J.J.S. Boyce
@jjsboyce.bsky.social
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reposted by
J.J.S. Boyce
Philip Summers
14 days ago
How to beat Super Mario Bros. fast!
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Super Mario Bros Special, the other OTHER SMB1 sequel, was developed by Hudson for the NEC PC8801 in Japan in 1986. With all new levels it provided a unique opportunity: to play my very first game again, for the first time. I
#justbeatit
again, also for the first time.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
15 days ago
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#justbeatit
Zork 1. Of course, purists prefer the original version on a 1900 lb, 1152 kb mainframe computer. I got the 1981 release for QoL features such as compatibility with an electronic text display and standard household voltage. And the grues really pop in blue.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
27 days ago
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I completed all my gaming goals for 2025: 1) Reduce my backlog (net change -14) 2) Watch my spending (total spend $150, well below my budget) 3) Beat a game on every system I own (done for nine handhelds/consoles, all backlog games) 4) Explore a totally new genre (text adventures!) Happy New Year!
30 days ago
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Pushmo World, my Wii U game for the year. Its 120 platform puzzles were quite challenging; more than once I was tempted to look up the solution. Instead I stepped away when I got stuck and the next day it clicked. Fun; tough: youād call a real Topper.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
about 1 month ago
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I wanted to play a proper 3DS title before year-end and went with The Starship Damrey, a 2023 eShop rescue. Itās a modern point-and-click with some good dual screen use but also some annoying pixel-hunting moments. A decent game, even so. I
#justbeatit
, and guide-free!
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
about 1 month ago
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This year I set a goal of beating a game on every system. My DSi had one final backlog game and I
#justbeatit
. Rhapsody is a NIS-developed RPG/musical. Itās as you expect, simple surface story, deep unexplained lore, weird Disgaea-like humour, and singing your feelings.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
about 1 month ago
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Good ending got!
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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#justbeatit
Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Rondo of Blood remake). I got the bad ending so Iāll try again, but credits are credits, and I can knock the PSP off my every-system-challenge checklist. Cool to play the last level of and itās the first level of SotN.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
about 1 month ago
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18 for me. Everything but dial-up and an AOL address. That is, unless AIM counts, in which case, 19.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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Movie youāve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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If you see this, repost with your model of positive masculinity.
add a skeleton here at some point
about 2 months ago
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This revival of a beloved franchise is marred by poor controls, doubly unfortunate given the level of precision some levels demand. Still, Donkey Kong Country Returns is not without its charms. A decent 7/10 experience even if I was hoping for better.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
2 months ago
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Yes, after winning a single game of RBI Baseball on my NES I am now claiming I
#justbeatit
. Itās still charming and fun but way harder than I remember. After dozens of failed attempts over the last few months I am clinging to any small victory Iāve been able to eke out.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
2 months ago
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Bingo bango, Tomb Raider (2013) gave me the line I needed and the
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
challenge is done. For the next 49 days Iāll play whatever I want. Easiest square: vacation. Best square: playing multiple NES games for time travel month when I kept getting the year wrong.
#justbeatit
3 months ago
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#justbeatit
Zombies Ate My Neighborsāon PS4 with a save featureāfor my first bingo on the
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
board. This may be the game I put the most time into as a kid without ever beating; a friend and I rented it over and over and always lost by level 30. It was always fun, even so.
3 months ago
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#justbeatit
The Quarry.#GameOfTheMonth If youāre a wuss like me donāt play this one after dark. Play it in the afternoon and scar your children.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
@cartridgeclub.bsky.social
4 months ago
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Just started
@cartridgeclub.bsky.social
's October
#GameOfTheMonth
, The Quarry. A modern spin on the FMV genre, it's like being in an interactive horror movie. Take advantage of the
#CCEffect
and grab it while it's 85% off. Great so far, but I'm a little afraid to go to sleep right after playing it.
4 months ago
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#justbeatit
Wrecking Crew ā98. Iām such a fan of the NES title I had to play the Japanese sequel for the Super Famicom, even though the gameplay is totally different and Iām not very good. Persistence and unlimited continues eventually got me through those final levels.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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#justbeatit
Garfieldās Scary Scavenger Hunt, a browser-based game I played purely for the
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
bingo square. Turns out itās a minor cult classicāSkiFree for a different generation. Relatively painless, and if I couldnāt find anything with President Garfield Iāll take Liman.
4 months ago
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#justbeatit
Celeste 64: The Bee Sides, by
@wiedo.nl
! This was tough but satisfying. I was so jealous of everyone playing it when it first came out, Iām glad I finally got the chance to experience it myself.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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I was as caught up in the hype as anyone but I couldnāt play Celeste 64 when it came out because for a long time I didnāt have a non-work PC. I finally dug in this week and today
#justbeatit
. There are still, happily, five missing berries to keep me playing a bit yet.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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#justbeatit
Dark Chambers (Atari 7800, via Atari 50). As a former NES kid these games are still a bit foreign to me, but this was a fun dungeon crawler. Unfortunately no credits, after level Z it just loops you back to A, infinitely, odd for 1988 but thatās Atari.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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I had a plan for the
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
bingo save file resurrection square, but plans change. It turns out to be two years since I shelved Ape Escape 2 with 30% of the game left. On a whim I reinstalled and just kept playing tonight until I
#justbeatit
. That showed those damn, dirty apes.
4 months ago
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Iāve been digging through the excellent Atari 50 for months now. Itās more an interactive documentary than a videogame. Can I still say I
#justbeatit
? Yes. Iām clearly not beating Cybermorph or Ninja Golf (Iāve tried!) and I need some credit for my time. Validate me
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
.
4 months ago
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A few years ago I tried to complete the
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
challenge and beat a game for every year Iāve been alive. I failed as I could not get through a 1982 game. If only Iād had Frogs and Flies on the Atari. I
#justbeatit
and my four-year-old beat it too. Still counts, though!
4 months ago
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#justbeatit
Alan Wake: The Writer. With the two DLC chapters I was forced to get better at the gameās unique but decidedly not great combat. In terms of story these special features are not a bad sales job for the real sequel. Iāll definitely play it if I ever buy a PS5.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
4 months ago
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After spending the week replaying the main game I dove into the DLC and
#justbeatit
Alan Wake: The Signal. Itās not a complete and self-contained story, it doesnāt wrap anything up, but itās one more chapter. Weāll see how the next DLC builds upon what this one set up.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
5 months ago
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My nine-year-old has been playing Celeste and
#justbeatit
. There were times he got frustrated and had to step away, but in the end he got it done all on his own. Itās important that children learn masochism is just as valid as fun as a reason for playing videogames.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
5 months ago
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It was so good to fire up my Vita this month after a year of neglect. And I played it a lot, it took 50 hours before I
#justbeatit
Zero Escape: Virtueās Last Reward. Half escape room puzzler, half visual novelāboth halves are quite difficult but rewarding as well. āļøāļøāļøāļøāļø
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
5 months ago
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#justbeatit
I Love You, Colonel Sanders: A Finger Lickinā Good Dating Simulator. This has been on my list for a while. I have a hard time passing up a weird novelty game. Essential? No. Worth the time investment for at least a single playthrough? Solidly maybe.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
5 months ago
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#justbeatit
Luigiās Mansion 2 HD. The improvements to the formula are largely cancelled out by changes that donāt work. I liked the hidden content at first but it soon devolve into 3D āpixel huntingā. Iām hoping the third game will be the one to get it all right.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
5 months ago
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Congrats on ten years
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
! I donāt mean to one-up you but I
#justbeatit
Bubble Bobble. Starting with a rental in first grade, my incredible 37-year journey included fathering two children and training one of them on NES in order to earn the best ending. But ten years! Neat.
6 months ago
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#justbeatit
The Foundation, the other expansion for a game that I have discovered is all killer, no filler. I missed out by mainlining Control on my initial run but it did make this revisit possible. And I got the (main game) platinum in the process! Worked out.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
6 months ago
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#justbeatit
Control: AWE. I played Alan Wake last year so I decided to revisit Control, first replaying the core game and then diving into this beefy crossover DLC. It took a bit but Remedyās Lynchian/Teilight Zone universe has won me over and Iāll be diving yet deeper.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
6 months ago
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#justbeatit
Ninja Gaiden (NES) and thatās a
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
BINGO (X2). I played through stages one to four and thought āthis isnāt as hard as I heard it was.ā Then I spent a few hours on stage five and two days on stage six and learned my lesson. 1989 devs hated us. I mean, I get it.
7 months ago
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#justbeatit
BurgerTime Deluxe (Data East, GB port of arcade original). Iāve never played this one before; itās deceptively simple. In later levels careful path-planning and enemy grouping strategies are essential. Hesitate and youāll quickly fall to an errant pickle.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
7 months ago
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#justbeatit
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. What a charming little title. Itās a fresh spin on something that still feels familiar.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
7 months ago
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One of my old-fogie stances is that SNES Mario Kart is the best one. Itās hard to make the case objectively, but the heart wants what the heart wants. The GBA, as SNES 2.0, of course had its own old-school sequel, Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Ah, 2D heaven.
#justbeatit
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
8 months ago
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#justbeatit
Tetris 2. I havenāt had to leave my NES on overnight since the ā90s, but this is not a one-sitting affair. I like that this is a true sequel to Tetris, not an unrelated puzzler slapped with the Tetris name, but also something different from classic Tetris.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
8 months ago
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#justbeatit
Arcade Paradise. Whatās not to love? Okay, the story has rough edges and the business sim aspect is unbalanced and unintuitive. But push through all that and you keep getting fun new games to play. Owning an arcade is not my dream. Going to the arcade? Yes.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
9 months ago
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#justbeatit
Tetris (1989, NES). You thought you had me, didnāt you? Didnāt you ?!
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
10 months ago
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Four must-play Mario games: 1. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 2. Super Mario Odyssey 3. Super Mario World 4. Super Mario Maker 2
add a skeleton here at some point
10 months ago
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#justbeatit
Wario Land II, one of the Game Boy Colorās three launch titles. Itās harder than expected at times, both the puzzling out of hidden rooms and exits, and many of the boss fights. Deeper and harder than expected for GBC, a touch jankier as well, but still good.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
10 months ago
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#justbeatit
Metroid Dread. This is truly a series without misses, which I donāt think you can say about any other first-party Nintendo franchise. The last boss left me with some finger calluses, which I understand to be a badge of honour among space bounty hunters.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
10 months ago
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Some
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
people jumped off this cliff and I didnāt want to miss out. Some hours later I had skipped and bounced all the way through Leap Year. Having
#justbeatit
I see now the lack of signposting is part of the experience, even if it sometimes made me hopping mad. Dive in.
10 months ago
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#justbeatit
Bioshock: Infiniteās DLC, Buried at Sea. Now that Iāve finished every entry I question how well it all hangs together. This series is uneven and the tie-ins seem forced and tacked on, making the series somehow less than the sum of its parts.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
11 months ago
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#justbeatit
Faxanadu. No way was I playing this in 1989, but thatās the great thing about retro gaming, itās never too late to go back and see what youāve missed. Exploring more genres in this library has given me a new appreciation for how deep the NES bench is.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
11 months ago
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#justbeatit
Marble Madness (1989) for
@cartridgeclub.bsky.social
ās NES March Madness. What a gem (or at least a jewel-like marble). I went from thinking it was impossible to thinking I had it on lock to thinking it was impossible again (but only the last level).
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
11 months ago
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#justbeatit
Bioshock Infinite for the
@cartridgeclub.bsky.social
#gameofthemonth
. I still have the DLC to do but then Iāll be 100% done the series. I need to chew on this one for a bit before I know exactly how to rank it but itās been an experience. Thanks Ken Levine.
@polykillpodcast.bsky.social
11 months ago
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