Retro Achievements of the Week Quarter 2 Game Rankings
Retro video games I've played in 2024 for RetroAchievement's "Achievement of the Week" Competition! I will leave a rank beside each game to reflect my enjoyment level and try to give a quick description/review on most games throughout the year!
Quarter 2 | April - June
Dr. Slump (PS1) - C
In honor of Akira Toriyama (died March 8th, 2024), April's 1st week game comes from one his most popular mangas, "Dr. Slump"! Cute, funny, pervy, adventurous...what's more to love in a Japanese manga? I was awkwardly laughing through all the pervy humor as it is reminiscent of my memories with Dragon Ball! Some of the 3D platforming can be a challenge at times (in a frustrating way) and the memory game quiz/challenges of things like "how many articles of clothing was on this person's clothing line" isn't usually my version of "fun". But the fun and colorful designs with funny dialogue made this game bearable and held my interest well enough all the way to the end. Any Toriyama fan should really check this game out!
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime - B
(April AotM)
(April AotM)
For April's Achievement of the Month we have a game from a franchise Toriyama contributed his art to including fittingly the design for one of the most recognizable characters to ever exist, the blue slime! Travel to each area and bring home your slimey friends and family! Upgrade weapons and fire them from cannons on your battle tank! Pretty fun game with smart upgrade system for weapons/items with alchemy! 
Dragon Warrior I (GBC) - C
Game #2 of Toriyama month is the Game Boy Color remake of the original Dragon Quest I videogames! The game's title was changed to Dragon Warriors in North America to avoid trademark of a pen and paper game. A bit grindy and unclear where to go at times, but can definitely see the depth and value put into this game for it's time. Maybe not the most ideal game for a modern newcomer to the series, but perhaps if you're a Dragon Quest super-fan you would appreciate it.
Go Go Ackman (SNES) - B
Game #3 of Toriyama month is the Super Nintendo game, Go Go Ackman! It's a humorous series about a demon child named Ackman who harvests souls for the Great Demon King. It's an action platformer with gameplay similar to Mega Man. I had a lot more fun with this game than X-Kaliber, another platformer I tried out a few weeks previous. A decently challenging game with a lot of awesome backgrounds, music, and character designs! Definitely worth checking out for any Toriyama fan!
Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku II (GBA)- A
Game #4 of Toriyama month is one of my favorite games from GBA, Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of Goku II! I was thrilled when this was in RetroAchievement's poll to play and it won overwhelmingly! If anyone played LoG1 then you can certainly see and feel all the major improvements to this sequel action RPG! I would recommend most gamers start with this one since the original just isn't very enjoyable, and then continue to the greatest game on the GBA, Buu's Fury!
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans (NDS)- B+
Game #5 and final game of Toriyama month is Dragon Ball Z Attack of the Saiyans. As far as turn-based RPGs go, this one's pretty fun! I can appreciate where they start in the story (right before Goku vs Evil Piccolo in the Martial Arts tournament) and it makes me want more Dragon Ball games! It's also fun to play as Yamcha and Krillin as they don't get as much shine in the later series. If you're a fan of the show or Toriyama's manga you will most likely enjoy this game as well!
A real retro platformer where you progress through the levels throwing boxes and bombs at your enemies while making your way to the bosses at the end of each stage. Make it to stage J to take on the Fat Cat boss on limited continues, otherwise you start over from the beginning. No save states in this one, which can make this a challenge. If you enjoy platformers and nostalgic Rescue Rangers games, you'll probably enjoy this.
Okami (PS2) - A
(May AOTM)
Beautifully designed game, amazing art style that making me feel as though I'm playing in a Van Gogh painting! Story is captivating, playing as a God that takes the form of a white wolf named Amatesuru who must restore life to the land by healing the Guardian Saplings! Appreciate the Japanese style story-telling and lessons, cute fun characters, and fun action-RPG style combat! It's a similar feel to playing a Zelda game, especially Twilight Princess. I will definitely be finishing this game as I do believe this will be on my Top 10 PS2 Games list! 
The Legend of Zelda: Secrets of the Past (Hack) - C
Used a flikki this week because for some odd reason the majority of the RetroAchievements community chose a point-and-click PC-engine game to play, and I ain't hype to that stuff (yet). So instead of "Loom" on PCE I opted for a Legend of Zelda hack called "Secrets of the Past". The first dungeon is well designed but the boss Link needs to defeat to earn the "Courage" achievement badge is brutal. Upon losing (and you probably will a few times) the player must backtrack quite a ways from the entrance of the dungeon to return for another attempt. Chip away at his mask with the hammer, spin attack his third eye and spam arrows from afar when your health is running low! Avoid his swinging tail and exploding fireballs! Not a bad hack and the story to break into Link's father's prison cell is an interesting opener!
Spongebob Squarepants: Atlantis SquarePantis (GBA) - D
Maybe the least of all "evils" game chosen for this Achievement of the Week. A pretty basic 2D platformer based on the popular Spongebob Squarepants movie. The most unique feature is teaming up with the correct set of friends (Spongebob, Patrick, Mr. Krabs, and Sandy) to perform their special moves to progress through the stages. The game had a couple humorous lines of dialogue, but overall I don't think I'll be revisiting this one anytime soon.
Frogger's Adventure 2: The Lost Wand (GBA) - D
On one lilly pad this game has made some improvements since it's original title debuted, but on the other lily pad this game sinks. The repetitive button tapping gets old after awhile and the timing of the jumps don't always feel accurate, especially on the moving blocks. The story to find the shards of the magicians wand is kind of basic, and overall the game made me feel more frustrated than joy when finding the pieces.
Seifuku Densetsu: Pretty Fighter (SNES) - E
Not a great fighting game... luckily I could spam down B enough to get through the first few fighters to earn the weekly achievement.
Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (PS1) - B
Fun game! 3D Ms. Pac-Man with cutscenes between levels and a basic storyline! Worth a playthrough if you enjoying experiencing the evolution of Pac-Man!
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (PS2) - A
One of my most memorable Tony Hawk games filled with nastolgia and members from the TV show Jackass! Also has some of the best music soundtracks! Must play if you love skateboarding or punk-rock culture!
Haunting Ground (PS2) - C
(June AOTM)
(June AOTM)
Sexy young protagonist stuck in a mansion with dark and magical inhabitants. She's rescued by a dog and runs around the castle looking for objects to unlock doors to attempt to escape. There were aspects of this game that had promise, the camera angles were unique and suspenseful but sometimes threw off your direction while running from a bad guy. The music was pretty decent and built up at opportune moments, and a few of the cut scenes were disturbing... I enjoyed this game more than Clock Tower 3, but it still felt a little too searchy and a little too runny for my liking. If you're a fan of PS2 horrors there's a chance you may like this.
Kirby Super Star Ultra (NDS) - A
A super fun remake of the Super Nintendo game Kirby Super Star! A mix of side scrolling platforming, transforming beat'em-ups with different super powers from the enemies Kirby swallows, and racing! I enjoyed very much, a must play on the Nintendo DS!
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