Two more endings on Way of the Samurai Portable - ending 1 is basically the ‘best’ ending. Chuffed about this!
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Mario Sunshine and Mario 64 in Super Mario 3D All Stars. The team at NERD did a good job given the limited time they appeared to have had with this collection, the most important thing is the games, by and large, look and play as we remember them on original hardware, and I say this having played through them recently like that!
On 64 I went for the most efficient route to the credits, whereas on Sunshine I made a proper effort to beat as much of the game’s challenge as possible.
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Finished Alex Kidd in Miracle World last night for the first time, even though I’ve had it since I was a kid.
Back then, we didn’t bother to read the manuals of games, so I didn’t know until last year sometime how to use items. Turns out you can press pause on the console, and it will bring up a map and inventory lol!
Anyway, super fun game, I’m happy to finally have beaten it.
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Is this worth getting on Sega Ages on the Switch? I’ve always passed by on Alex Kidd over the years, should probably rectify that!
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I haven’t played the Sega Ages version, but I imagine it would be the same thing.
If you can play it on an Everdrive on either SMS or Genesis, I would recommend that route. Once you’re done with it, there are some really amazing hacks and homebrews using the Alex Kidd engine to play around with.
There is a couple unofficial sequels, and a bunch of total conversions ranging from brand new games in a similar vein to Duke Nukem to full on shmups.
Don’t have either console at the moment so I’ll make a note of that!
It’ll be the Sega Ages route for now then, cheers!
I beat the original Zelda without a guide on original hardware for the first time ever. Pardon the low quality photos in a bright room.
I really loved this playthrough. I picked it up after completing Skyward Sword earlier in the week. And I beat it in just a few sittings.
It’s amazing how struggling with Dragon Warrior games on NES prepares you for this one. None of it was nearly as challenging as trying to figure out the obscure stuff in those games. Burning the bush to get into one of the dungeons was a little random, but something I just found organically.
The level design is surprisingly advanced for the time period. And it’s remarkable just how much the souls games seem to borrow from this.
I’m playing Zelda II now and have never beaten it. I am really digging the challenge it provides.
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Awesome! The first thing I did when I got my original Analogue NT was to play through this. I definitely used guides though.
The last time I played all the way through Zelda 2 was back in college. It’s actually my favorite Zelda game. I love how it is so unique compared to the rest of the series. It also has a strange almost apocalyptic feel to it. I really should play through it again.
Awesome! I finished it for the first time ever a year or two ago, and it was super fun but tough. Dungeon 6 had me struggling for a good few hours.
I should really go back and try out Zelda II
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I honestly wish Nintendo did more Zelda games like Zelda 2 as I would had loved for it to see more of them as a platformer.
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Me too. In a lot of ways that game kind of reminds me of Dark Souls. It’s kind of a super-early Metroidvania too. It’s also one of the only Zelda games that lets you grind for stats. It’s just an incredibly unique entry in the series. It really doesn’t deserve the hate that it gets.
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I just beat my 3rd (or 4th? Can’t remember right now) Zelda II dungeon. It’s very satisfying.
I really dig the boss fights in this game. There is a lot more tension in Zelda II than any other game in the series. I agree it’s definitely a bit Souls-like. Or rather… Souls is Zelda II-like 
I am confident that I will beat it if I stay at it. After this, the only other mainline (non multiplayer) Zelda game I have not yet beaten is Spirit Tracks. So, if I’m successful, I’ll finally tackle that one.
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Did you go for 100% on Super Runabout? Normal or Hard? I’m contemplating going again on Hard!
I’d like to tackle II then work my way through the other mainline titles in the series that I haven’t completed.
I’m only ever finished Zelda 1, Link to the Past, Link Between Worlds, and BotW. I have started and played through most of Link’s Awakening on several occasions but have never stuck with it enough to finish it.
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That’s awesome. I would like to complete more Zelda games. I have never beaten the 8 but games. LttP, OoT, TP and Minnish Cap are the only ones I’ve beaten. I did my typical thing where I get to the final area and never finish with WW BotW so at least I can I played through most of those.
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Wow, this was a while back. I know I completed both scenarios, probably on normal. I think there were a few cars and a few other things that I didn’t unlock. Forget why I wasn’t able to unlock them. I think I unlocked all the side missions and completed them, which was fun. I completed the 3-D Runabout/Crash City Mayhem game on the 3DS around the same time, so I may be mixing the games up. 
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I think you’re recalling correctly!
DC: I read that you can’t unlock everything on Normal, even less on Easy. And Hard is the type of difficult challenge not many games offer these days.
Interestingly you can use missing cars by pressing left/right and A at the same time! Crazy bug. But you’re not missing much.
3DS: after the credits I became bored grinding the same missions at ever decreasing times, but I do wonder if anything is unlocked at the end of all that.
What’s the general consensus on the 3DS game coming from the rest of the series @matt @ToddDeHavoc?
Should I regret not picking it up sooner - EU publisher Ghostlight seems to have lost the rights and delisted it! But from posts it does seem like there’s not as much replay value in the 3DS game, and I seem to remember matt lamenting how much downtime (is that the right word?) there is in missions.