I just beat __

Metroid Dread (2nd playthrough, hard mode)

Admittedly, I think I like the game a little less after this playthrough (still a banger don't get me wrong), but that comes from an issue I have with metroidvanias in general, in that I think they're not that fun until you start getting abilities, yknoe, it starts out slow.

But uhhhhhh yeah, the title doesn't lie, hard mode really DOES kick your ass, not just do a lot of bosses pretty much 2-shot you, but enemies are a much bigger threat instead of just being in the way.

Despite some negative things I've said thou, I've come to appreciate the game a lot more thanks to this, it's still one of my favorite switch games. With that being said, NO, I'm not doing dread mode after this, at least not in a while, because this was hard enough as is.

overall rating, still a 9/10, or maybe a high 8/10, since the way saves work is kinda weird, looking back, on top of the issues I already described
 
Super Paper Mario (100% complete)

This is actually the second time in my life I've 100%ed SPM, the first being when I was about 14 or 15. In fact, I think today is the first time in my life I've 100%ed any game more than once. And yeah, SPM 100% is pretty tedious in a lot of ways, but I'm a big lover of the game of course and this time was probably easier since I was on Dolphin rather than my actual Wii this time which not only means much more comfortable controls, but also means I can use the tab key to temporarily turn off the emulation speed limit which definitely helps a lot of the grinding. It's kind of sad that I didn't even need my guide book since it's just easier to look stuff up online. I was a lot more organized this time which meant I completed it a lot quicker - about 35 hours IGT, although the real playtime is less than that because the in-game time counter is affected by the emulation speed boost.

And it's nice because I kept the tradition going that the last 100% requirement I fulfill was getting the Miracle Dinner, since that was what I did last time and was basically how I ended up choosing that as my online alias

I went off the 100% requirements listed in speedrun.com
Required:
  • All Pixls (Tiptron included)
  • All 6 Cooking Disks placed into the Dining Specializer
  • All 8 Pure Hearts
  • All 32 Chapters (Including Sammer's Kingdom)
  • All 256 Catch Cards
  • All 96 Recipes
  • All 48 Map Treasures
  • All Permanent Key items obtained.
    • Return Pipe
    • Floro Sprout
    • Space Helmet
    • Gold Card

Not required and I didn't complete them:
  • Level 99 (I did this last time though, just didn't feel like it this time)
  • Top Scores at all Flipside Arcade mini-games (I suck at them too much to pull this off lol)
  • Reach max stats (999 HP / 99 ATK) - this would require extreme levels of grinding
 
I beat Super Mario 64 DS and Super Mario Bros. Wonder last week.

I beat SM64DS at least once in the late 00s, so it's been a while. I was thinking about going for a 100% complete run, but I there were other games I wanted to play. In the end, I defeated Bowser and got 81 stars and 17 keys.

I had lots of fun playing Wonder. There's a Switch OLED on my way so that'll be a good reason to jump back in the game and try to complete it. I wish it was more challenging, but I didn't really pay much attention to the badges so I hope that my issue with the game lies there.

Thank you friends.
 
I beat Super Mario RPG (the remake) the other day.

I played the original game on Wii U Virtual Console back in 2018, but I never beat it. I got stuck on the Smithy boss fight because Super Mario RPG was my first RPG, and so I was bad at RPGs. I found the remake easier, though I'm not sure if it's because I'm better at RPGs or because of the changes made to the remake. Probably both.

I tried out a bit of the post-game also, but those boss rematches are pretty tough for me. I could not get past the Belome rematch, so I'm gonna have to try it again later.
 
Paper Mario: Sticker Star

I'm glad to have finally beaten this one. Never made it to the World 2 boss as a kid because I couldn't find that damn 3rd tablet piece.
 
Hi-Fi Rush (PC, normal mode)

I'm gonna be real, I've never played a hack n slasher before, or at most, I have very little experience with the genre, but I did get this game a while back because it was on a discount, and YUP now I can safely say I'm a fan of this genre

The game controls really smoothly, although some moves feel pretty janky (could just be a skill issue on my part). I do wish there was more to actually do outside battles, since the overworld wasn't too terribly interesting untill he last few levels. At least I have zero complaints with said combat; whenever I fucked up, I knew it was on me, it never felt like bs (maybe a tiny bit with the final boss, but it's clear it has patterns you gotta memorize, so it's all about trial and error). In terms of presentation, the music is catchy, the sound design is top tier (I can see why it won that award at the game awards), and the art direction is pure eye candy, although one nitpick I have is that plenty of areas look really similar, like I get the whole game takes place in one giant setting, but there's variety every now and then, like the volcano and the museum, woulda liked to see more of that. I guess even if the game doesn't interest you, idk maybe you can't stand hack n slashers or something, I'd recommend you look up the cutscenes online, since this game has great characters, fun scenarios, and a nice story. There's also a TON of stuff to do in the post-game, but I just beat the base game and haven't gotten around doing it yet, I'll probably check it out in the near future thou.

Overall, I give it a 9/10, it's not quite my GOTY, but it's pretty damn close
 
This isn't just the recent stuff, but I've beaten Super Mario 3D World+Bowser's Fury, Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels, and Super Mario Bros Wonder.
 
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (100%)

JUST managed to beat it before 2023 ended. god bless
 
Not at all recent, but I did beat 1/3 of sonic superstars (alone, the one game that was meant to be co-op and I played it alone)
 
Persona 5 Royal... post Persona depression is hitting me hard ngl

I played the original P5 and liked it, but Royal is so much better. The new dungeon at the end is awesome, and Sumi & Maruki are my 2 favorite characters in the series. Just an amazing experience.
 
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (second time)

This is my second time playing Dream Team start to finish, my first time in Citra emulator, and my first full playthrough without using Easy Mode at any point. My first playthrough was when I was 17/18.

The game actually works very well in Citra, provided that you have a controller with motion controls (I use an 8BitDo Pro 2), although the giant battles are a bit finnicky even then (e.g. the screen gap doesn't exist so some attacks are a bit harder to dodge, plus the Drill Stomp is kinda hard to do.) All in all, it was interesting to play in Citra, but I recommend using an actual 3DS especially if you do not have a controller with motion.

Had a really good time with this game as always, although I'm starting to reconsider this being my favourite M&L especially due to how mixed I feel about Bowser/Antasma (see here). I also haven't replayed BIS in a long time so it's hard to rank that rn. But regardless, Dream Team is still an amazing game and to me, the last truly great Mario RPG that isn't a remake.

(Edit: I'm considering going for the Battle Ring secret boss but I'd need to grind a lot as I'm only level 35 rn, so idk)
 
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Yesterday I beat Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo Switch). I also got all green stars, the top of the flag poles, and stamps from World 1 to World Bowser. And something I found was these two stars in the image below.
IMG_0892.jpeg
And if you can't tell, I haven't completed any levels in the special worlds except the Captain Toad level in World Star. But looking at the completion article, I should not have any more than one star.
 
Just beat Galaxy 2. Great game but I prefer Galaxy 1 for the sole reason that it's on the Switch meaning that I don't have to use the Wii Remote + Nunchuck to play it.
 
Whittle said:
Just beat Galaxy 2. Great game but I prefer Galaxy 1 for the sole reason that it's on the Switch meaning that I don't have to use the Wii Remote + Nunchuck to play it.
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Funny 'cause ever since Super Mario 3D All Stars released, I've always used it for playing 64 and Sunshine whereas I only played Galaxy on it once, then all subsequent playthroughs have been on the Wii version. I think the Wii remote and Nunchuck feels more suited for it than the Switch pro controller, and I guess it's also to remain consistent with Galaxy 2.
 
Nightwicked Bowser said:
Funny 'cause ever since Super Mario 3D All Stars released, I've always used it for playing 64 and Sunshine whereas I only played Galaxy on it once, then all subsequent playthroughs have been on the Wii version. I think the Wii remote and Nunchuck feels more suited for it than the Switch pro controller, and I guess it's also to remain consistent with Galaxy 2.
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My thing is that I really don't like the nunchuck. I find it very uncomfortable :P
 
Whittle said:
My thing is that I really don't like the nunchuck. I find it very uncomfortable :P
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That reminds me of how awkward it was to play Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings on
the Wii and literally have to during the running parts shake the controllers up and down
like an idiot. Also I suck at Super Mario Galaxy LOL. When I rented it from a video game and
media rental place I always lost all my lives.
 
Larry Cheatsy Koopa said:
Also I suck at Super Mario Galaxy LOL. When I rented it from a video game and
media rental place I always lost all my lives.
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I guess Dino Piranha is too much? Don't worry, I struggled too when I was younger. I'm super awesome at the game now!
 
SparksMarioWiki said:
I guess Dino Piranha is too much? Don't worry, I struggled too when I was younger. I'm super awesome at the game now!
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It wasn't until I was already an adult I actually got GOOD at Mario games LOL. Like literally even as a teenager I sucked at them. They are surprisingly hard.

Also on the topic of this thread I recently beat Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine on my N64 console.
 
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