Wow! A new year, a new decade, new games to beat! Or should I say old games to beat? Last year's tally was remarkable. NES and Gameboy were tied at 15 new games beat during 2019! Incredible. Sega Genesis was the true standout though. During the summer I had just acquired a bunch of games and made a special effort to finish them.
Not only that but my retro game of the year belongs to the mighty Genesis. Without further ado, I present to you...
THE RETRO GAME OF THE YEAR!
Yup it's Sonic and Knuckles! Although you could put Sonic 3 in here as well (they are meant to be played together). So I beat Sonic 3 with all the chaos emeralds and got all the super emeralds for Sonic and Knuckles as well! Great games and a fitting end to the series on the Genesis.
JANUARY:
Ugh, well I finally beat it. With my last credit I finished off Princess Noiram (who was a total pushover, just stand right in her face and mash the kick button). Incredibly poor hit detection and music that is good, but WAY TO LOUD! This one could have been awesome if Technos Japan (or even America) had developed this one. Flying Edge Studios, stick to your awesome wrestling games.
You wouldn't think a bowling game on the NES could be fun. But actually, you'd be wrong! This game has tremendous character and heart. It's also incredibly easy to play and a lot of fun!
A game I must add to my collection soon! This right here is a perfect pick up and play game where its easy to play, and tough to master! The later levels get hectic, but it is possible to do it! Hugging the inside of the street curb can help you avoid cars, and staying close to dogs (no need to bolt for the road) and tossing a paper at them is key too.
FEBRUARY
Popeye was finished on Game Mode B, with all 5 stages complete and with high score too!
An excellent Mega Man clone that is really short, but full of charm. However, the music is a bit lacking, but the power ups are pretty cool!
FEBRUARY
So it say its a Jaleco game, but this is a NATSUME game all the way! Love, love, love it! Excellent graphics and music. With just the right touch of difficulty too. Need to find a physical copy of this sucker!
MARCH:
Little Samson : Great game, most likely worth its weight in gold ( I kid!)
Mortal Kombat 3 (Game Boy) Not a good game by any stretch of the means. Choppy and clunky like the first game on the handheld. Such a shame because they were trying to cram as much as they could in this game.
WCW The Main Event (Game Boy) A fun little wrestling game. Turned out you can just spam the running dropick or clothesline to beat the game! If you get into any real trouble just smash on the select button to hit your finisher! Nice.
Raging Fighter (Game Boy) A good little fighting game. Great graphics and sound, but the controls are a little wonky.
The Punisher (Game Boy) Another great little title. Short auto scrolling shooter. Lots of fun that no one talks about!
TMNT Back From The Sewers (Gameboy) Now here's a game that is even better than Fall of the Foot Clan! Which is quite surprising! Excellent animations, great music and it even has quite the challenge near the end. Plus, each turtle has strengths and weakness'.
APRIL:
Donkey Kong Land 2 (Gameboy) Now here's an excellent GB game! Beat everything too, got all the Krem Coins and the DK Hero coins too. Finished of the King K Rool second fight too. Such a great game! 100% too!
Simpsons: Escape Camp Deadly (Gameboy) This was a stinker of a platform. Some parts are fun but its not a great platformer. Sadly. Although the sprites like Bart, Lisa, Moe?, and Nelson all look great.
Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear): Holy crap what a fun game. I'll have to track the other two sequels because I remember playing them.
Shinobi (Game Gear): Another great game gear game that I remember my best buddy Brandon having. This is actually quite a tough game, with platforming and enemy placement that is quite unforgiving. But, it's still a wonderful and fun game.
Crisis Force (Famicom) (1CC/Easy): A Japanese shmup exclusive from Konami. A great masterpiece of a game. Really fun and lots of options to choose from in terms of weapon selection. Very good game!
Secret of Mana : What can I say but WOW! What a game! Kinda wished I had played it as a kid because it could have easily been one of my favorites.
Space Mega Froce (SNES) : Most likely one of the best Super Nintendo shooters. A great game with a lot of different power-ups, but not as good as Gradius 3. In fact, Gradius 3 in my opinion is still the better game (even with all the slowdown) and it's a lot tougher too.
MAY:
Contra III (SNES) : After almost 25 years I finally got the true ending as I finished it on HARD mode!
Sonic Blast Man 2: Excellent comic book style beat em up! Love the fact that you get a screen clearing attack (that doesn't use up you health) as well as a special attack (that also, doesn't drain your health!). Great music too. A great two player simultaneous game as well (the gf and I's first game beaten together! may 2020).
Sonic Blast Man : You can run, it's only single player and you can only play as Sonic Blast Man! Ugh. Not a bad game at all, but with all those things against it, it's about tied with Final Fight in terms of overall quality. Good music though, and again, an interesting screen clearing attack that doesn't use up your health!
Rival Turf : Not a bad little beat em up! Decent music and graphics, but only two playable characters and not the best animation. It can feel a bit stiff too. But fun for short bursts and most likely a lot more fun with two players!
Brawl Brothers : A definite upgrade to Rival Turf! You can pick from one of 5 characters that all play a little different. My favorites, Lord J (who was the big boss of Rival Turf, and Bill a.k.a. Oozie from the first game. More moves, more weapons, secret moves (bill's fire attack Y+X is broken!) and handles a bit better too (not as clean as Final Fight but a lot better now!).
Final Fight 3 : Now here is arguably the premiere beat em up on the SNES! Finished this game on the highest setting, Expert, as well I did it as a 1 Credit Clear! Amazing game with a lot of moves, finesse and 5 playable character with branching paths! Whew, this is the King!
Ghost Chaser Densai (Super Famicom) : A weird beat em up that was strictly released in Japan. Decent game with some really interesting characters. A straight forward brawler with some cool moves and a stamina bar for your special attacks, which is always a welcome addition. Pretty short, but a good time!
Magic Sword (SNES) : A game our cousin Ron used to lend to us. This is a straight forward hack and slash action platformer. Its really good though because you get a lot of powerups and the ability to find partners who are captured in the tower. A lot of fun and even has two endings!
Final Fight 2 (SNES) : Another childhood game stricken from the list! Finally beat this one on Expert mode to achieve the best possible ending. Very fun game and even achieved a million points twice. Great game.
Stone Protectors (SNES) : One of the easiest, if not the easiest beat em up games on the SNES. That's not a bad thing mind you. Plenty of playable characters, hidden moves, charged attacks, cut scenes, two player and single player co-op....really good game! Beat it on the maximum difficulty too.
JUNE
The King of Dragons (SNES) : Another great Capcom beat em up! Really quick levels which I love. Awesome music and five different classes to play as too.
Rock 'N Roll Racing (Sega Genesis) : I'm very familiar with the SNES port, but the Genesis version is just as good. And I think it has more voice over clips from the announcer so that's really cool. Great game and super addictive.
Robocop vs. The Terminator (Sega Genesis)
Alien Storm (Sega Genesis)
Golden Axe III (Sega Genesis) Defeated with the best ending as well!
Splatterhouse 2 (Sega Genesis)
Dynamite Duke (Sega Genesis)
Moonwalker (Sega Genesis)
Splatterhouse 3 (Sega Genesis) Beat it with the best ending too!
JULY
Rolling Thunder 3 (Sega Genesis) Finished it on normal mode.
Marble Madness (Sega Genesis): This version is WAY tougher than the NES port. And just as good too.
Ghouls 'N Ghosts (Sega Genesis) Defeated on Professional Mode and beaten both loops.
MARCH:
Little Samson : Great game, most likely worth its weight in gold ( I kid!)
Mortal Kombat 3 (Game Boy) Not a good game by any stretch of the means. Choppy and clunky like the first game on the handheld. Such a shame because they were trying to cram as much as they could in this game.
WCW The Main Event (Game Boy) A fun little wrestling game. Turned out you can just spam the running dropick or clothesline to beat the game! If you get into any real trouble just smash on the select button to hit your finisher! Nice.
Raging Fighter (Game Boy) A good little fighting game. Great graphics and sound, but the controls are a little wonky.
The Punisher (Game Boy) Another great little title. Short auto scrolling shooter. Lots of fun that no one talks about!
TMNT Back From The Sewers (Gameboy) Now here's a game that is even better than Fall of the Foot Clan! Which is quite surprising! Excellent animations, great music and it even has quite the challenge near the end. Plus, each turtle has strengths and weakness'.
APRIL:
Donkey Kong Land 2 (Gameboy) Now here's an excellent GB game! Beat everything too, got all the Krem Coins and the DK Hero coins too. Finished of the King K Rool second fight too. Such a great game! 100% too!
Simpsons: Escape Camp Deadly (Gameboy) This was a stinker of a platform. Some parts are fun but its not a great platformer. Sadly. Although the sprites like Bart, Lisa, Moe?, and Nelson all look great.
Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear): Holy crap what a fun game. I'll have to track the other two sequels because I remember playing them.
Shinobi (Game Gear): Another great game gear game that I remember my best buddy Brandon having. This is actually quite a tough game, with platforming and enemy placement that is quite unforgiving. But, it's still a wonderful and fun game.
Crisis Force (Famicom) (1CC/Easy): A Japanese shmup exclusive from Konami. A great masterpiece of a game. Really fun and lots of options to choose from in terms of weapon selection. Very good game!
Secret of Mana : What can I say but WOW! What a game! Kinda wished I had played it as a kid because it could have easily been one of my favorites.
Space Mega Froce (SNES) : Most likely one of the best Super Nintendo shooters. A great game with a lot of different power-ups, but not as good as Gradius 3. In fact, Gradius 3 in my opinion is still the better game (even with all the slowdown) and it's a lot tougher too.
MAY:
Contra III (SNES) : After almost 25 years I finally got the true ending as I finished it on HARD mode!
Sonic Blast Man 2: Excellent comic book style beat em up! Love the fact that you get a screen clearing attack (that doesn't use up you health) as well as a special attack (that also, doesn't drain your health!). Great music too. A great two player simultaneous game as well (the gf and I's first game beaten together! may 2020).
Sonic Blast Man : You can run, it's only single player and you can only play as Sonic Blast Man! Ugh. Not a bad game at all, but with all those things against it, it's about tied with Final Fight in terms of overall quality. Good music though, and again, an interesting screen clearing attack that doesn't use up your health!
Rival Turf : Not a bad little beat em up! Decent music and graphics, but only two playable characters and not the best animation. It can feel a bit stiff too. But fun for short bursts and most likely a lot more fun with two players!
Brawl Brothers : A definite upgrade to Rival Turf! You can pick from one of 5 characters that all play a little different. My favorites, Lord J (who was the big boss of Rival Turf, and Bill a.k.a. Oozie from the first game. More moves, more weapons, secret moves (bill's fire attack Y+X is broken!) and handles a bit better too (not as clean as Final Fight but a lot better now!).
Final Fight 3 : Now here is arguably the premiere beat em up on the SNES! Finished this game on the highest setting, Expert, as well I did it as a 1 Credit Clear! Amazing game with a lot of moves, finesse and 5 playable character with branching paths! Whew, this is the King!
Ghost Chaser Densai (Super Famicom) : A weird beat em up that was strictly released in Japan. Decent game with some really interesting characters. A straight forward brawler with some cool moves and a stamina bar for your special attacks, which is always a welcome addition. Pretty short, but a good time!
Magic Sword (SNES) : A game our cousin Ron used to lend to us. This is a straight forward hack and slash action platformer. Its really good though because you get a lot of powerups and the ability to find partners who are captured in the tower. A lot of fun and even has two endings!
Final Fight 2 (SNES) : Another childhood game stricken from the list! Finally beat this one on Expert mode to achieve the best possible ending. Very fun game and even achieved a million points twice. Great game.
Stone Protectors (SNES) : One of the easiest, if not the easiest beat em up games on the SNES. That's not a bad thing mind you. Plenty of playable characters, hidden moves, charged attacks, cut scenes, two player and single player co-op....really good game! Beat it on the maximum difficulty too.
JUNE
The King of Dragons (SNES) : Another great Capcom beat em up! Really quick levels which I love. Awesome music and five different classes to play as too.
Rock 'N Roll Racing (Sega Genesis) : I'm very familiar with the SNES port, but the Genesis version is just as good. And I think it has more voice over clips from the announcer so that's really cool. Great game and super addictive.
Robocop vs. The Terminator (Sega Genesis)
Alien Storm (Sega Genesis)
Golden Axe III (Sega Genesis) Defeated with the best ending as well!
Splatterhouse 2 (Sega Genesis)
Dynamite Duke (Sega Genesis)
Moonwalker (Sega Genesis)
Splatterhouse 3 (Sega Genesis) Beat it with the best ending too!
JULY
Rolling Thunder 3 (Sega Genesis) Finished it on normal mode.
Marble Madness (Sega Genesis): This version is WAY tougher than the NES port. And just as good too.
Ghouls 'N Ghosts (Sega Genesis) Defeated on Professional Mode and beaten both loops.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 : Finished with all the major endings and all upgrades too. Excellent castlevania-esque game!
AUGUST
The Amazing Spider-Man (Gameboy) - Almost did a 1cc of it but messed up in the last level! lol
Nekketsu Koha Kunio Kun (Famicom)
God of War 4 (PS4)
SEPTEMBER
Tecmo Bowl (Game Boy) Played and won with the L.A. Raiders
Heiankyo Alien (Game Boy) I nice little single screen action game!
Play Action Football (Gameboy) Played and won with San Fran! No ending either! What the hell Nintendo!
OCTOBER
Guardian Legend (NES) Excellent game that I need in my collection.
Dead Space (PS3) Played and finished with Fran! Excellent game too! Lots of fun!
Mega Man 7 (SNES) A great installment! Not as difficult as most people claim. Also really cool that you get the rush hover jet from 6!
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (SNES) Finished the first game.
Run Saber (SNES)
NOVEMBER
Addams Family (SNES) Tricky platformer but it has a TON of secrets to find. Lots of fun once you get used to the slippery controls too.
Earthworm Jim (SNES): One of the toughest SNES platformers I have ever beat. And the funniest too! Excellent game!
Ghost Sweeper Mikami Nice Body (SFC): A really cool Japanese exclusive. A fun platformer by Natsume.
DECEMBER:
Bloodstained Ritual of the Night (PS4)
Cadash (Genesis) Beat both the Fighter and Wizard characters with a 1CC! Really great fantasy hack and slash game. Took me by surprise!
Cadash (Turbograx16) Defeated the game with the Ninja!
Outrun (Genesis) One of the best racing games to not get a port to the USA sadly.
