FEATURE: Let's Play: Tekken 2 [PS1]

Tekken 2 holds a very special place in my heart in terms of gaming memories, it was one of the very first PS1 games I ever played, and was also one of the first 3D games I touched too.

My Uncle had a PlayStation a few months or so after it was released I believe, and this was one of the games he had, so I used to play it for hours and hours just trying to unlock all the extra characters.

I've never been a great Tekken player (as the video might show) but it's always been a fun game to play every once in a while. Enough of my ramblings, please enjoy the let's play of the iconic Tekken 2. Feature1

FEATURE: The Backloggery

Through its unique organisation system, The Backloggery offers gamers a way of keeping track with what you're playing.

The Backloggery is a website I have been using since September 2008 and I'm so happy I found it. Sorry if I sound like a salesman, but I'd really like expose the website more and how it can help you beat your library of unfinished video-games. FEATURE1

It's purpose is to let its users add their gaming library, and determine whether each game is either beaten, completed, unfinished, or even mastered. Backloggery defines each status as the following:

Unfinished - No significant accomplishments. What injustice did these poor games commit to incur such neglect? No one knows for sure. They now spend their days sitting on shelves, silently crying out to be played. The most unfortunate are still encases in their shrink wrap tombs, having never once been nestled in the warm embrace of a game system.

Beaten - The main objective has been accomplished Usually marked by the defeat of a final boss and/or viewing of credits. You've stormed the castle, rescued the prisoners, and saved the universe from the clutches of an unspeakable evil. Consider yourself a hero! Some games don't have obvious climax, but you can usually find some goal to reach before it is beaten.


Completed - For games which are 100% done. All extras and modes have been unlocked and finished. All significant items have been collected. Are you a completionist? Spent the extra time so you could say you did everything? Or maybe there just wasn't a whole lot to do outside of beating the final boss. Either way, nothing is more satisfying than a good ol' 100%.

Mastered is a special status for Completed games. Master crystals are earned by challenging yourself beyond a game's usual scope. For example, you could pass up health expansions to limit yourself to the least possible health throughout the game, or you could use the weakest equipment. Speed runs are also a great idea. Be creative and push your skills to the limit!

I personally have six Mastered games, which include finishing Final Fantasy X-2 in one playthrough whilst still obtaining 100% game completion, another is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, in which I finished the game with zero stat points. 

These are prime examples of how mastering a game works, challenge yourself to beat your favourite games in ways you wouldn't normally, it really does feel nice to be able to say you've took on the challenge and achieved what you wanted. 

Currently, the member count stands at 99, 616 - I believe when I joined that number was significantly lower, but it just shows how popular the website has become, and I'm happy for the guys who created it in the first place. 

At first, I simply used the site as a way to catalogue my gaming collection, but when I started to actually determine which of my games, it became clear that I had a lot of unfinished games that I never actually finished, and knowing this made me go back to most of these games so I could label them as beaten and completed, and doing that felt good. 

As you can see, I still have quite a few unfinished games but I am generally proud of the progress I've made since joining the site, it encourages you to play all of your video games, and this is why I only play a few games at a time now. 

Previously I found when I played ten or so games at once, I'd lose track and probably just forget about most of them - but Backloggery makes me want to finish the games properly, and I love that idea a lot. 

The website has every console you can think of, it even has a section for physical pinball cabinets, so no matter what games you have, they'll certainly be a place for them here.

The site even keeps a log of your progress, whether it be the exact date you added a game, finished a game, and so fourth. There's also a yearly breakdown of your progress, and the best thing about it is that this service is completely free, so no gamer should go without this useful tool. 

Below is an example of how the site keeps track of your gaming, as long as you edit the games details yourself, if you feel you've completed a game, simply edit that entry and put it as completed. It's really as simple as that.

After a while once you've added all of your games, you do get to see the benefits of using Backloggery as you get a picture of how you play video-games.

A brief history of the games a user has either beaten, completed, 

or simply added a new game to their library.

I'm not going to lie, Backloggery is also a great way to brag about your gaming accomplishments, I've made a lot of friends on the site and I'm often comparing my progress to theirs, at times I might even get a tiny bit jealous because they've managed to beat a game that I never got around to or simply don't have that game anymore. 

It's a good jealousy though as it encourages me to play games that I probably wouldn't usually, not in a way that it feels like a chore to play a game, but because I find myself wanting to because I can check it off at Backloggery and fulfill that sense of accomplishment in what I love the most - gaming. 

Check out the website here and take a look around, my page can be found here. The Backloggery is an incredibly simple tool that brings out the best in you as a gamer, and as a gamer myself, I really do recommend using it.

FEATURE: Pretty Bad, But Mildly Fun Games #3 - Shaq Fu (MegaDrive/Genesis)

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Developer: Delphine Software International

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Genre: Fighting

Release: 1994

Console: MegaDrive/Genesis

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I'm aware this game appears on other consoles other than the MegaDrive, but the thought of going through each version makes my heart beat faster from panic. That's a bit drastic, the game is just not worth playing that many times. prettybad

Let's start with the story, this is something truly incredible - whilst Shaq is browsing the local sights in Toyko, he somehow stumbles upon a Dojo, here he encounters a mysterious old man who informs Shaq about a little boy named Nezu who was taken to "The Second World", where sorcerer Sett Ra rules the lands.  It is Sett Ra's plan to carry his dominance over to "The First World", also known as Earth. Nezu's blood is pure, therefore he is the perfect candidate for the ancient ritual that will enable Sett Ra to end his exile from Earth. Either way, Shaq enters a portal that takes him directly to the second world, thus the adventure begins....

Whilst going through the story, there's this horrible music that keeps looping and it has to be one of the worst 16-bit audio tracks ever. Muting might have been the better option.

Shaq Fu is just a fighting game and nothing more, but in an attempt to add more depth to the game, you are able to choose your fights by using the world map, where you simply walk to each location and participate in a battle. It adds a tiny sense of freedom, but it just seems the developer was trying way too hard to make the game different to other fighters at the time.

There are 10 stages all together, 11 if you include the real final battle, each stage is differently themed to suit the appropriate enemy, for example the stage Gargoyle's Peak pits you against Mephis, a strange green monster woman, whilst the Vegabond Temple stage put's you against Ragah, the prince. Honestly, that's a nice touch - I know it's nothing new in fighting games to have each character have their own respective stages, but the stages in this game are actually really nice to look at, I can say a lot of bad things about this game but the graphics are fantastic.

When the game starts, the controls don't seem too bad, but that quickly wears off after a few fights where it becomes clear how awful the controls actually are, the actions just seem very delayed - when a button is pressed, it doesn't feel like you're actually doing much.

In the supposedly last fight of the game, you go against Beast - an assassin created by Sett Ra. Beast is one of the harder opponents, but he isn't the last, it turns out after Beast is defeated, the mighty Sett Ra makes an appearance, upon defeating him, Shaq is able to save Nezu and they both return to the Dojo. However, at the basketball game that night, Shaq spots Beast in the distance...Does this mean there's a Shaq 2? There's not thankfully. But deep down, I think I'd still play a sequel out of curiosity.

As well as the story, there are two other modes - tournament and duel, here you can try fighting using the opponents you fought in the story mode, you can also have 2 to 8 player tournaments, but I would personally find it almost impossible to get that many people to play this game. 

Overall, the game is awful, there's no doubt about it. The fights are very basic and offer hardly any diversity, it seems the story overpowers the gameplay, which shouldn't really be happening in a fighting game. A shameful attempt of celebrity endorsement, Shaq Fu offers little gameplay value, and is only fun to have a good laugh at the storyline. Maybe one day I'll try the portable versions.... Feature1

FEATURE: The Games I'm Currently Playing - Volume 3!

I haven't done one of these in a while, so I am now planning on doing one each month. Either way, let's get to it.

Saints Row: The Third

System: PS3

I have never actually played the first two games in this series, but through nothing but praise for this game from a friend, I decided to give it a shot.

Initially, I thought this could be a Grand Theft Auto rip-off, but it's so much more. I fell in love with it instantly - the ridiculous gameplay, the fantastic humour, there's just so much to do in this game. A sandbox game that oozes fun at every corner, an absolutely must-play for any gamer.

I have finished the storyline and most of the other optional tasks to, all I have left to do are the vehicle thefts, then that platinum trophy is mine. Extremely fun game with a lot of depth, definitely going to be buying the first two in the future.

Krusty's Super Fun House

System: MegaDrive

An interesting game for sure - it's no secret the majority of The Simpsons games back in the day were nothing short of awful, but here's one that I am actually really enjoying.

A puzzle game with a nice Simpsons touch, whilst some of the levels are pure hell to solve, there's no denying that this game is really well put together with brilliant level design, a real challenge but one worth beating.

I'm on the fourth world out of five so far and the levels are getting really hard now, it doesn't help I'm not the best at puzzle games either, however I'm still really enjoying this title. A retro Simpsons game I'd happily recommend.

Halo 2 Vista

System: Windows

I have recently done a solo-legendary playthrough of this game, partly to get the 1000/1000GS, but also to prove to myself I could do it.

On the original Xbox version, I could never get through a legendary run by myself, so I'm extremely happy I finally managed to do it, even if it is the Vista version.

Either way, the main reason I got this game is because I wanted to play online again - the game has actually been installed on my system for months and I've been playing it since then.

Halo 2 is one of my all-time favourite online games, so to get a chance to play it once again was incredible. Having a massive amounts of fun with this game, I even have a montage coming up, watch the trailer HERE. Feature1

FEATURE: Pretty Bad, But Mildly Fun Games #2: A Nightmare On Elm Street (NES)

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Developer: Rare

Publisher: LJN

Genre: Platformer/Movie-Game

Release: 1989

Console: NES 

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Right off the bat, I am a HUGE Nightmare On Elm Street - I'm a sucker for 80s slasher movies, so I want to like this game because I feel I owe it to the franchise, but let's be honest, the video-game adaptation isn't too great. After all, LJN are responsible for the game and they are notorious for creating awful movie-games back in the day, but I give almost every game a chance and after finally beating this game, here's my thoughts. prettybad

It's difficult to tell which of the movies this game is actually based on, it was released in October of 1989, two months after the release of A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: Dream Child, so you would presume it would tie in with the film, but it really doesn't. If anything, the story reminds me of the third movie in the series; Dream Warriors - this is because there are numerous characters, each with different powers that can be only activated whilst in the dream world, and the whole point of the game is to collect Freddy's bones so you can burn him once and for all, which is conveniently similar to the ending of Dream Warriors, except Freddy get's buried, not burnt. However, it is generally accepted that the story is simply a spin-off from the movies, which would make a lot of sense. Play the game, and decide for yourself. It doesn't really matter either way, let's get down to the gameplay.

Up to four players can play the game, but I'd find if very difficult to get anyone else to play this with you - you start on Elm Street, and it is your mission to visit various houses, schools, graveyards, etc and find all the bones of Freddy Krueger, so you can finally destroy him (but we all know the killer never really dies...). You have a sleep meter that once emptied, the dream world takes over - here the enemies are no longer simple rats, but nightmarish monsters that are a little more difficult to defeat, to counter the effect of being asleep, you can collect cups of coffee and listen to radios to keep you awake. Throughout the game, you'll come across power-ups that grant your character more of a chance against Freddy and his minions, these being the Acrobat, which allows you to simply run faster, throw javelins, and perform somersaults - sounds good, and it is a useful power-up, but nothing compared to the Shadow Warrior, who's flying kick will make boss battles a lot easier, then there's the Necromancer who can actually use fire magic but the game's hit detection is terrible and the shots hardly ever register, so it's just best to hold on to the Shadow Warrior.

Each stage pits you against a lot of enemies and a certain amount of bones you have to collect before you can move on to the boss, the jumps look easy enough but it's one of those games where you sometimes just go through a platform randomly even though you've landed on it very safely. You sort of learn to get around it by jumping at very particular angles, and it does become playable.

At the end of each stage, you have to defeat a piece of Freddy in order to get that part of his body - these range from a huge Freddy glove-hand to his ghost, once all of the different parts of Freddy are collected, you are put through all of the bosses again, and Freddy himself in his full form. What is up with that? Games that feel you should defeat the bosses you've already killed - there's nothing wrong with just having one last final boss that puts up a fight, either way the final form of Freddy isn't too hard, and the game ends quite abruptly suggesting that Freddy isn't really dead. Big surprise, huh?

I've got to give LJN credit though, having the balls to create a horror movie-game - for the time there weren't many around, except Friday The 13th (NES), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Atari 2600), and Halloween (Atari 2600), which were way worse than A Nightmare On Elm Street, so in that respect, this is actually a half-decent video-game. I'm never going to play it again, and I wouldn't recommend it, but I think that love for Freddy I have makes me like the game...a little.Feature1