This is what I looked like on September 19, 2008 during a vacation. Duluth is in the background.
What video games have you played?
Level 10 update on Aug 12, 2007 (first version)
This is a list of the various video games I've played with details explained. The videos are hosted at YouTube. For the details on the songs, see my full list of songs for in-depth details about them.
Field descriptions:
Oddities done: Lists various oddities I've done. They can range from getting 99 lives extremely early in the game, going through the game at a very unusually high level for RPGs, maxing the score, etc.. Most derrive from self-made challenges.
Compatibility: How much I like the game. The higher, the more I like it. Negative values indicate that I dislike the game while those of 4 figures are extreme favorites, games I'll keep at for a very long time to come, likely to rack up 2000+ hours of total play.
Liked songs: The number of liked songs in the game with a brief description of the sources, but not listed in any particular order.
Difficulty: How hard the game was to me at the middle-most difficulty using my well-established 0 to 8 scale:
0 - given - the game has absolutely no challenge at all and could complete it without even watching what I was doing. No known games even get this low.
1 - very easy - there is challenge in the game, but hardly anything. Games this easy are made more difficult by coming up with self-made challenges.
2 - easy - this game has a small challenge to it, but self-made challenges help make it more difficult and more worthy.
3 - easy-medium - this game has a fair amount of challenge to it, but still relatively easy. As usual, self-made challenges make the game a bit better. This is the most common for games since the Playstation 1.
4 - medium - the challenge this game offers is just right. This is the most common for games before the Playstation 1. Some self-made challenges can still make the game a bit better.
5 - medium-hard - this game has quite a challenge, but is sufficiently easy enough to go through without too much trouble. This is the low end of self-made challenges.
6 - hard - this game has good challenge and I'd have some difficulty completing it. This is the upper end of self-made challenges.
7 - very hard - this game has an extreme amount of challenge to it, either due to design flaws, bugs, or limitations, or to the intended design. Such games may be completed without having to use cheats, but they'd quite often need them in some way (usually kept to a minimum so it lowers the difficulty to a 5 or 6.
8 - said to be impossible - the challenge in this game is so great that even true masters at games like it would likely need to use cheats just to even complete it. No known game has reached this high.
Known bugs: I tend to hunt for bugs missed by testers while playing many games and I frequently find some. I've always had the dream of testing a real console game prior to its release. Considering I enjoy hunting for oddities in games as part of self-made challenges and it helps keep me at the game much longer.
Got game over: In many games, I never get game over, though I may do so only deliberately. Some games, like Tetris, keep on going until you get one and others, by completing it, you get it. Otherwise, they're very rare to me. I otherwise never see continue screens. The only time I do is when I deliberately get a game over. It's very common I get tons of lives but rarely expend them.
Remarks: This lists various remarks and details about a game and various aspects that affect compatibility or relate to various oddities done.
Videos: With GameBridge, I can record videos of things I do. The links refer to videos hosted at YouTube of various oddities I do and other things. Not all games have videos available and for some games, such as those from the Genesis (until I can find a solution to the distortions), or PC games outside my own creations. Some games no longer run on my computer making it impossible to get videos or screenshots in the first place.
1 The Atari
Because I otherwise don't recall any of the names of the games I've played for the Atari (and I may be mixing Atari games with something else), however, I can describe a few of them since I still have scenes recalled.
One game involves an underground area, forests, small lakes (that either disappear and reappear, and sometimes have crocs), vines, "eggs" as I called them, occasional treasures, a 20-minute time limit, and I think, a scorpion.
Another game is where I'm using a paddle at the bottom to remove parts of a rainbow line at the top. The ball bounced around.
A third game is where there's a gun on the left shooting toward a red square on the right and hits removed squares that randomly went around. The background was black and the squares were, I think, red.
A fourth game is where I'm flying a space ship and there were balls and things. The screen constantly scrolled from left to right. This was one of my top favorite games.
A fifth game is where I controlled a bird and needed to defeat other birds. Getting eggs boosted the score. I recall one single game lasting nonstop for at least 8 hours. There were various ledges and pools of some red substance on the far left and right corners at the bottom. The lives indicator was part of the score and looked like 6's and I often thought I had trillions of points.
A sixth game is where I have an airplane flying over some river shooting helicopters and other things. The most notable were the bridges, of which, in one game, lasting 4 or so hours, I destroyed 50 of these bridges in one go and the river area was extremely narrow.
A seventh recalled game is where you have a horse and a rope. You were supposed to rope the various animals. I recall getting so far once that the score never stopped counting for several minutes, something like 2000 points I believe. A fence lined the upper and bottommost areas.
An eighth game was an E.T. game that I vaguely recall and I just constantly fell down pits (and deliberately).
A ninth game involves 3 parts and I think it was called "Necromancer" or something like that. The first is where bunnies were running from left to right (and/or right to left) and occasional spiders appeared. The spiders did 200 damage and there was a maximum of 2000. I used the joystick to move something around to defeat these objects. When the character's health (maybe HP) dropped to zero, the second part occurred, of which had a series of pits and things and the walls were of various colors. I very vaguely recall this. The third part was my top favorite and I'd literally spend hours and hours in this. The area had lots of spiders and occasionally someone that restored 200 HP if destroyed. The spiders were first vulnerable but became invulnerable. There were 5 separate levels. The first levels had the spiders doing 5 damage for each frame the character was one them (more damage when touching multiple spiders at once). The later levels had them doing 10 damage per frame.
A tenth game was some sort of Snoopy game and I recall numbers appearing. I practically entirely forgot it.
There was a space game that I liked where you could see various stars, but I don't recall it. I do recall my parents installing a fan in my room that soon caused my Atari system to be fried (as my dad got zapped).
A twelfth game involved crossing a road with a chicken, but I don't recall it.
A thirteenth game involved a strange cave system where, with 6 sticks of dynamite, you needed to destroy walls to get somewhere. Occasionally, there was a cyan-colored liquid-like stuff below. The guy could fly and there were some moving walls that were dangerous to touch. Some rooms were pitch black due to some object in the room.
A fourteenth game involved a man in an area filled with fires and spiders. By touching a fire or spider, you'd lose the game and the more fires you touched, the more different the death scene was. I recall occasional jumps, but I was never able to deliberately get the character to jump at all. Today, with my programming knowledge and stuff, I'd like to give this game another go to see if I figure it out since I never figured out what you needed to do.
I know for sure that there are many more than this that I've played, even as many as 10 to 20 more!
2 The NES
2.1 Mario 1
I refer to the original "Super Mario Brothers" game as "Mario 1".
Oddities done: I didn't really like the game all that much, though I do recall getting 10 million points in world 3 and getting tons and tons of lives.
Compatibility: 3.5 - low
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: 1 (beyond 19 lives)
Got game over: Never
Remarks: My favorite enemies were the turtles. My favorite sound effect is that when Mario shrinks after taking a hit. I always avoided the flowers since I preferred to jump on enemies instead, as it gave the most points that way. Only the castles were exceptions to this.
Videos: None.
2.2 Mario 2
Oddities done: Deliberately taking hits, restoring it, taking more (on spikes for example).
Compatibility: 1.2 - near neutral
Liked songs: Don't recall
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: Don't recall
Got game over: Doubtful
Remarks: It's been since about 1998 that I last played it, probably even earlier. As a consequence, I vaguely recall it.
Videos: None.
2.3 Mario 3
Oddities done: Numerous: 99 lives by the second level of world 1, going through every single level and using the only known whistle to actually go back a some worlds, deliberately taking hits or jumping down pits for the fun of it (with 99 lives, it makes little difference), getting 3 million points (probably more but I don't recall).
Compatibility: 500 - top favorite
Liked songs: 1 (the fifth world (of clouds), of which I'd like to get)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: Don't recall, but likely a few here and there.
Got game over: Never
Remarks: This is my favorite of all NES games, and even to today would like to play again, provided I can find the cartridge again.
Videos: None.
2.4 Felix the Cat
Oddities done: Obtained 5 million points, got 99 lives by world 1-2, went through the entire game without losing a single life.
Compatibility: 200 - favorite
Liked songs: 3 (world 1, 5, and 7)
Difficulty: 1 - very easy
Known bugs: 0 (I have yet to find any)
Got game over: Never
Remarks: This game is so easy, I can go through many levels without taking a hit and racking up so many unneeded lives that the game otherwise has no challenge, even though I avoid shortcuts at times. There's only a small hint of challenge though (otherwise the difficulty would be 0). I've even gone through the entire game without losing a single life!
Videos: 1 First 4 levels without taking a hit
2.5 Marble Madness
Oddities done: None known
Compatibility: 30 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 1 (practice race theme)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: 0 (I've hardly played the game)
Got game over: Quite often - running out of time
Remarks: When I first played this game, I couldn't get past the 5th level since I often didn't know how to get out. When I did manage to get it, it was the final area of the sixth level that always kept getting me. With my skills gained in Super Monkey Ball, I could complete the game several times in a row.
Videos: None.
2.6 Blaster Master
Oddities done: Deliberately losing lives solely for entertainment
Compatibility: 20 - high
Liked songs: 2 (areas 2 and 4)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: 3 (if human dies and game is paused during so, he turns into a lightning bolt, tank, after being destroyed, can be rolling clear across an entire area without exploding, only exploding when it fully stops, instant boss death if the game is paused at the right moment).
Got game over: rarely if not done intentionally
Remarks: This game was both fun and challenging, especially the eighth area. For a long time, I've always had a lot of difficulty with the eighth area due to all the spikes and it was the only area that caused the game overs. The final boss also was troublesome. Another thing I recall was having to get my sister to help me get into the water in area 5, back before 2000 anyway.
Videos: None.
2.7 Metroid
Oddities done: Deliberately letting enemies do damage (due to the sound it has), and deliberately running around in the lava (when not flashing), since it mainly resembles cases of my mud dreams.
Compatibility: 80 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 4? - medium (see remarks)
Known bugs: 2 (wall-climbing, and textures suddenly changing colors)
Got game over: only deliberately
Remarks: I have yet to actually complete the game since I don't know what you're supposed to do. This is the reason for the questioned difficulty. The game itself is otherwise very easy (about a 2), but the part of knowing what you're supposed to do is what causes the difficulty to jump up a lot. I recall two old friends also playing this game quite a bit, and in the area with the pink/magenta lava, they often ran around in it, until I told them that the enemies were the faster way to die since that's what they were after.
Videos: None.
2.8 Clash at Demon Head
Oddities done: Don't recall.
Compatibility: 15 (30% margin of error)
Liked songs: At least 1 (the map)
Difficulty: at least 5 (don't recall it that well)
Known bugs: Don't recall
Got game over: Don't recall but doubtful
Remarks: I've only recently had this game, since about 2004, but have since lost it.
Videos: None.
2.9 Robin Hood
Oddities done: Reached maximum level (8) in the Sherwood Forest area.
Compatibility: 8 - moderate
Liked songs: 0 (1 is borderline, that of when in the Sherwood Forest area)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: Don't recall, but likely zero
Got game over: A few times, especially during the first horse chase and the one-on-one battles.
Remarks: Figuring out what you're supposed to do is the toughest part of this game and fairly low compatibility prevents prolonged play.
Videos: None.
2.10 Tetris
Oddities done: Don't recall
Compatibility: 20 - high
Liked songs: 0 (1 is borderline but don't recall it)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: Don't recall any
Got game over: Almost always, as puzzle games are like this (they keep going until you lose)
Remarks: Though I'm not much into puzzle games, I vaguely recall it. I do recall starting on level 6 or 7 and keeping at it trying to get as many 4-line clearances as possible for the biggest scores.
Videos: None.
2.11 Bart goes around the world
Oddities done: Deliberately injuring Bart, but always kept away from the water when doing so, got 50 lives onces, but vaguely recall it
Compatibility: 8 - medium
Liked songs: 0 (don't recall)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: None known (don't recall)
Got game over: Once or twice in the North Pole area, but otherwise only deliberately
Remarks: I actually own this game, but I haven't seen it in 3 or so years. I vaguely recall it. I often recall starting up the game and going to the "junk" level, collecting extra lives to 18, then losing all of them deliberately by touching nearly every enemy and hazard in sight, except the water. I sort of wished I could find this game again.
Videos: None.
2.12 Pipe dream
Oddities done: don't recall
Compatibility: 10 (150% margin of error)
Liked songs: don't recall
Difficulty: don't recall
Known bugs: none known (don't recall)
Got game over: many times due to the nature of puzzle games
Remarks: I very vaguely recall this game, but involved placing pipes around the board and getting a flow of water to last as long as possible. I very vaguely recall it.
Videos: None.
2.11 Unknown/unlisted
I recall playing two Tiny Toons games, at least one Castlevania game, 2 or 3 MegaMan games, rented at least another 8 (one I recall involves pushing blocks around in a pool), and own (but lost) at least another 5.
3 The Super Nintendo
I only own one SNES game and have rented the others.
3.1 Super Mario World
Oddities done: Maxed the score from near-nothing in only 30 minutes. Frequently got 99 lives and kept that to the end.
Compatibility: 200 - favorite
Liked songs: Don't recall
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: at least 1 (forest world with centipede - can be used to get maxed score in only a few minutes)
Got game over: Never
Remarks: This is the only SNES game I own but I've since lost it and the system.
Videos: None.
3.2 Super Metroid
Oddities done: Don't recall
Compatibility: 4 - medium-low
Liked songs: Don't recall
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: Never
Remarks: I've only rented this game but got stuck as I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing next (just like the original Metroid).
Videos: None.
3.3 Bubble Brothers (?)
Oddities done: Don't recall
Compatibility: 100 - favorite
Liked songs: at least 1 (Germany was one many years ago, but vaguely recalled)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: Don't recall
Got game over: A few times
Remarks: I once played this game at a friend's house, but since wanted to play it again for years. It involves bouncing bubbles that you were supposed to pop in various locations around the world (Germany and Canada were there for sure). I've seen the Playstation 1 collector's version several years ago which is how I got a hint as to the game itself, but beyond this, not much is recalled about it.
Videos: None.
3.4 Unknown/unlisted
One other SNES game I recall is one where you had a 2D top-down view and some villages. One area was called "Kasandra" (sp.?). There were also side views were you defeated various enemies like a typical platform game, only with a sword or something. I recalled reaching the fifth world but had to quit since I played it at a friend's house.
4 Sega Genesis
I own many Sega Genesis games and have rented many others.
4.1 Bubsy
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Deliberately losing lives for the fun of it. 2. Reached a falling speed of 95 pixels per frame. 3. Randomly jumping around with no intention on reaching the exit.
Compatibility: 1200 - extreme favorite
Liked songs: 5 (Village, Desert (after the train only), river, forest, and the continue screen)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: at least 5
Got game over: only deliberately
Remarks: This game has been played for nearly 4000 hours and has dominated much of my life. Along with the numerous good songs (one of which, OWTLI, is the most listened to of all with about a million total plays), tons of self-made challenges, and quite a few bugs here and there to find, this game is easily into my top favorites, nearly and extreme favorite. I've had it since 1994, almost when it came out, and even to today, more than 13 years later, I'm still enjoying it.
Videos: Attempting to get some....
4.2 Crue ball
Oddities done: Scored over a billion points (the score resets every 100 million and it reset 10 total times), got over 100 extra balls, got 700+ hits in the bonus round
Compatibility: 40 - favorite
Liked songs: 2 (levels 2 and 9 for sure, probably others)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard (with pausing)
Known bugs: 1 (the gate guard at the top when at at least level 4 can go right into the ball causing 60 hits every second, the cause to near-free extra balls)
Got game over: never
Remarks: This is a pinball game with enemies in it. It's a strange game to say the least.
Videos: None.
4.3 Tiny Toon - Buster's Hidden Treasure
Oddities done: deliberately taking hits for the fun of it
Compatibility: 60 - favorite
Liked songs: 1 (the first level)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: Don't recall
Got game over: never
Remarks: I've only rented this game but would like to actually own it.
Videos: None.
4.4 Sonic 1
Oddities done: Falling faster than 100 pixels per frame (with debug), but beyond 24 pixels per frame on occasion (and deliberately).
Compatibility: 8 - medium
Liked songs: 1 (green hill - star light is borderline)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: At least 10, most with debug
Got game over: never
Remarks: I first got into Sonic during 2002, but it wasn't Sonic 1, rather, it was Sonic 3 & Knuckles. From the forums I frequented, I soon gained an interest in trying out Sonic to see what it was like and found I liked it and soon went to collect various other Sonic games. Sonic 1 is my least favorite of the 2D Sonic games. Sure it has debug, but there's no Tails to drown and the max scrolling speed is rather slow. It's mechanics are also weak, but it's the first of the Sonic games. The only thing that makes the game more worth it is, with debug, Sonic can take an infinite number of hits so, like Tails in the later Sonic games, fun to injure and do very bizarre stunts. At least it's liked far more than any of the 3D Sonic games though, of which don't get past 2.5 for compatibility.
Videos: None.
4.5 Sonic 2
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Falling so fast that variable overflow occurs (need to record this video). 2. Injuring and drowning Tails repeatedly for hours on end. 3. Playing around with the backgrounds (by getting extremely fast) with no intentions on getting to the end areas.
Compatibility: 45 - favorite
Liked songs: at least 2 (unknown source and Metropolis)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: at least 15, most with debug
Got game over: never
Remarks: Sonic 2 isn't much of a favorite since it's quite difficult to drown Tails and the maximum scrolling speed is only 16 pixels per frame, of which is very easy to get. It is, however, signficantly better due to Tails and a somewhat better debug mode.
Videos: 1 5 cases of drowning Tails, more planned
4.6 Sonic 3
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Deliberately jumping off high cliffs to get extremely fast. 2. Drowning and injuring Tails for hours on end. 3. Playing around with the background, especially Ice Cap's Mountain background.
Compatibility: 15 - medium
Liked songs: 6 (Angelisland 1, Carnival Night 1, Ice cap 1 and 2, 1-up, and invincibility)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: at least 5
Got game over: never
Remarks: The number one thing I dislike about Sonic 3 is that I can't seem to get debug mode to work at all, despite spending nearly 10 total hours' worth of attempting at various times during the logo. Drowning Tails, however, is the only thing that really keeps the compatibility up, but it's not as much fun without debug.
Videos: None.
4.7 Sonic & Knuckles
Oddities done: Don't recall
Compatibility: -1.8 - somewhat disliked
Liked songs: 1 (invincibility)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: never
Remarks: The negative compatibility may make you think I'd rather sell the game, but that is based on the game itself. Here, I can't have fun with Tails, there's no debug, and the game seems otherwise quite limited.
Videos: None.
4.8 Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Deliberately jumping off high cliffs to get extremely fast. 2. Drowning and injuring for hundreds of hours. 3. Playing around with the background. 4. Maxed the score and lives.
Compatibility: 1800 - extreme favorite
Liked songs: 6 (same as those in Sonic 3)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: at least 40 (!), almost all of which with debug.
Got game over: never
Remarks: This is, by far, my most favorite game. Though it's only been played for about 1500 hours since 2002, there are tons of things that just keep me at the game and it may quite well surpass that of Bubsy. 1. Drowning and injuring Tails is so much fun, and with debug, made even better. 2. There are tons of self-made challenges and I'm still finding more to today. 3. A faster scrolling speed (24 pixels per frame), though I wished it was faster (32). 4. Good music on many levels, especially those in Sonic 3 where the best areas are. 5. Debug mode in huge levels offers a much greater variety. 6. Nicer scenery (this only has a small effect). There's probably others yet on top of this. This is also the first of the Sonic games I've played and it is my most studied of all my games with Super Monkey Ball 2 being a somewhat close second.
Videos: 1 Fun with Tails in Angelisland Zone, would like many more
4.9 Taz: Escape from Mars
Oddities done: Deliberately taking hits for the fun of it, especially when a health power-up is near by that could otherwise fully cure Taz, even with the extra hits. Also got several dozen continues.
Compatibility: 25 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 2 (Haunted castle first area, Marvin's House first area)
Difficulty: 4 - medium
Known bugs: at least 1 (Moleworld with big drill on left - walk left for 1/3 second, then spin into the spikes - drill won't chase when it normally would)
Got game over: never
Remarks: The awkward movement controls makes things tougher than they need to be.
Videos: None.
4.10 Magic School Bus: Space Game
Oddities done: Reached level 71 in the "reflector" minigame, level 20-something in "orbiter", and maxed the lives in easy mode.
Compatibility: 15 - high
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 1, 4, or 6 (depending on difficulty)
Known bugs: 1 (the "bar" just below the stones around level 50 can cause the ball to infinitely bounce back and forth preventing the game from continuing)
Got game over: never
Remarks: I first rented this game, then, after many years of having not played it, I got it from Ebay and went at it again.
Videos: None.
4.11 Ristar
Oddities done: Reached a few seemingly inaccessible places, and maxed the lives in the very first level at 99.
Compatibility: 60 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 6 (rounds 1-2, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-1 (especially this one), and that of when Ristar goes between planets)
Difficulty: 3 or 5 (depending on difficulty)
Known bugs: 0 (I have yet to find anything)
Got game over: never
Remarks: One song from this game, Winter Land (round 5-1), holds the 5th place record for the most consecutive days of being listened to (27). The lack of self-made challenges doesn't make this game all that attractive, but it's the music that boosts the compatibility significantly.
Videos: None.
4.12 Bart's Nightmare
Oddities done: Lasted long enough to score several million points, but vaguely recall it, got an A+ score with only one of those levels completed.
Compatibility: 30 (40% margin of error)
Liked songs: 0 (don't recall well)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: 1 (In the cloud scene, I once got into a position in which things kept respawning and kept on scoring for a very long time)
Got game over: several times, but usually with a "C" or better
Remarks: Another fun game I wished I owned. I've only managed to complete 3 of those levels, but that didn't stop me from getting an A+ score. The clouds one and the one with that cat and mouse are my favorites and my primary way of getting points for bumping up the grade. I've only rented it, but wished I owned it.
Videos: None.
4.13 Unknown/unlisted
I feel as if there's at least another 5 games I don't quite recall.
5 Playstion 1
5.1 Bubsy 3D
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Reached many inaccessible areas, especially in the second level (I have a video explaining these in depth, complete with narration). 2. Played a single level for more than 500 total hours (level 2). 3. Obtained over 240 paw points. 4. Finished the first level in uder 24 seconds (I have a video to prove this). 5. Deliberately taking hits, lots of them.
Compatibility: 500 - top favorite
Liked songs: 2 (those of levels 1 and 15, probably 13)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: at least 5, but likely more
Got game over: never
Remarks: Despite the NES-quality graphics, this game easily gets into my top favoties solely because of the second level. If you haven't seen the video demonstrating the secrets, you should watch it and learn just some of the numerous secrets and self-made challenges I've found. One remarkable occurrance involves my dreams. One of my dreams (dream 2-11 in my dream journal) involved debug mode in this game where I got up extremely high with platforms. Two weeks later, I found a bug in the game that gave very similar views to that in my dream.
Videos: 2 5 secrets in level 2, Level 1 in under 24 seconds
5.2 Spyro 1
Oddities done: none that I know of
Compatibility: 2 - very low
Liked songs: 2 (the Gnasty's Loot and Misty Bog levels, before the music changes)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: never
Remarks: I'm not much of a Spyro fan, but it's the second one that's, by far, the best to me.
Videos: None.
5.3 Spyro 2
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Got into numerous odd areas that are seemingly out of reach. 2. Avoided paying moneybags in all but 4 or 5 cases. 3. Did second-half challenges first and first-half challenges second (Hurricos factory is the best example).
Compatibility: 400 - top favorite
Liked songs: 1 (Cloud Temples - need to get)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: at least 1 (double-jump, of which doubles the jumping height)
Got game over: never
Remarks: The double-jump bug alone almost instantly makes this game a top favorite. With it, of which isn't possible in Spyro 1, I can come up with numerous self-made challenges. I'd like to record a video explaining how to use the bug and what uses it has.
Videos: None but would like one.
5.4 Final Fantasy 7
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Defeated Emerald Weapon in just 6 1/2 minutes. 2. Maxed 4 characters' strength, speed, defense, and luck. 3. Reached level 99 before getting the Tiny Bronco. 4. Obtained 1.3 billion gil. 5. Got a gold chocobo with a speed of "161 km" as the game notes it as. 6. Crossed the marsh early in the game (with the giant snake) without the need of a chocobo only at level 20 (yes, I defeated it too).
Compatibility: 150 - favorite
Liked songs: FF7 world (the first version only, and only one small part of the 5-minute song it is liked)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: at least 2 (item duplication and odd clipping in the chocobo races)
Got game over: About 5 to 10 times, but that's about it, always with Ruby Weapon.
Remarks: Starting in either 2002 or 2003, I got involved with the Final Fantasy series and since then, I've been after collecting every game in the series and trying to finish them. Though 7 doesn't have worthy music. Battles are my top favorite things of all and sometimes for days, I can be battling enemies mainly for the fun of it. I practically never run from battles.
Videos: None but would like one of defeating Emerald Weapon in this fast time.
5.5 Final Fantasy 8
Oddities done: none
Compatibility: -3.5 - moderate dislike
Liked songs: none so far
Difficulty: 2 (easy)
Known bugs: none so far
Got game over: never
Remarks: I've only played the game for a short time, but disliked it as I found it very boring. I've only gone into the cave with lava in it (fire cave?) and beyond that, I haven't done anything else.
Videos: None.
5.6 Final Fnatasy 9
Oddities done: Got to level 34 or so without having left the continent Alexandria is on. Got 5000-some points in that chocobo hot and cold game.
Compatibility: 5 - low
Liked songs: 3 so far that I know of (battle music of normal enemies (has the highest of all compatibility spikes known), world map music, and one other one I don't recall the source of)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: none so far
Got game over: never
Remarks: I've played the game for a very long time, almost maxing out the game clock, but I'm stuck on what I'm supposed to do next. I just got Quina, but I have no idea where I'm supposed to go next at all. The well-liked music the game has is the main thing that keeps me at it. The battle music is a strong record-holder, but not quite the absolute best. It has the highest compatibility spike for anything (even outside music and games) at 3190, 46 days of the same song, 12 days of the same song and speed, 107 days of the same song on the same source (my MP3 player), but the good area is only very short-lasting.
Videos: None.
5.7 Final Fantasy 5 (Anthology)
Oddities done: None known.
Compatibility: 1.8 - slightly liked
Liked songs: 3 so far (Kerwin town, North Mountain, Castles)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: none so far
Got game over: never
Remarks: At first, the game was going well and was liking it quite a bit, but then, it was taking far too long to level up and this was required in order to even get further in the story. Spells only target one character so I don't have a cure-all option, and enemies are frightfully powerful. Though the series lacks challenges with battles, this is a little too much and it has dropped my compatibility from 30 to just 1.8. At least it's still above neutral.
Videos: None.
5.8 Final Fantasy 6 (Anthology)
Oddities done: Reached level 50 by the second half of the game, almost always did max damage and cure, went through the entire game having only Celes, Terra, Mog, and one other character actually use spells. The others never did.
Compatibility: 90 - semi-favorite
Liked Songs: 2 (First world map music (the current record-holder) and the battle music)
Difficulty: 3 - easy-medium
Known bugs: bad frame rates, especially in battles
Got game over: never
Remarks: I first saw this game in 1996 when two friends were playing it having difficulties. I recall wanting to try it to see if I can do it, but they never let me. I recalled 2 such cases. For 11 years, I've only had these scenes recalled (and with remarkable detail), and finally got to play it to find that it was extremely easy. Battles are about a 1, but figuring out what you're supposed to do next is a 6. One song in this game, FF6 World version 1, is a true record-holder - 53 days nonstop of the same song, 17 days nonstop of the same song and speed, then two fast returns to it in a very short time span lasting at least another week each. It also holds the highest sustained compatibility, a compatibility noticeably higher than even Sonic 3 & Knuckles (the game).
Videos: 1 Lete River without cure - a video of the area of one of the scenes recalled 11 years ago, of which wasn't one bit of a challenge to me.
5.9 Final Fantasy 1 (Origins)
Oddities done: Reaching level 99 in the Terra caverns (in progress...).
Compatibility: 7 - medium
Liked songs: at least 2 (World map music and one other one I don't recall)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: none known
Got game over: never
Remarks: This is hardest of the Final Fantasy games and I also completed it. The number one thing I don't like about it isn't that it takes a long time to level up, it's the fact that you need to walk through spikes and lava to get to where you need, a huge -9 affector alone. The long levelling up is only -1.2, miniscule. Another cause for the low compatibility is that you have no idea what you're supposed to do after completing some task, this adds a -3 affector, still very significant over -1.2. The world map music has the second-highest sustained compatibility and the third longest streak at 42 consecutive days.
Videos: None.
5.10 Final Fantasy 2 (Origins)
Oddities done: Got extreme stats as soon as I got Mindu (see my screenshots in category 10 for details).
Compatibility: 160 - favorite
Liked songs: 2 (world map and battle music, both slightly above the borderline)
Difficulty: 2 - easy
Known bugs: 1 (Choosing an action and cancelling it repeatedly very rapidly boosts character development, getting 16-99 weapon mastery in under a half an hour from game start)
Got game over: never
Remarks: This is my favorite Final Fantasy game of all so far, only slightly better than FF7. It's not the bug that has this, but the fact that you can get end-of-game stats with practically no progress in the story. See my screenshots in category 10 on the main index for details to help explain.
Videos: None but may post one on powering up Josef with the "super powerhouses". I have them recorded, I just haven't processed them yet.
5.11 Frogger
Oddities done: obtained 500,000 points.
Compatibility: 3 - very low
Liked songs: 1 (the first world)
Difficulty: 7 - very hard
Known bugs: 1 (the planes in the last level of the sky world gradually get disaligned preventing you from getting on them)
Got game over: many times before I found out about the "infinite lives" cheat
Remarks: This game just has awkward controls and it's annoying that you can't get any more than 9 lives when some levels could very well make great use of 99 lives because you can easily get lost and the awkward controls make things worse. Only with the "infinite lives" cheat was I able to complete the game in full, and some levels make even 99 lives not seem like enough.
Videos: None.
5.12 Jumping Flash 1
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Maxed out the height in 4 levels (1-1, 3-1, 4-1, and 5-1) almost maxing it in two others (5-3 and 6-3). 2. Got an extra bonus of 3.8 million. 3. Maxed the score before the third world started.
Compatibility: 70 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 3 (worlds 1-1, 3-1, and 3-2)
Difficulty: 1 - very easy
Known bugs: 1 (character stops getting higher beyond a certain point when other objects can)
Got game over: only deliberately by quitting, as part of getting the enhanced movement cheat
Remarks: This game is a favorite for only one reason - a tactic which allows for extreme height, so high that it takes 13 seconds to finally land and you get so close to the clouds, you could almost just touch them. I also like the fog system the game has. See the screenshots in category 10 on the main index to see what it's like at this monstrous height.
Videos: None would like to get several (how to max the height being the primary ones)
5.13 Jumping Flash 2
Oddities done: same as Jumping Flash except only worlds 1-2, 3-1, and 5-1 can get the maxed height
Compatibility: 20 - high
Liked songs: 1 (world 1-1)
Difficulty: 1 - very easy
Known bugs: 1 (same as Jumping Flash 1)
Got game over: only from quitting
Remarks: I'm very much the same in Jumping Flash 2 than the original, but with fewer levels allowing the maxed height and a lesser-liked fogging system (especially the clouds at the bottom). It also lacks level select which means I mainly only stick to world 1-2 for getting the extreme height.
Videos: None but would like to get some once I get a replacement CD (it has paint and scratches all over it).
5.14 Skullmonkeys
Oddities done: Got 99 lives in a horse-theme level from 43
Compatibility: 12 - medium
Liked songs: 3 (Sno (the best), Elevated Structure of Terror, and Castle de los Muertos (the second of which I have yet to get), those with the least lyrics possible (the lyricked (sp.?) versions have negative compatibility; one song has a -30 compatibility, that of YNT Weeds, often a cause for me to mute the TV)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: none known
Got game over: maybe once but don't recall
Remarks: I don't like two things about this game. The first are the videos, of which I always skip over (-2.2 affector), and the second is the "Hot dogs" world (-12 affector). Without these, it could have a compatibility at about 320. The music having lyrics also affects it, but this is only -1.8. Gameplay, otherwise, is excellent.
Videos: None.
5.15 Croc 2
Oddities done: Using Gameshark was the only way I could complete the game.
Compatibility: 1.8 - very low
Liked songs: 1 (the level in the first world where you rescue a caged gobo by finding a key, the one with a reggae-type music (genre 40% certain))
Difficulty: 7 - very hard
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: Many times
Remarks: Camera, you're under arrest for being so terrible! This is the number one thing that causes cheap deaths and things. Making things worse is that you can't get more than 9 hearts and it's very difficult to replenish them in full. The camera makes it easy to lose them and as a result, frequent game overs. In order to see the game in its entirety, I needed to use Gameshark in order to have infinite health. Some levels could barely be done with 15 health points. If the limit was 99 instead of 9, I'd have never needed the use of Gameshark. I've only rented it.
Videos: None.
5.16 Rayman
Oddities done: none known.
Compatibility: -10 - moderate dislike
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 7 - very hard
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: almost always
Remarks: There are two huge problems with this game. The first is that it is very difficult to gain lives and the second is that spikes cause instant death. A third which hampers it is that you don't get infinite continues. Put these things together and you get the very low compatibility, a ways into negative territory, low enough to make me sell the game for a price ridiculously low (if retail was $10, I'd put it up for $1, just as an example). I didn't have Gameshark at the time but, like Croc 2, it would definitely be required.
Videos: None.
5.17 Looney Tunes Lost in Time
Oddities done: deliberately causing deaths to the character (since there's an infinite number of lives).
Compatibility: 15 (80% margin of error)
Liked songs: don't recall, but 0 as far as I know
Difficulty: 4 - medium (vaguely recalled)
Known bugs: don't recall
Got game over: not possible with this game
Remarks: The one thing that has a huge boost in compatibility is the area where the motorcycle in driven in that chase. I literally recorded both sides of a 90-minute cassette (totalling 90 minutes, 45 per side) of doing this. I'd like to buy this game though, since I've only rented it.
Videos: None.
5.15 Unknown/unlisted
There's likely another 5 or so others I probably left out.
6 Gamecube
6.1 Super Monkey Ball
Oddities done: Got many "combination shot" notices in billiards, attempted to get very high in floor 50 of the expert levels.
Compatibility: 15 - high
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: 0
Got game over: it's part of the design when you complete the game in full, but also rare in advanced and very common in expert
Remarks: The original SMB (as I commonly abbreviate it) is no where near as much liked as the second, of which is liked 40 times more than this. The main reason is the lack of the ability to get up extremely high as I do with SMB2. Also, there's no "moon jump" code for Action Replay which further reduces the compatibility. I've only found one for the European version, not the American version. When I get that, I'd be having a lot more fun with SMB, a lot more.
Videos: None.
6.2 Super Monkey Ball 2
Oddities done: Very numerous: 1. Went supersonic on 5 levels (see my videos on YouTube), hypersonic on one level. 2. Got 25,000 points on Monkey Target 2. 3. Got 4 perfects in bowling (with the help of pausing the game only). 4. Got over 110 consecutive foul balls in the baseball game (!). 5. Got 38 points in a single inning on the baseball game. 6. Went through all of expert, expert extra, master, and master extra ending with the same number of lives I started with. 7. With Action Replay, I went out more than a quarter billion coordinate units (meters) from the level center in one direction going nearly 100,000 meters per second just from holding the stick forward. 8. Got over 200 "combination shot" notices in a single billiards game (rotation game), once getting 5 combos in a single shot.
Compatibility: 1600 - extreme favorite
Liked songs: 4 (worlds 6 and 7, target, and the intro screen, world 5 is just below the boundary)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: 1 (at very high speeds, the ball often falls right through the land without any impact)
Got game over: only at the start or when all levels in the main game mode have been completed (rarely in expert or master, but this is no longer the case).
Remarks: SMB2, as I almost always abbreviate it as, is my top favotite of all GameCube games (rereleases of older games like Sonic Mega Collection) don't count) with nothing else to even compare to it to, even approaching Sonic 3 & Knuckles' compatibility. There's only one thing that keeps me at the game - extreme speed and height like I've never seen in any 3D game. You may be used to speeds of up to maybe 100 mph at the high end, but that's painfully slow compared to what I regularly do. I mean, do you think 100 mph is fast when I've been at 2400 mph and even faster? 2400 mph is no joke and I have a video on YouTube to prove this and give you an idea what it's really like to get that fast (straight up too!). Yet, even 2400 mph isn't the fastest I've been. 4000 mph without any cheats is. Yet, I have an 80% success rate of 1350 mph in one other level. With Action Replay, debug mode (which has frame advance), and moon jump, I can do these things to a far greater extreme. This aspect of the game has a seemingly incomprehensible +80 affector. I've never seen a single 3D game that even gets close to these kinds of speeds (without using cheat that is), not even 10% of the way there. Midtown Madness 2 is about the closest I can get, in which I got one car to 260-some mph, still very slow compared to what I get in SMB2. Too bad the minigames don't have this - only challenge mode does. This game is the second-most studied of all my games - only Sonic 3 & Knuckles is studied better.
Videos: 6 2400 mph in SMB2, Super high in Organic Form, Super high in Pendulums, Super high in Inch Worms, Perfect in bowling, Long slider odd method, Coaster odd method, Hole 14 with debug mode - hyper high - The first four show the extreme height thing that keeps me at the game for so much.
6.3 Super Mario Sunshine
Oddities done: Got more than 999 coins in the "Delfino Plaza" area.
Compatibility: 120 - favorite
Liked songs: 2 (Noki Bay and Delfino Plaza)
Difficulty: 4 - medium
Known bugs: 1 (able to get more than 999 coins in Delfino Plaza, very extreme)
Got game over: never
Remarks: The one thing I like about this game is how realistic the water appears. The one thing I dislike about this game are those block courses where you don't have the "helper". With the "low gravity" cheat on Action Replay, I found new challenges I could accomplish.
Videos: None.
6.4 Looney Tunes Back in Action
Oddities done: Got on top of the Yosemite Sam statue in the Las Vegas world. Went far out of bounds in the Warner Brothers Studios world.
Compatiblity: 80 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 1 (Las Vegas area, the outdoor areas with the water)
Difficulty: 1 - very easy
Known bugs: 3 (Bugs and daffy can walk at the bottom of a pool of water in the jungle area without dying, both can get far out of bounds in the above-the-clouds area (see video on YouTube), upon splashing in the water with daffy, daffy swims and stands on a box if done right)
Got game over: not possible as far as I know
Remarks: This game was surprisingly easy, but sort of boring. I came up with two self-made challenges though with one still underway. The first is seeing what happens when the money exceeds 999,999. The second is the usual thing of hunting for bugs, finding two of them in just the first week of play alone.
Videos: 1 Out of bounds in the above-the-clouds area (would like to get two more on, one needs to be redone, the other just needs to be processed)
6.5 Sonic Mega Collection
6.5.1 Genesis-owned Sonic games
See the related games in the Sega Genesis section (section 4 on this page). Other games included on this follow.
6.5.2 Mean Bean Machine
Oddities done: Reached level 37 or so (probably higher) in exercise mode.
Compatibility: 10 - medium
Liked songs: 1 (Stages 9 through 12, of which I have yet to get)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: none known
Got game over: very frequently due to the nature of the game
Remarks: Yet another puzzle-type game involving blocks. I tend to prefer the "stack and fuse" method where I stash a lot of random blocks on the right half of the board but create something that would form a fuse so that, if I put something of a similar color by it, a huge chain reaction occurs and this method alone allowed me to be easy, normal, and half of "hard" difficulty modes.
Videos: None.
6.5.3 Sonic Spinball
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Got a 63x multipler (may be higher) in the fourth level. 2. Got over 1000 worm loops in the first level (due to a bug). 3. Maxed the score at nine 9's. 4. Got a 20-something multiplier in the second level.
Compatibility: 40 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 1 (the second level)
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Got game over: never
Known bugs: 1 (after completing the first level, get stuck on top of the worm loop thing and wiggle the directionality back and forth to rack up one worm loop every second).
Remarks: This pinball game is a favorite when it comes to self-made challenges. I especially like messing around in the fourth level since multipliers are kept indefinitely, until you enter Robotnik's ship that is.
Videos: None.
6.5.4 Sonic 3D Blast
Oddities done: None known
Compatibility: 1 - dead neutral
Liked songs: at least 2 (both diamond dust levels)
Difficulty: 4 - medium
Got game over: never
Known bugs: don't recall
Remarks: This is the starting point for the downfall of me and Sonic. Before this, Sonic was a lot of fun, especially with Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the best of all. No other Sonic game from here on has even reached beyond 200 compatibility and only one gets past 2.5. There's no debug, you can't drown Tails, and you can't play as any other character. The game isn't as much fun either.
Videos: None.
6.6 Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Oddities done: Rose extremely high using Action Replay moon jump, spent several hours injuring that talking robot thing
Compatibility: 4.5 - low
Liked songs: 0 (most are negative due to lyrics)
Difficulty: 6 - hard (due solely to the camera)
Known bugs: don't recall, but it's at least 1
Got game over: never
Remarks: The terrible camera and lyrics in this game's music makes the compatibility very low. In addition, I can't drown Tails or injure him (though the talking robot takes over part of this) and each character has their separate routes. I strongly dislike those levels with the big machines as well. Only those with Knuckles and Rouge are the best (and played more than 3 times as much as anything else). The debug mode the classics have are no longer present.
Videos: None.
6.7 Sonic Adventure DX
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Got over 30,000 rings in Casinopolis in one go. 2. Got well over 1000 lives and 1000 rings in many other levels as well. 3. Having a lot of fun drowning and injuring Tails. 4. Played the card pinball game in Casinopolis for 8 hours straight.
Compatibility: 180 - favorite
Liked songs: 2 (the theme park at the very start (with the cars), and just above the borderline, that of windy valley.
Difficulty: 4 normally, 7 with the fishing
Known bugs: at least 6 (invisible walls in areas accessible to other characters, passable walls (in accessible areas too), missing land, and probably a few others, breathing underwater when under some object, Tails gets injured instead of drowning (this may be intentional), Sonic dies when going up or down in an area in the last level even though you are supposed to get into that area, are probably some others as well).
Got game over: never
Remarks: This game is very buggy and, for the fishing ones and camera, annoying. There at least 6 known bugs, many of which common (especially the passable walls and missing land ones). However, because I can "drown" and injure Tails, the game is much better this way. There's two fun pinball games that also keep me at the game, boosting compatibility and my favorite is the card one. I once got a "straight", but I have no idea how I got it or any hints as to how it's possible. What's bad about the fishing ones is that the line almost always breaks causing you to lose a life and they are just extremely boring. In this game, I only play as Sonic when it comes to having fun since Sonic has numerous advantages to me, especially including those two pinball games (mainly the card one that I went at for 8 hours straight).
Videos: None.
6.8 Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Oddities done: Injuring Omochao (sp.?) deliberately solely for entertainment.
Compatibility: 2.5 - low
Liked songs: 2 (Chao race entry, and Green Hill Zone, most are negative due to the lyrics)
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: 0
Got game over: never
Remarks: This game has the worst-liked music of all, worse than even Skullmonkeys. Despite that, there's at least one song, that of the chao race entry, that is a bit up there, but nowhere near enough to make up for the bulk of what this game has. The lyrics is what damages the compatibility with this game's music. However, by using Action Replay to access the Green Hill area, I had renewed interest in the game's music as this song makes up for the many negatives posed by those with lyrics. Combining this with the ability to injure Omochao (sp.?) like I do with Tails makes the game slightly interesting, but it's not all that fun, especially compared to Sonic 3 & Knuckles which towers over everything.
Videos: None.
6.9 Sonic Heroes
Oddities done: None.
Compatibility: -18 - strong dislike
Liked songs: 0 (vaguely recalled)
Difficulty: 7 - very hard
Known bugs: 1 (if a team mate falls off of a pathway, and the leader moves more toward the center, the one that fell off instantly appears out of nowhere)
Got game over: not that I know of
Remarks: This game is the least liked of all Sonic games, even of all games I've played. I like Sonic 3 & Knuckles more than 32,000 times as much. Numerous things make this game bad. Like the modern Sonic games, there's no debug mode, no drowning Tails, nothing. Not only that, but this game is confusing to play and very difficult. It has no fun elements to it and the special stages are terrible in the fact that Sonic suddenly and abruptly stops (even heading the wrong way!) due to poor collision preventing you from getting the emerald (leaving you very far behind). Bosses don't seem to get defeated (I more than maxed the clock on the first boss, spanning more than 2 hours, and I otherwise gave up). I just tried it from my sister and not once have I found anything I liked about it. I'd just give the game away for free since I dislike it that much. Fortunately, it's not my game. There's not a single good song in the game either.
Videos: None.
7 Playstation 2
My sister actually owns the Playstation 2, but I only play these games when I borrow it from her, both of which I've only recently obtained (as of Aug 11, 2007).
7.1 Shrek the Third
Oddities done: Finished all 12 levels in the "Catatomb Leap" minigame with 10 lives remaining.
Compatibility: 12 - medium
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 6 (based on "Grimm" difficulty, the hardest)
Known bugs: at least 4 (Constant movement speed varies with repeated stop and go, shadows appear on both the top surface and the side, character gets stuck (very rarely), perfect gained in evil castle level when I actually died numerous times)
Got game over: Not possible as far as I can tell
Remarks: This game, being a fighting game, isn't of my kind at all, but I have completed it in full at the hardest difficulty. There's still a few upsides though. One is when I collect coins - the sound effect is well-liked. The other is the story. The third are the minigames (Catatomb Leap is very easy for me to complete, finishing all 12 levels with 10 lives remaining! but I've completed all levels in several others).
Videos: 1 Easiest kingly style (another one I've recorded has yet to be processed, the one with the case of the minigame).
7.2 Final Fantasy 12
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Reaching level 35 before first getting more than one character in the party. 2. Being on level 55 or so when I first started forming the main party. 3. Getting everyone to level 99 before doing the story-related quest in Jahara. 4. An enemy watches a battle with another enemy (I have a video on YouTube to prove this).
Compatibility: 90 - semi-favorite
Liked songs: 2 (Ozmone Plain and Mosphoran Highwaste (2 others (Rabanastre and that of "Outpost") are borderline))
Difficulty: 4 or 6 (4 with the strategy guide, 6 without).
Known bugs: at least 1 (other party members won't go to target as it's out of range, even though they could just walk to the edge of the cliff and get it with their bow).
Got game over: never
Remarks: This is the first Playstation 2 Final Fantasy game I've seen and played. For well over a month, I went at it. The story was fair quality to me but the Active Dimension Battle system is one thing I liked, previously thought of by myself around 2003 or 2004. There are other numerous annoyances as well that further drop the compatibility. One is that other party members always stand still when casting a spell when they should be able to move while charging it up and after it is cast (just like the party leader can). This often causes me to leave them so far behind that they are far off the minimap, more than two radii even. Even though I have the strategy guide, I only use it for the more annoying part - figuring out what you're supposed to do. I don't use any of the tips and things for the battles as I always use my own strategies - have one hard-hitter constantly going with the others as support throwing status effect (almost always on the character, almost never on the enemies) and cure spells around. I'm not much of a magic user (as you can tell by the videos I have on YouTube).
Videos: 4 Tough battle with gnoma entite with inferior weapons and abilities, Urstrix watches a battle with gnoma entite, Getting 300-chain, My last and fastest way to level up (while solo) - I have one other one I have yet to process.
8 PC
The PC is of little interest when it comes to playing games. The main reason comes from all those licensing things and copy protection schemes. Console games don't have this and would be the most preferred system of all. Then, when it comes to having to format and reinstall everything, backing up game saves doesn't seem possible in most cases forcing me to lose whatever progress I get or guess as to what files are actually game save files, considering I can't choose what directory they are saved to.
8.1 Zeliard
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Reached the last "zone" with just 120 units of health, a single increase from the original starting point. 2. Lured enemies into an area and got them piled up very deep. 3. Deliberately injuring the character in the 5th area by getting numerous copies of those red "eggs" as I called them. 4. Used a platform to land on an enemy to get a favorite sound effect to repeat numerous times (this is what got me into wanting to make my own game).
Compatibility: 350 - top favorite
Liked songs: 4 (levels 1, 4, 7, and 8 (8 especially))
Difficulty: 4 - medium
Known bugs: at least 1, but very poorly recalled
Got game over: only deliberately
Remarks: This is the game that dominated much of my life before Bubsy. I was most involved from 1991 to probably 1995 I was involved with this game, mainly around 1994 before I got into Bubsy. I recall, while in the 4th grade, speaking to one of the students in my class about it and he found it rather easy. I very frequently faked my troubles with the fifth level due to a blue liquid-like stuff in them that I always avoided. This game was the first RPG-like game I've played, but it's not a true RPG game. When I did manage to reach the last world, I used one of the controllable platforms to "squish" enemies. While being squished, a sound effect occurred that sounded best at a speed of 5. It didn't last long so I wanted to play through the entire game with only one "level up". You start with 80 HP (since each pixel on the life bar was 4 and there were up to 200 pixels). On the first level up, it increases to 120 HP but the base strength remains the same. The training sword does 1 HP in damage. The squid in the last world has 100 HP (but deals 160). The strength of the platform when squishing enemies is that of the base strength plus 1. The training sword adds 1. The long blue one adds 32. The green and red blobs in the last world have 64 HP. This means, by squishing them with the platform, the sound I liked a lot played 64 times. The squid was better in that it played 100 times. I soon lost one of the disks (floppies) and wanted to play it again for 3 years. When I did, I was disappointed in that I didn't get any sounds. Today, it's no longer possible to play it since it won't run at all on Windows XP. I've had numerous dreams of remakes of it and once even had a remake on paper, but at the time, I had no idea how to program. Bubsy eventually took over and the game was almost forgotten until I saw one of the floppies lying around.
Videos: None (doesn't seem possible to get any, considering I couldn't get screenshots at all with Windows 98 where it could run)
8.2 Zapper
Oddities done: Got over 1300 lives.
Compatibility: 8 - medium
Liked songs: 0
Difficulty: 4 - medium
Known bugs: None known
Got game over: never
Remarks: This game was rather dull. I've completed it 100% in just 2 days and I obtained over 1300 lives in one case.
Videos: None.
8.3 Midtown Madness 2
Oddities done: Numerous: 1. Got the super fast car (Panoz GTR?) to 263 mph (more than 1/3 the speed of sound). 2. Went far out of bounds in the London area (due to making a big jump). 3. Gathered all the police cars in both cities into one area, 13 of which so crammed up in a small space that, if near, the banging sounds were very loud.
Compatibility: 100 - favorite
Liked songs: doesn't have music
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: 3 (Game freezes in an area in San Francisco; With a skilled jump, you can get well out of bounds in the London area; When in this area, going off the map causes the game to freeze in a rather strange way (no crash))
Got game over: Plenty of times
Remarks: Of the Midtown Madness series, this is my top favorite of all. For years, I've always wondered how it was possible to unlock that military-like vehicle you get from completing the San Francisco final exam. The "river dancing" one in the London area was a pain as it took me 4 hours to get it to successfully go as it seemed mostly luck. This part was especially bad in the final exam where I was forced to use a cheat to stop the clock in order to get it and even with that, it still took 6 hours to get it to work out, all because of this one part. It was far, far easier to do the one where you don't hit anything than it was for this. I often just left these two until last. I once, with the "follow that car" case, almost had the car I followed demolished from it taking too much damage. It was giving the medium gray smoke - I was so close! It just kept on ramming the wall again and again. I was just after finding out what happened when the car was demolished in full.
Videos: None.
8.4 Midtown Madness 1
Oddities done: made big jumps, maxing the height
Compatibility: 2 - low
Liked songs: doesn't have music
Difficulty: 6 - hard
Known bugs: 1 (With a big jump on a rised bridge done properly, it was possible to max out the height without the car going any higher - it sort of "floats" until it'd normally start heading down)
Got game over: Plenty of times
Remarks: The fact that the cars are much more easily damaged than MM2 makes this game not as much fun. Also, since the super fast car was not available until I got 8000 points on Pro-only, I had even less interest. I never got involved with this game due to these. When I used a cheat where the car could shoot mailboxes around, I had a boosted compatibility, but it was no where near enough compared to MM2.
Videos: None.
8.5 The Supernatural Olympics
Oddities done: This is a real game that I created myself
Compatibility: 1.8 - low (based on version 2.4)
Likded songs: doesn't have music
Difficulty: 5 - medium-hard
Known bugs: 3 (see my list of known bugs in the help file)
Got game over: quite often, but deliberately when testing
Remarks: This is an oddball in the group as it's my own creation. Most would think that there'd be a really high compatibility, but that's definitely not the case, especially with version 2.4. Even my planned 2.5 version would highly unlikely approach that of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It may make the low triple-figure area, but that's about it. A new version is in development that includes many long-wanted features and numerous enhancements.
Videos: None.
8.6 unknown/unlisted
I recall at least 3 other PC games, both DOS games. One of which involves where you have a spaceship on the bottom of the screen and there were enemies and powerups coming from the north. The powerups were like traffic lights. There were 20 levels and, according to my parents, I had a lot of difficulty with the 4th level due to bars blocking my way much of the time. My favorite level was that of level 11 where powerups offered you numerous points. On the last level, at the end, the motion stopped and there was a huge object at the top that gave numerous obstacles and objects and you were to defeat it. I've since wanted to play the game again, but I don't know where it is, what it's even called, or if it'd even run on Windows XP.
Another game I recall involves an ant. It works a lot like "pipe dream" for the NES. You need to adjust the course in a way to get the ant to crawl through it as long as you possibly can and after some point, things would refresh and a hole appears that prevents you from continuing. There were 10 levels. The first required that you got 20 points and for each level higher, 20 extra points. If you got 180 points on the first level, you'd need 220 for the second. If you reached 310 for that level, you'd need 370 for the third. After 10 levels, needing you to gain 200 points, you'd win. I frequently won the game, though with a bit of difficulty starting at level 8. I once had 10 of those black pits in a single streak, giving about 500 or so points.
One more I recall is educational in nature involving math at about the seventh grade. I was only in the 4th grade at the time and this was otherwise pre-algebra I was doing. Today, I can do the sorts of things this game had in my head faster than some could do on paper. I recall one scene where there was a house and various objects. By "activating" them, they'd perform a behavior and you were given another clue. I recalled having trouble with figuring out what some of the symbols meant or even what "X" is, of which I now know today as a variable, the unknown (I work with plenty of these). I otherwise vaguely recall it.
9 Using cheats, guides, and finding self-made challenges
9.1 Cheats but not to cheat
When you think of cheat codes, Gameshark, or Action Replay, you would think they are for cheating. This is very rarely the case for me. In fact, I use cheats not to complete the game, but for self-made challenges. Take the "low gravity" cheat for Super Mario Sunshine. Gravity in the game is reduced drastically which makes some jumps easier, but others more difficult. It also allows for other self-made challenges to become available. Take those block courses where you have "secret" in the episode title. Without the cheat, they're difficult. With it, they're difficult, but in other ways. Some become easier, but others become harder. As another example, take Sonic's debug mode. Sure you could just enter debug and head straight to the end of the level (or quickly enter and exit when the character dies), but I don't do that. Instead, I use it to accomplish self-made challenges. Even with 1500 hours' play on Sonic 3 & Knuckles, I'm still finding new self-made challenges in the first 6 zones! Level select cheats are used to get to my favorite levels to find self-made challenges. Jumping Flash 1 has this sort of thing and I use it to access one of the levels where I can get extremely high, but, rather than completing the level, I just keep at getting extremely high.
9.2 Normally first, then cheats
When I get a new game, I play it normally first without using cheats. After I complete the game, that's when I begin to use cheats. Most games are easy enough that cheats are not required. There are only a few exceptions to this, very few. Take Croc 2. You can take so few hits, it's very hard to restore health, and the terrible camera makes things a lot worse as it causes a lot of cheap deaths and health losses. In order for me to get anywhere beyond even the first world, I needed to enable some cheat, but I keep the intensity just low enough so that there is challenge, but high enough so that it helps some. When I first played the game in full, I had Gameshark cause gems to be worth double their value and once I got 50, the health was fully restored. That left me to play the game normally until I got to 50 and by then, I was usually near the end of the level. Normally, you'd have to collect all 100 in order to get this.
9.3 Strategy guides - rarely used
I use strategy guides mainly with Final Fantasy games. I mostly use my own strategies and tactics. It's the case of figuring out what you're supposed to do to progress that's the tricky part such as solving complex puzzles or opening a door. Take a case in Final Fantasy 12. To enter some area far to the south, I needed to summon a specific esper. I never use summons and I would've otherwise never figured this out and, like Final Fantasy 9, would've gotten stuck in the story line. FF9's guide is terrible in that it keeps pointing to a website and leaves very little details. I'm stuck in FF9 because of this and it's annoying. Figuring out what you're supposed to do is very boring as well. Take a case in Final Fantasy 6 early in the game where Locke needed to escape from a town. I spent nearly 8 hours trying to figure out what you were supposed to do, 6 hours in one go when I gave up then 2 in the second round where I saw I had no choice but to complete this. I didn't have a guide either and I was getting very bored and annoyed over it. Then, during the second half of FF6, this was far more difficult. I didn't have the strategy guide for FF6 either. Outside this, the series is generally very easy and almost unchallenging. I got so bored of the case in FF6 that I made Locke fight the various soldiers in there (solo), even the big armored ones. At least that was a lot more entertaining!
Footnotes:
None.
