GB's Game Reviews: 2024-2025 Edition

2024, or at least the first half of it in particular, was the year of playing games I'd played already.

I love Backloggery. I've talked about it before. It's a really cool website that lets you compile a database of your video game collection and track your progress with them, referring to the games you own but haven't beaten yet as "your backlog". It's a great idea, but admittedly I think it's given me a bit of tunnel vision. Sometimes I think a little too much about how next to enhance how my collection looks on Backloggery, choosing what to play on the basis of needing to beat more games. This is fine, but it can go too far when I'm reluctant to play something I've already 100% completed, or have beaten but can't realistically 100%, just for the fun of playing it. When I was a kid I didn't have this problem - even if I'd beaten a game a dozen times over, if it was fun enough I'd pop it in the system and do it again. Playing a game you've already finished isn't a "waste of time" - it basically accomplishes just as much as playing something you haven't played before, as long as you still get entertainment out of it. Games are meant to be fun, after all, and trying new ones is a good idea, but I shouldn't be casting old favorites into a "never touch again" box if they can still bring me joy.

Anyway, that preamble is because in 2024 I placed an unusual amount of focus on playing older games, many of which I'd beaten before. This started out as getting 100% completion on games I'd played thoroughly but had never managed to do everything in. This was seen in my reviews last year, where I finally 100%'d a number of games I consider absolute classics, such as the original Sonic games and Banjo-Kazooie. That mindset continues into this year's reviews, with the likes of Super Mario 64 crossed off the list, but then I also spent a lot of time with Vampire Survivors, which I had started in 2023 but didn't finish. However, eventually I even started playing games I'd finished a long time ago, such as Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Trading Card Game. Since it's been over a decade since I've reviewed some of these old games, though, I will be taking another look at them here in this edition of the blog, marking the first time in this blog series I've ever re-reviewed anything. As summer became fall, I started playing more new games (though Banjo-Tooie joined the replay fun after its' surprise NSO release), and you'll see that reflected in the reviews as I start tackling a number of small indie titles as well as a few bigger games I'd never played before this year - but I do still finish the blog off with a review of a game I first played over fifteen years ago. I also end up playing a whole lot of Sonic games here as I became re-invested in the franchise that got me hooked on video games. I tried out both Sonic's newest games and some popular fangames as well as going back and taking care of some older titles I never beat. If you read my January blogpost about my history with the Sonic series and still want to read more words about that darn blue hedgehog, he's all over this blogpost.

I hope you enjoy this especially retro-flavored look at what I've been playing since April 2024!

Welcome to the Next Level

(Co-written with Jumpropeman.)

You hear talk about "man caves". Side rooms or basements that are stuffed with the hobbies of a guy with disposable income. Well, ain't no rule says a woman can't have a cave too, right? And so, over the past few years, that was exactly what had happened at the home of Meredith and Rachel, AKA Mega Drive and Nomad.

Mega Drive opened the door and stepped into the room, taking a moment to just breathe it all in. This refinished basement was a shrine to Sega. Shelves were lined with hundreds of games for every Sega system (with the Genesis unsurprisingly the most prominent). Merchandise of Sega characters also dotted the shelves, with Sonic the Hedgehog getting a whole section to himself where all of his games and merch was concentrated. Original Sega store displays and posters went up anywhere there was space. Sega arcade cabinets were here as well. For space reasons, there was a multicade that could play dozens of Sega arcade originals, but for nerd reasons, there were also a couple of genuine OG cabinets as well, including a The Lost World: Jurassic Park pinball machine. A place of honor was given to Periscope, a 1966 electro-mechanical arcade machine that was accompanied by a plaque proudly stating that it was Sega's very first game. Rachel had bought it for Meredith for Christmas 2024. That darn red-hooded nerd had always been trying to top herself, getting Meredith more extravagant and obscure Sega gifts each year, and Mega was at a bit of a loss as to how Rachel could possibly top this one next holiday season.

Meredith put a hand to her chin in thought as she looked over the Genesis games, almost reaching for a curious-looking one called Socket, then looking over at one called Chuck Rock, and then her eyes settled on a familiar favorite - Toejam and Earl. "Ah, it's so hard to choose sometimes..." she mumbled to herself. "Do I play something I don't have much experience with, or do I stick with an old faithful?"

"I have a suggestion!"

Meredith jumped a bit in surprise and turned to see Rachel had slipped into the room. "Ah, Rachel! Do you? That would be nice. I could use some help settling on something to play."

"I'm always ready to give my Sega Princess a helping hand." Rachel said softly, coming in close and hugging Meredith. "Come, let's get you to the royal couch." Rachel grinned and swept Meredith off her feet, Meredith letting out a "WHOOP!" of excited surprise as the most athletic girl in Nerd Club managed to heave her up in a princess carry. Rachel's grin turned a bit cocky as she did a couple reps with Meredith, lifting her up and down like a barbell and making her blush deeply. "You make excellent weight training." Rachel said as she stepped towards the couch, bowing her head to smooch Mega on one cheek. Meredith was lowered gently onto the couch, then Rachel stood in front of her and started rooting around in her Nomad robe for something.

"Oh, are we playing on Nomads today?" Mega asked, her cheeks still pink.

"Nah, not today. But I've got the perfect game for us to play on the big screen!" Rachel pulled out a generic plastic game case, then opened it and produced a blank Genesis cart. Instead of a label, it simply had a piece of masking tape across the front with "SOR2" written on it in marker. She stuck it in the Genesis and plopped down on the couch next to Meredith, both of them soon holding controllers. The Streets of Rage 2 title screen appeared on Meredith's large CRT television, the nerd brightening.

"Ah! A classic for sure! And the perfect co-op game to unwind with!"

"You bet! This one's a little special, though."

Mega was about to ask what was special about it, only for the character select screen to make it abundantly clear. This version of SOR2 had new playable characters. Axel, Blaze, Max, and Skate were gone, and had been replaced with... Meredith, Rachel, Gale, and Sumireko!

"Oh my goodness!" Meredith gaped in surprise, moving her cursor around to flip between the girls and admiring their sprites. They looked quite accurate, right down to the fact that all four girls were cute squishy nerds instead of muscular street toughs.

"It's us and our best friends, heading out to deal with Mr. X." Rachel said, looking quite proud of herself. "I'm no hacker, but I got some help from the rest of Nerd Club to make this happen. Ready to play?"

Meredith wasted no time in selecting herself as her playable character, looking giddy as Rachel did the same. "Absolutely!"

"Oh, and can't forget." Rachel reached into her cloak again and pulled out a big bag of chocolate-covered pretzels and a couple cans of soda. "Gotta have some game fuel, right?" She placed the bag in between the two of them and handed Meredith a soda, Rachel popping the tab on hers and Meredith crunching down on a pretzel as battle commenced on the STREETS OF RAGE.

Chatzy Madness Volume 425: That's A Peko

Jumpropeman: right now, one of the biggest most important cards in the physical pokemon tcg... is budew
Gooper Blooper: let me look at one and see if I can figure out why
Jumpropeman: look at that MONSTER
Gooper Blooper: Well, if you need to stall against an opponent who can't fight back because they can't set up, that's pretty good, but one attack from just about anything kills it
Jumpropeman: the official pokemon website even made a page explaining it
Jumpropeman: i guess unless you also face a budew, you can set up your own crazy item strategies while the opponent is forced to just attack the little guy. 1 prize is a small price for getting something huge online
Gooper Blooper: "How do you counter Budew?"
Gooper Blooper: imagine the intense budew-v-budew lulls
Gooper Blooper: these thumbnails are spectacular
Gooper Blooper: another video description tells me that this is Budew's first card in 16 years
Jumpropeman: THREAT OR SAVIOR
Gooper Blooper: it was gathering power all this time
Jumpropeman: the funny thing is, it's so dominant, it might not be the last
Jumpropeman: apparently Tapu Lele was such an important card it gets thrown into sets now and then as a secret rare to pay tribute
Gooper Blooper: I know a lot of baby Pokemon took extended breaks from the TCG because they didn't know what to do with them
Jumpropeman: budew and cleffa show they are too powerful...
Gooper Blooper: Budew must have been caught up in that, made worse by being such an overlooked pogey, but... seriously, nothing for BDSP or Legends Arceus?
Gooper Blooper: found some guy's blogpost listing the top six best cards from the new set, and Budew is #1, but look who they picked for #2
Jumpropeman: THE BOY
Gooper Blooper: if your opponent DARES terastallize
Gooper Blooper: eat fuckin' three hundred and thirty damage

Jumpropeman: i love that the tcg can give underpowered pokemon their days in the sun
Jumpropeman: not sure if its outdated info but, looks like the highest natural hp in tcg is 340
Gooper Blooper attaches a single PlusPower
Jumpropeman: work your way up to this bad boy
Jumpropeman: then Regigigas smashes you to shards
Draco: Dang. 340 HP? That's almost enough to survive Base Set Charizard.
Gooper Blooper: 120 damage for one energy
Jumpropeman: at some point the card game realized getting a third evolution on the field can be pretty difficult so the energy costs went down for them
Jumpropeman: although that tyranitar's also ex tera so its even more overtuned

---

Jumpropeman: on pokemon presents, I was pretty excited when the mobile games were going by so quickly, leaving extra time for... announcing latin american spanish for like three minutes

Harpnaomi: yeah that was weird but i ain't gonna complain

Jumpropeman: its good, but it was part of me realizing how weird it is that pokemon presents has buttoned up businessmen talk so much

Jumpropeman: you'd think it would have a more kid-friendly energy or something

Harpnaomi: channeling their Larry energy

---

Harpnaomi: drg: anniversary event is live!

Draco: ROCK AND STONE

Jumpropeman: what's it entail

Harpnaomi: had to quit partway through a mining mission because i did not see any fucking morkite

Harpnaomi: do mission, get cool hat and materials

Harpnaomi: its a 4 mission assignment

Harpnaomi: also the pilot lost the fucking trophies again because OF COURSE

Harpnaomi: i want to see mission control fistfight the pilot

Jumpropeman: this guy

Jumpropeman: he doesn't know what a lock is

Harpnaomi: inb4 i make a plot about this guy

Harpnaomi: "help me collect all the trophies i dropped and i'll give you this jiggy"

Harpnaomi: oh god i found my mayplot already huh.

Jumpropeman: that's a real collectathon

Jumpropeman: collect thing to collect things

Harpnaomi: i have a cooler better idea for a mayplot than that but hey, nobody has a rule against having TWO mayplots

Draco: And then Cagliostro offers up a Jiggy to fight her...and nobody fights her.

Harpnaomi: only way you'll get someone to fight you is for you to be in the brawl

Harpnaomi: and even then...

Jumpropeman: everyone runs when they see cagliostro

Jumpropeman: turns out, it's never been about morals. She just has BO

Draco: Le gasp

Harpnaomi: shtinky