PixlBit

I really played through all the 90s games I had ready to go this week before wrapping it all up. Next month will be the 2000s starting with PS2 and GBA. 

Arcana (SNES) - Well, I drew the first several maps on graph paper before I hit a boss that party wiped me. There is a map screen in the game but I couldn't figure out how to view the entirety of it, so I continued to drawn my own.  It felt almost too easy, though, until that Cyclops boss where I couldn't do anything to it, not even escape it. I hate when that happens. I'll return to it for sure next time I pull out the SNES in 2026. 

Alleyway (GB) - One last play of this brick-breaker. It's my favorite GB game at the moment. 

Extreme G-2 (N64) - This is a futuristic motorcycle racer. I like the controls better than F-Zero. You can also shoot at competitors, but I mainly just tried to figure out the controls and stay on the track. It's very fast paced, but wrecking doesn't ruin your run, which I like a lot. I have to spend more time with it to get better and advance farther. I also want to get every game in the series. There's the first one and then two more on PS2 I'm looking for. 

And then I went through most of the 90s games I had installed on my Xbox Series S, playing special modes that ramp up the difficulty for points or playing 4 continues like I might in an arcade ($1 worth). This shortened my play time and allowed me to blitz through a lot of games. I'll try to list some of them. 

Well, first of all, I quit out of Borderlands 2 out of frustration again and just stopped my planned playthrough of the series. I'll play B4 sometime in 2026 probably though. Also raged out of Puzzle Quest Immortal again playing a Bard character which worked well for a good long while before those cheatin' bosses flipped my script for me. I'll return though, like I have Stockholm syndrome.

Pinball Games 

Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX3. I played whatever 90s pinball tables there were. Pinball Arcade is excellent and has many tables from the 90s. FX3 has just Williams tables and I don't own them all yet. 

Mostly Arcade Games

I used the following collections to play a lot of shmups and beat 'em ups: Capcom Arcade Stadium and 2nd Stadium, SNK 40th Anniversary Collection, Capcom Beat 'em Up Bundle, Midway Arcade Origins, Atari Flashback Classics Vol. 1. I also played one brick-breaker, Block Block, Capcom's Arkanoid clone; two fighters, Deathstalkers Night Warriors and Deathstalker's Revenge because I love the graphics and characters; two puzzlers Pnickles and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo; an action game Ikari III and RPG Crystalis (not arcade); Save Mary, an unpublished Atari 2600 game from 1990 I really like (not an arcade game but in a collection with arcade games); and twin-stick shooters Smash TV and its sequel Total Carnage. A few new ones I tried were Megman: The Power Battle where you basically fight boss battles and Pnickles which is a variation of Tetris like Super Puzzle Fighter. 

Other 90s Stuff

North & South - A Genesis stategy game remade. Probably more fun 2-player. The AI wrecks me every time. 
Adventures of Willy Beamish - A Sega CD game on Retro Classics. I played the main adventure game and lost. I think the object is to get out of school with a happy ending. I got myself sent to the ER to end my play. I played the mini-game within this I like a lot called Trishot Mayhem (I think it's in the character's bedroom if you make it there in the adventure game) which is playable as a challenge mode on Retro Classics. It's an excellent arcade shooter I wish I could have a Atari cart made of it. 
Zombies Ate My Neighbors/Ghoul Patrol - I got this collection on a sale for $4 this week and played them. I've played the Genesis version of Zombies before and it didn't stick, but I really liked it, and it's spiritual sequel Ghoul Patrol, this time. I'm keen to the get the carts for both of them sometime. 

Random Stuff

 Arkanoid Eternal Battle and Neo - These are 2022 versions of Arkanoid. Eternal Battle is like Tetris 99 where you collaborate with AI or real online players to beat levels and then a boss. Neo is just an update of the original. Both are fun.
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix - The HD Remix of this is superb. Visuals are sharper, character animations and sounds upgraded and the music is wonderful. I especially like the end credit tune. 

I could listen to this all day. I'd love to find a soundtrack because all the music is excellent. 
Berzerk Recharged - The game has been updated as a twin-stick shooter (or really you shoot with the trigger but aim and move with the sticks - is that a true twin-stick shooter?). I like it but it's hard. 
Skeleton+ - This is on Retro Classics and an Atari homebrew from the early 2000s. You move first-person through a wire frame dungeon and try and hunt skelletons which you can hear as you get closer. Try and shoot them before they touch you. It's neat. I'd love to have this for my Atari. 

Purchases

Game of Life/Yahtzee/Payday (GBA) - I think Yahtzee would be fun on a handheld. It was cheap. Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams Collection (PS2) - I seem to not have enough versions of this but I wanted it for my PS2. A great collection. 
Spyro Enter the Dragonfly (PS2) - I want to play all the Spyro games after having played all the Skylanders games. There's at least one other for PS2 I'm looking for. 
Ghost Patrol (XSS) - A digital arcade shooter originally put on the NeoGeo I finally got on a sale. I can't wait to try it out next week even if it doesn't fit my 2000s only theme. 

Reading

I finished The Golden Compass and really liked it. I read a lot of Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq, but it's time to move on to 2000s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and Stories of Your LIfe and Others by Ted Chiang. 

Ciao!