[EVENT] The Sonic Stadium 52 Game Challenge 2024! - Play, Finish, and Complete Games to earn prizes, and check in every week for bonus rewards - This Week's Prize: Sonic Adventure 2 Profile Gift (2024)

Games Finished/Completed So Far:

1: Power Wash Simulator (XBOX One) - Finished 25/02/24

2: Unpacking (XBOX One) - Finished 07/03/24 - 100% Complete - All Achievements Unlocked

3: Tecmo Bowl (NES (Switch Online)) - Finished 09/03/24 - 100% Completed

4: Sonic the Fighters (XBOX 360) - Finished 10/03/24 - 100% Completed - All Achievements Unlocked

5: Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario All-Stars Version) (SNES (Switch Online)) - Finished 21/03/24 - 100% Complete - Star Worlds Included

6: Donut County (XBOX One) - Finished 24/03/24 - 100% Completed - All Achievements Unlocked

7: Open Roads (XBOX One) - Finished 31/03/24 - 100% Completed - All Achievements Unlocked

Hey guys, how’s it going?

Time for my weekly check-in once again. Starting off with an update on some of the games I’ve been making progress in. I have still yet to finish my Mario 64 run unfortunately, as certain stars have been proving to be a massive pain in the ass to complete, but I have made some progress in my Super Mario Bros. 2 playthrough, and I have also started to play Super Mario Land 2 on the Game Boy through Switch Online and have already cleared the first world “Tree World” and gained the first of the six Golden Coins. As for Sonic Adventure DX I have been playing through Tails’ story recently, but I haven’t completely played through that yet. Once that’s done I will go through Knuckles’ story before continuing the rest of the game.

As for game completions, I managed to add another two to the list. I had hoped that the number would have been higher for this week, but IRL stuff got in the way again, although I think things should be a bit better next week as I should have more time to play through some more titles. With that said, here are the new additions!

Game 8: Kirby’s Dream Land (Game Boy (Switch Online)) - Finished 13/04/24 - 100% Complete (Extra Game Included)

OH NO! That greedy penguin King DeDeDe has stolen away all of the food and the Sparkling Stars away from Dream Land! Now it’s up to our pink puffball hero Kirby to take back the possessions of Dream Land’s citizens and save the day!

As the first outing for the mascot that made Masahiro Sakurai famous (you know, before a certain mascot vs. mascot fighting franchise made him even more famous…), this was the title that gave Kirby his debut. Whilst it is in essence a short title to complete, I found this to be a highly enjoyable platformer - especially when it came to using Kirby’s flutter jump to traverse large gaps, and his infamous ability to swallow enemies whole - I sometimes managed to swallow several minions at the same time and use them to attack other enemies that blocked the way. With only five levels to travel to through, including the obligatory boss rush ahead of the final fight with DeDeDe, I never once got bored or frustrated with the experience - well, at least the first time around…

That’s because I played the extra game for 100% completion - which adds extra spiked enemies that can drain your health, and makes the bosses somewhat more difficult to deal with, as they have extra attacks that you need to avoid. That being said, though, they are not that much of a challenge overall. Whilst you also don’t have Copy Abilities in this game, it is great to see that this helped to establish the key elements of future Kirby games - fun, engaging and clever gameplay that isn’t too challenging even for those that usually struggle with platformers or other types of video games.

Also just wanted to say that the soundtrack to this game is a thoroughly enjoyable experience, from the iconic melody of Green Greens, to the relaxing soundscapes for Float Islands, and King DeDeDe’s boss theme, it is one video game soundtrack that I could listen to even when I’m not playing.

Game 9: Sonic Spinball (SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis (Switch Online)) - Finished 14/04/24 - 100% Complete

However, this one turned out to be on the opposite end of the spectrum, where the soundtrack… well, let’s just say isn’t that great in some places (I’m looking at you, Options menu theme…), but nonetheless, I still enjoyed playing through Sonic Spinball for what it is, an addictive, if sometimes frustrating take on pinball games, which sees the Blue Blur take on a variety of pinball style levels to try and stop Robotnik’s latest scheme to enslave the animals and build his evil empire. (Seriously, Eggman, a set of giant worlds based around pinball powered by the animals you roboticised? What were you thinking?!)

I had originally planned to play this through my SEGA Mega Drive Classics disc that I have for my XBOX One, but at the last minute decided to play the version available through Switch Online, even if the Mega Drive emulator is not the when it comes to the range of titles available. I think the Rewind feature did come in handy though, as I kept getting frustrated whenever I made a mistake, or when I ended up losing a ball through no fault of my own except the table’s. Still, I managed to clear each of the levels with patience and a bit of luck, and whilst the final showdown against Robotnik was frustrating at times, especially when trying to avoid his “smelly socks” (yes,really) and failing to launch Sonic with the flippers at the right times so he missed hitting the right targets on occasion. Grrr…

Nevertheless, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when I finally defeated Robotnik, especially with how difficult that level was. I managed to end up with quite a high score considering how much time I spent on each level whilst trying to gain the emeralds needed to access each boss, but overall whilst Sonic Spinball can be a very stressful experience at times, I still managed to find several aspects of the game enjoyable, and even though I don’t plan on revisting it any time soon, I don’t think that it is a bad game overall, at least not to the extent to what some other people may claim.

That’s all from me for now. See you later for the next update!

Games Finished: 9

Games 100% Completed: 8