, and right now they don't.

13. Street Fighter II: Turbo (SNES) ... C

• = Sadly, the cartridge no longer works. (-,_ -)

14. Zombies Ate My Neighbors (SNES) ... S

• + Still the greatest game of all time.

15. Super Metroid (SNES) ... C

• + Good challenge
• - Awkward platforming

16. Super Punch Out!! (SNES) ... C

• = First two circuits were way too easy.  Never used to think so...
• - Huge difficulty spike at Mad Clown.

17. Earthworm Jim (SNES) ... C

• - Awkward platforming
• + Still fun

18. Donkey Kong Country (SNES) ... A

• + Still fun and challenging

19. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES) ... B

• = Disappointingly, the cartridge no longer works. (-,_ -)

20. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest (SNES) ... A

• + Much improved over the first
• + Dixie Kong

21. Star Fox 64 (N64) ... C

• = Disappointingly, the cartridge no longer works. (-,_ -)

22. Goldeneye 007 (N64) ... D

• - Terrible controls; impossible to aim and awkward to move.

23. Metal Gear Solid (PS1) ... A

• + Still excellent story
• - I really miss CQC and analog sticks and aiming.

24. Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) ... S

• + Still great despite its terrible camera
• - Save game loads at inconvenient places outside of dungeons.
• - Have I mentioned the terrible camera?

25. Mario Party (N64) ... D

• + Love the board game premise and mini-games can be fun...
• - Often the controls in mini-games are rage-quit-worthy.
• = Mini games don't last long enough to warrant rage quits.

26. Super Smash Bros. (N64) ... B

• - Small roster
• - Awkward jumping physics/controls
• + Still a lot of fun

27. All Star Baseball 2001 (N64) ... C

• + Controller is actually good for baseball
• = Was able to replace the New York Yankees roster with players from "Who's On First".  Nobody is playing Right Field.

28. Mario Tennis (N64) ... C

•  + simple controls
• - frustrating power shot timing

29. Legend Of Zelda: Majora'a Mask (N64) ... S

• + Better story than Ocarina; most characters have purpose
• - frustrating camera at times
•  - Wizrobe is used too often as a mini-boss

30. Zone of the Enders (PS2) ... C

• - Conversations can drag on
• - bad camera controls when not locked onto a target
• + Excellent story presentation

31. NHL Hitz 20-02 (PS2) ... C

• + Funny commentary
• + Still love the fires and fights
• + Love the trivia questions for bonus unlock credits
• - No real season or franchise modes; no player stats

32. Halo (Xbox) ... A

• - Mostly bland story
• + fun weapons
• - Terrible vehicle controls

33. Jak & Daxter: Precursor Legacy (PS2) ... B

• + Funny
• + Solid platforming
• - Some bad camera angles

34. Jet Set Radio Future (Xbox) ... C

• + Fun concept
• - Awkward physics
• - Repetitive soundtrack

35. Red Faction II (PS2) ... B

• + Fun destruction
• + fun cheats; good sense of humor
• + True arena multiplayer

36. Deathrow (Xbox) ... C

• - Very awkward controls
• - Odd season structure and no stats
• - No way to downplay violence if you want more sport in gameplay
• + fun despite its serious flaws

37. Splinter Cell (Xbox) ... B

• + Michael Ironside
• + Nice approach to stealth gameplay
• - Inconsistent AI
• - Shadows do not always render as light or dark as indicator shows

38. Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast (Xbox) ... C

• - Objectives tend to be very vague
• + The shooting is awkward enough to befit Star Wars

39. War of the Monsters (PS2) ... C

• + Great concept
• - Controls and camera can be difficult to deal with

40. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (PS2) ... B

• + Good opening and final chapters
• - Controls, while improved over MGS1, are still a bit awkward
• - Plotholes (ironically, the major ones can eventually be explained but the minor ones like Snake and Otacon knowing what Raiden says to the Colonel on his private codec cannot)

41. Zone of the Enders: 2nd Runner (PS2) ... B

• + Improved over the first one in virtually every way
• - Not a fan of the anime art style or dialogue

42. Freedom Fighters (PS2) ... C

• - Perhaps the worst aiming controls I've ever used in a game outside of motion controls
• + Action/strategy combo

43. Jak II (PS2) ... A

• + Fun action and platforming
• - Can't aim weapons
• + Great story and humor

44. WWE Smackdown! Here Comes The Pain (PS2) ... C

• + Very deep create a wrestler & controls
• - Takes WAY too long to obtain enough attribute points for them

45. Deus Ex: The Invisible War (Xbox) ... C

• - Inventory management was uncomfortable
• - shooting/melee not as precise or responsive as I'd like

46. Beyond Good & Evil (PS2) ... A

• - Some camera issues
• + Excellent story and presentation
• + Love the photography stuff

47. Counter-Strike (Xbox) ... C

• + great gameplay, decent bots
• - Can't customize map size outside of bot difficulty
• - no meat beyond random matches

48. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Acadamy (Xbox) ... B

• + Interesting setup
• - Aiming guns is a bit awkward/ lightsaber not as fluid as it should be
• = Subtitles say "Artoo" instead of "R2"

49. The Suffering (Xbox) ... B

• + great story and monsters
• - Third person can be difficult to aim
• + The Shining influences

50. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox) ... B

• + Better level design and improved lighting/shadows
• + Michael Ironside
• - Thermals can be difficult to see tripwires

51. Psi-Ops: Mindgate Conspiracy (PS2) ... B

• + Psy powers are insanely fun
• - Shooting is weak and inaccurate
• - Not so great AI

52. Killzone (PS2) ... C

• - Can be VERY inaccurate
• + fun guns
• + custom controls and botzone
• - blah campaign

53. Jak 3 (PS2) ... A

• + Better guns, better jetboard, and better use of collectibles
• - Driving on sand
• - Story not as good as Jak II
• + Haven City war zones

54. Halo 2 (Xbox) ... B

• + Dual wielding
• + Fun new weapons
• - Dull story

55. Mercenaries (PS2) ... B

• + factions, deck of 52 setup
• + air strikes on demand, helicopters, destruction
• - Aim is very inaccurate with all weapons
• - some AI issues in missions

56. Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (Xbox) ... B

• + Live ammo
• - Third person camera easily gets stuck
• + Plot twist literally changes the game
• = good humor, but some annoying voice work

57. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Xbox) ... A

• + Sound indicator, camera neutralizer on pistol, the knife
• + Choice of loadout before missions
• + quicksaves can be done anywhere

58. Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict (Xbox) ... C

• - Terrible voice work
• + melee combat & arena gameplay
• + fun maps and modes
• - third person camera can be awkward

59. Psychonauts (PS2) ... B

• + great humor, story, and most voice acting sells it well
• - camera can hurt platforming at times, depth perception can be trick for tightropes
• + excellent level design, especially the brains after you leave the camp itself
• = TV

60. Destroy All Humans! (PS2) ... B

• + great sense of humor, Jack Nicholson and JFK impersonations are awesome
• - Too short
• + great weapons for Crypto and saucer, though I would have liked more
• = It's mind boggling that this has an autosave feature when Mercs did not.

61. Madden NFL 06 (PS2) ... C

• - Long load times
• + Allows for 32 created teams to replace entire NFL in franchise mode
• + solid controls; not too simulation, not too arcade

62. Stubbs The Zombie (Xbox) ... B

• - can be difficult to tell what your objective is at times
• + Starting a zombie horde and watching it grow, film grainy style, humor
• = Some zombie powers are good, some are ridiculous
• + I would argue it's a better use of the Halo engine than Halo itself

63. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) ... C

• - empty world except for bosses
• + Scale of boss battles, variety in boss environments...
• - ...though most bosses feel too similar.

64. Jak X: Combat Racing (PS2) ... C

• - Auto or manual saves can corrupt save file permanently
• + good weapons and variety of race types
• + arena gameplay
• - drifty physics

65. Star Wars Battlefront II (PS2) ... B

• + Galactic Conquest
• + Leaders, story mode, variety in soldier classes
• - Auto aim can automatically lock on friendlies instead of enemies

66. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2) ... S

• + Story, boss battles, running themes
• - Control scheme
• + That theme song
• - Cure menu can be annoying, especially during certain boss fights

67. Hitman: Blood Money (PS2) ... C

• + open mission approaches makes it very replayable
• + some great dark humor
• - shooting and some close weapons are unrefined

68. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (PS2) ... B

• + Full roster and kreate a fighter
• + Konquest is much improved over Deception
• - 3D fighting is not as good as 2D
• - Kreate a Fatality

69. Bully (PS2) ... B

• - Movement can get very wonky
• + Great humor, really nails the school theme
• + Russell like to hurt people...for peace!

70. Rogue Galaxy (PS2) ...

• In progress...

71. Rugby 08 (PS2)

72. NHL 2K8 (PS3)

73. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3)

74. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)

75. Unreal Tournament III (PS3)

76. The Orange Box (PS3)

77. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

78. Dead Space (PS3)

79. Bioshock (PS3)

80. Fallout 3 (PS3)

81. Mirror's Edge (PS3)

82. Killzone 2 (PS3)

83. inFamous (PS3)

84. Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)

85. Brutal Legend (PS3)

86. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

87. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time (PS3)

88. Assassins Creed II (PS3)

89. Heavy Rain (PS3)

90. God Of War Saga (PS3)

91. Just Cause 2 (PS3)

92. Red Dead Redemption (PS3)

93. Fallout: New Vegas (PS3)

94. LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)

95. Dead Space 2 (PS3)

96. Killzone 3 (PS3)

97. Mortal Kombat (PS3)

98. Portal 2 (PS3)

99. L.A. Noire (PS3)

100. inFamous 2 (PS3)

101. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (PS3)

102. Resistance 3 (PS3)

103. Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

104. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)

105. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PS3)

106. Elder Scrolls V: Skrym (PS3)

107. Saints Row The Third (PS3)

108. Mass Effect Trilogy (PS3)

109. Borderlands 2 (PS3)

110. Hitman: Absolution (PS3)

111. Far Cry 3 (PS3)

112. Playstation All Stars Battle Royale (PS3)

113. Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch (PS3)

114. Dead Space 3 (PS3)

115. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (PS3)

116. Tomb Raider (PS3)

117. Bioshock: Infinite (PS3)

118. The Last Of Us (PS3)

119. Splinter Cell: Blacklist (PS3)

120. Grand Theft Auto V (PS3)

121. South Park: The Stick Of Truth (PS3)

122. Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (PS4)

123. Killzone: Shadow Fall (PS4)

124. Infamous: Second Son (PS4)

125. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4)

126. Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor (PS4)

127. Dragon Age: Inquisition (PS4)

128. Far Cry 4 (PS4)

129. Dying Light (PS4)

130. The Order 1886 (PS4)

131. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PS4)

132. Mortal Kombat X (PS4)

133. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PS4)

134. Fallout 4 (PS4)

135. Star Wars: Battlefront (PS4)

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Quote Of The Day

"It behooves me to *like* this."

-andri_g

Quotes Archive

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Today In Music (June 6th)

Perfect Man by Rage released on June 6th, 1988. Also released on this day:

• The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie (1972)
• Birthing The Giant by Cancer Bats (2006)
• City Of Evil by Avenged Sevenfold (2005)
• "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" single by The Rolling Stones (1965)
• "Snowblind" single by System Of A Down (2000)

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E3 Group Chat

Remember folks, E3 begins with press conferences on June 12th.  We'll be doing our group chats on Skype as usual, so make sure you have added DOJNDO as a friend on Skype so I can add you to it.