#44 : Battletoads

Back in my day (yes I'm old), games didn't pad their playtime with chasing pointless collectibles! No son! They used to pad their length with brutal difficulty and a lives system that forced you to start over at the beginning if you fail too many times.

It took my a while to get through this game from start to finish (no skip) and see the end credits but 11 year old me had a lot of free time and not that much money so this was the perfect combo to make me persevere and master this action platformer. One reason I never got sick of this game is that each level has it own flavor whether it's deadly speed bike race, murderous winter wonderland, fatal snake ride, kick the timebomb rat race, perilous climb of the tower. This is a game I like to return to from time to time to see how far I can make it still.

Actually, #19 is, but I'll take it.

Okay, I've fallen quite a lot behind on this, and will be travelling over the next week. Basically it's gonna be a mess, so, I'm just gonnna dump a shitload of hints here, guess away.

(Also, pretty shocked no one guessed #17 yet, I know I haven't been using the most obvious music from it but it's a very popular game)

This is not how I meant to be posting these hints, but I wasn't expecting December to get this crazy. Sorry in advance for, uhhh, making you listen to all this music.

Another game I haven't played in a fair while... Final Fantasy VII? I know I've heard the second clip before and it's driving me insane.

Final chance for 23 and 21. None of these games are obscure.

#23 Tomb Raider III
- You can trust those little simians in the opening level, but after that they’re going to start attacking you.
- You visit five different locations in this game. The first and last are preset - you get to choose which order you visit the middle three in.
- The console version was less forgiving due to a different save system, and being unable to adjust the brightness of the visuals.
- Introduces new moves such as running and crawling.
- The fan base tends to split the console games in this series into three distinct groupings. This is the third of six entries in one of these particular groupings.
- The game says there’s 59 secrets to find, but it’s possible to get 60. A little leeway if you’re trying to unlock the hidden level.
- Introduces additional risks to your health, such as poison (gradually drains your health), and freezing (rapidly drains your health if in cold water too long).
- Globetrotting adventure from the 90s.

#21
- Not sure how all those birds have survived so long, seeing as water damages them.
- If you beat 7 lots of 7, you’ll experience heavy flooding.
- Finding and keeping track of one of the collectibles can be quite a task.
- The developer, often praised for their attention to little details, made sure every level felt connected to each other, as well as the central hub. It’s not unusual to be able to see one level off in the distance when you’re playing in another.
- I don’t know why that creature suffers in water - we’ve taken him there in previous games without consequence
- Pachinko and a poison pipeline drove some gamers mad

#18
- At the file selection screen, if you slightly misspell a prominent feature of the game, it’ll net you something good.
- If you want to find everything, you’ll have to opt for the worst possible prize at one point.
- As you conquer each world, the final boss’ stage draws ever closer.

#17
- More action oriented to its predecessor, this sort of indicated where the franchise it took its cues from was going to head in the future.
- A more linear game, less focus on puzzles, and upgrading your arsenal via points accrued in combat are some other features that differentiate it from its predecessor

#16
- A game that has been released on numerous consoles, I’d argue that it wasn’t until over ten years after initial release that combat felt intuitive and right thanks to the touch screen controls on one version.

My list so far

It's also not Final Fantasy... but it does belong in the same genre.

16) Astral Chain 110 %

13) Portal 2

I think I reconize the tracks for 17 but I'm having trouble placing it...

Tomb Raider 3? It's been over 20 years since I played it, but some of those hints did sound familiar, just couldn't place them.

Most have been guessed, but two remain still.

#15

-Earlier in the game, you get to decide the name of what is ultimately going to be the second boss in the final gauntlet

-Said boss is pulled from the main protagonist's mind by the villain

#14 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

-One last adventure, though his wife might not be very happy about it

#13 The Last of Us

-Fireflies

#12 Dark Souls III

-Only one lord returns to fulfill his duty

#11

-Takes place in the kingdom of Liberl

-Training to become a Bracer