Tomb Raider (1996)

Technically it didn't age very well. It's ridiculous how often the camera gets in your way and you can't see what you are doing (in fact most of my deaths resulted from that) and how often Lara gets stuck in a wall. Also the sound was stuttering and the video quality of the cutscenes was so bad that it was hard to understand what was going on. Controls are subpar as well, but you can get used to it.

And yet it was great fun to play this game, because the level design is absolutely fantastic (it's among the best ones I have ever encountered). It's not too linear, but also not too confusing and there are lot of secrets to find when you really search for them.

Complete list of finished games in 2017

please tell me that's a typo XD

Yes, that's a typo. I didn't play the masculine version of the game. ;)

I just replayed #1 myself and I really didn't think it had aged that badly.

I completed it for the first time and really enjoyed it most of the time. And I can still see, why it became such a huge success back then. So regarding the gameplay it really didn't age at all.

But technically? It was probably ok or even great back then, but the problems I described are clearly there (except maybe for the stuttering sound, which may vary from machine to machine). Other games from that era (e.g. Thief) aged much better in that regard

NFS Undercover

Trauma Centre: Under the Knife (DS)

I played the Wii remake (Second Opinion) 2 years ago and I recall now that I got angry a lot and after completing it my hand wouldn't stop shaking for a few hours, I seemed to forget about this when I saw Under the Knife for sale at £2. Trauma Centre: Under the Knife is a surgery simulator that see's you star as Derik Stiles, a rookie surgeon who happens to have a special ability called the Healing Touch, an ability that allows him to move incredibly quickly during surgery. He's assisted by Angie Thompson, who mainly just berates you, any helpful information usually given to you by someone else. It's standard surgery stuff until chapter 3 when suddenly everything becomes about these parasitic organisms called GUILT, who move around peoples organs being a pain in the ass. The arrival of Guilt marks the arrival of the huge rise in difficulty, as surgery becomes less about precision and more about speed (and for 2 of the Guilt Strains, Luck).

While this is an addictive game, with fast paced gameplay requiring great skill, unfortunately it takes a toll on your body. I would've beaten it 3 days ago but I've been recovering from an injury given to me by the 5th to last level, which requires ridiculously fast reactions, so much so that my hand was in constant pain for the next 2 days, even as I type it still aches slightly. This is compared to the final level, in which the strategy appears to be "Let enough injuries occur to the person so that the game lags so much, with the lag stopping any more injuries from happening" which unless someone has incredibly fast reactions, seems to be the only viable way of beating it. I did enjoy this game, but I would recommend the wii remake over this one, because you can use both hands instead of one, it's more kind when deciding if you sutured a wound correctly and a number of other issues are fixed.

Commandos : Beyond the Call of Duty

Years ago I managed to reach the final level, but never put in a real effort to complete it. Ever since it's been on my to-do list, and now finally I can cross it off! Somehow way easier than I remember, even when taking the stealth approach. Not that there aren't a small handful of tricky areas, like managing to break into that infernal concentration camp with only your marine and sapper (2nd last level - attached pic)

So that's all the commandos game finished for me. Strike Force you say? Never heard of it...

Most Recently (and because I had an urge to replay shit again):

Sonic 1 (Android):

This version was done by Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley (the same people that went on to make Sonic Mania alongside other folks), and for the most part I was pretty impressed with it.

The game still holds up visually since most stages are pretty detailed while also featuring some nice parallax scrolling, and the added widescreen was a nice touch. It was also much smoother than playing the original Genesis title (I remember certain zones slowing down to a crawl when getting hit or when under water). I'm not a fan of touchscreen controls, but overall this game controlled pretty well with the default setup, and I could actually change the size and positions of the stupid buttons on screen. I also liked that Tails and Knuckles were playable characters in this version too, and you can toggle the spindash on or off before playing. Outside of the changes I mentioned, the overall music game design (with the exception of alternate paths for Tails/Knuckles in certain zones and the first boss fight) is the same as the Genesis version (no remixed soundtrack, but the original tunes still sound great, and most of the original level with it's alternate paths and mix of fast and slow levels holds up).

Although I wish Labyrinth Zone was altered in some way because...ugh, this zone is a slog to get through (you're horribly slow underwater, and the "boss fight" is a pain if you don't go through it quick enough). There was only one instance (from what I've noticed anyway) where there was a new path that only Tails and Knuckles can explore, and I wish there were more paths like this in the other stages). I really don't care about the special stages in this game (even if they rotate more smoothly in this version), they way you move around and constantly bounce off stuff just annoys me. The game was surprisingly easier than I remember outside of that one zone and a few special stages, and the boss fights were pretty lackluster (only the final boss really posed a major threat). This version was also updated recently to include ads which play after 1-2 acts (because SEGA), but you can thankfully turn them off (which costs money, but it was 99¢).

Still, I had a blast replaying this game. Now onto Sonic 2 (Android version, which was also done by the same people).

GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GAME!

and congrats on finished. HARD! That Butcher level is just about as close to impossible as you can get.

Ty ty :D I remember that damn Butcher level from Behind Enemy Lines very well! It felt like forever to successfully get out of the ruined building and across the river. Thankfully Beyond the Call of Duty doesn't have a level quite as difficult as it.

shit, i got my commandos games mixed up :P

I do it all the time :) Whenever I hear Beyond the Call of Duty or Behind Enemy Lines I need to think carefully which one is which!

Catching up....

Idle DOOM

DOOM wad using the assets to make an idle game. No real choices, it's over pretty quick, and it's kind of neat to see it in action. Diversion, check it out if you are interested in the material.

Steamworld Dig

Fun game. Simple mechanic of digging and keeping a path back up, with some upgrades. I think you could play it in one long sitting, but I played over a few days. I'll probably play it again and see if I can do better (mine layout is unique to each save). Very happy I finally caught up with this one.

King of Dragon Pass on iOS

So, I have been playing this for years, but I finished a short game that I started back in June and made a tribe. So, I am not King, but I am almost never king. I will try again to be king, but success in the short games help to keep me motivated. to play the long games. It's a great game.

Devil Daggers

So, you don't win and I haven't even made it to the achievement time, but I had my best run with it and will likely be uninstalling it. It's good at what it does.

Gratuitous Space Battles

You can't go home again. I remember loving this game, but time has not been kind and/or my tastes have changed too much.

Titan Quest Anniversary Edition (GOG)

I have successfully completed Titan Quest Anniversary Edition for the first time today, including the Immortal Throne expansion (Thanks THQ Nordic for the free expansion and Anniversary upgrade!). I started the game earlier this year and completed everything up to about 3/4 of Immortal Throne before experiencing a power supply failure. After recovering the PSU I never got back into completing my game for some reason, so I picked it up again recently and continued the last few days working up to completion tonight after finally defeating Hades.

Unfortunately, Hades did not drop the special item known as the "Overlord" which unlocks a secret easter egg in the Rhodes map at the beginning of the final act, so I'll have to grind fight Hades multiple times until he drops it if I want to see that part.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Titan Quest both the story, lore and setting, as well as the art work and game play. I played a dual-class character specializing in Warfare as my primary and Hunter as my secondary, so I got a nice combination of melee and ranged combat throughout the game.

I highly recommend Titan Quest Anniversary Edition to anyone who likes old school type ARPGs, it was a lot of fun. I will likely continue my character (currently level 44) in Epic mode which I've now unlocked, however I'll take a break from it for now to play some other games.

Rating: 9/10

P.S. I own the game on Steam, however I linked the GOG version above. One important thing to note is that the game uses THQ's own game servers so multiplayer is compatible between the GOG and Steam versions. Here is a link to the Steam version as well:

Titan Quest Anniversary Edition (Steam)