Play This Set

StingX2 By StingX2.

Intro

This is a place where achievement creators (and sometimes their fans) can advertise their work and tell the community why they should play those games (with achievements).

Our idea is to post 10 “Play This Set” per month. If you want to advertise your set (or a set you’re a big fan of), write a couple of paragraphs and send us a message (go to RAdmin page and then “Send Private Message”).

NOTE: don’t get frustrated if your article isn’t published in the next issue! Fortunately we’re receiving many articles from the community, and if yours is not present here, it’ll probably be present in a future RANews issue.

The World Ends With You (NDS)

Game Console Genre
World Ends with You, The World Ends with You, The Nintendo DS RPG

Achievement Set and Writeup by AlmightyXor AlmightyXor

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to wake up in the middle of a busy street in Shibuya and find yourself face to face against amphibian tattoo monsters hellbent on erasing your very existence? Protagonist Neku Sakuraba certainly didn’t, but it’s what players stumbled upon in Jupiter’s and Square Enix’s 2007 cult classic RPG on the Nintendo DS, since re-released in an updated form to iOS, Android, and the Nintendo Switch.

Set in an urban fantasy setting circa mid-Naughties Japan, flip phones and outdated fashion and all, The World Ends with You is an existential struggle for Players–capital letter intended–who must survive seven days in the Reapers’ Game and complete daily missions assigned to them by the eponymous powers that be, or else “face erasure.” The motives behind this game and the story’s colorful and generally lovable cast of characters are yours to unravel as you play, complete with a handful of twists to keep you guessing througout, which will surely force you to reconsider the story from beginning to end on subsequent playthroughs.

This leads to one of biggest strengths of The World Ends with You: variety. The game supports not only a large array of gameplay styles and modes but also customization, be it mixing and matching different clothes with an array of buffs, different difficulty levels that players can change whenever they wish, the ability to give themselves a self-imposed LV 1 challenge in boss rematches, and much more. It might sound overwhelming, but all concepts are introduced piecemeal so as to not overload synapses.

The achievement set, published in early August of 2020, seeks in its design ethos to encourage exporation of this variety, especially with boss achievements, which generally impose some sort of loadout restriction to get players to carefully weigh their most valuable options. Cheese will not get you through all of these–but, of course, that’s not to say creative players can’t still conjure up a slice or two of cheddar here and there for the more challenging fights.

If you’ve not had the pleasure of playing the game, it’s never been a better time to get into it. With the 2018 release of Final Remix on the Nintendo Switch and the anime slated to debut in 2021 (!), it’s strongly recommended you pick it up as soon as you can. And who knows? Maybe with a larger fanbase, we’ll get more word of a followup entry? Maybe?

A guy can dream…

Tomb Raider (PS1)

Game Console Genre
Tomb Raider Tomb Raider PlayStation Action-Adventure / Puzzle-Platformer

Achievement Set by NgNvNn NgNvNn

Writeup by StingX2 StingX2

It’s impossible to not think about the Playstation 1 era and the impact of Tomb Raider. While Lara Croft might be more known for her chest, her contribution to gaming is more important for what the series brought to Action Adventure. Tomb Raider may not have aged the best (tank controls?!) but its the great blend of combat and puzzle solving through ancient ruins that spun an entire generations worth of gaming. Lara is flashy, the game doesn’t care how tongue in cheek it gets but at the same time can bring gaming to a halt with the beauty of something as simple as a swan dive.

Warsong (Mega Drive)

Game Console Genre
Warsong Warsong Mega Drive Tactical role-playing game

Achievement Set and Writeup by psyduck psyduck

The Langrisser series is a tactical RPG series that came into the light in 1991 for the Japanese Mega Drive. It had a good reception, spawning many sequels and remakes- most recently for the Nintendo Switch even. Japanese audiences would get to enjoy a long lasting adventure spanning over generations of characters revolving around the magical sword Langrisser, and the clash of Light and Darkness where having too much of either could be devistating for the entire world.

For American audiences, we would get the rebranded Warsong and, for the most part, it still kept to the story, mood, feel… pretty much everything despite the changes they did put into it. Everyone got a name change, and a couple characters had their portraits slightly altered, but the gameplay and plot remained.

In Warsong you are given control of Prince Garett at a most perilous time. Your father King Alfador has been keeping the legendary sword Warsong safe and away from unscrupulous forces until the rise of the Dalsis Empire. Their leader, Emperor Pythion, desired its power and came to overwhelm the Nation of Baltia to get it. Alfador’s commanders are strong and skilled, but no match for the constant seige, so he sends Garett away to get reinforcements to Sulras to gain aid from the nation’s ally, Duke Carleon.

The game itself gives a pretty good synopsis of the maps and characters, but the gameplay itself can be just as enjoyable if you skip all the background and get into the tactical challenges. So however you want to dive into the world of the history of the Langrisser series as we know it as Warsong by gameplay or immersion, I also hope you will find the extra imposed challenges offered by the achievement set an enjoyable addition. Have fun on your way to saving humanity from Chaos!

Ninja Gaiden (NES)

Game Console Genre
Ninja Gaiden Ninja Gaiden NES Action

Achievement Set by PManningFan1618 PManningFan1618

Writeup by Fara0 Fara0

First of all, if you’ve never played this game before, approach it with caution because yes, it really is as hard as people say and can be really unfair. But like other NES games of its time, there’s always something that makes you come back. In Ninja Gaiden, I think that thing is the fast-paced gameplay; the way Ryu slash through his enemies with his sword is really satisfying, gives you the sweet illusion that the game will be a walk in the park.

I mastered this set a few months ago, and when I first looked at it last year or so, I wasn’t even able to beat the game, let alone get all of those achievements. Having this badge in my profile means a lot to me, it’s my personal proof of improvement (in games, at least). Anyway, let’s talk about this oh-so impossible set. Spoiler: it’s not.

I admit that it may seem really hard to a newcomer, but once you get used to the game, you’ll see that all of them are pretty doable, heck, you may even get the motivation to play the other Ninja Gaiden games like I did. The set is pretty basic, the no damage bosses achievements are really easy with the use of the Spin Slash technique since you can basically 1-hit K.O. then with it, and you’ll see that the sword-only are a good challenge, but nothing impossible or even the hardest thing in the set. And don’t worry about the killer cheevos, they’ll come naturally.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (GBA)

Game Console Genre
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team Game Boy Advance RPG

Achievement Set by tuteur51 tuteur51 and SporyTike SporyTike

Writeup by MatheusBrazuca85 MatheusBrazuca85

Why play this game? Because it’s a masterpiece from Gamefreak / Pokemon Co!

First reason I can think of is the randomness of every dungeon. Players will never face the same dungeon layout twice, which helps with the replay factor.

The second reason, is because the game is a lot easier than you think. So the 200% / 2700 points in Hardcore mode in 100 or 150 hours is possible, so don’t worry if you’re a badge/point seeker because you will not agonize to masterize this game…

The final reason is the history of the game, which is very good. A human, now a pokemon, with a partner, saving the world with pokemons actually having another emotion other than “fight, oh yeah gonna fight”. Actually they feel pain, they can be sad upon losing a partner, or fell joy when reunited with their friends. The best characteristic of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon franchise is making Pokemon something else than a fighting machine.

So that’s it, play this set today and when you see you will be waiting for the PMD EoS set for DS!!!

Trip’d (3DO)

Game Console Genre
Trip'd. Trip’d. 3DO Interactive Multiplayer Puzzle / Arcade

Achievement Set and Writeup by rabbids4eva rabbids4eva

What happens when you combine Puyo Puyo and the weirdness of the late Kenji Eno? You get Trip’d, the first 3DO falling tile game. Released in 1994 and developed by WARP, Trip’d is the only English entry in the Furopon series which was mainly released in Japan.

Trip’d, from the studio behind D and Enemy Zero, is a falling block puzzle game similar to Puyo Puyo. Instead of blocks, alien eggs of multiple colors fall down and the player must arrange them in a line of four of the same color in order to dispose of them. However, if eggs of the same color are arranged into a square, they will hatch and form a giant alien that can instantly end the game for the player. Aliens range from the titular Furopon, a yellow cat alien, a pink plant alien, the blue two-head alien and the green eye alien. Players must complete the stage within a certain time limit or prevent the eggs to reach the top of the screen or else their game will end. They also have the option to either play solo, against the computer or against a friend.

If you are a fan of addictive games, this is a game you ought to give a shot. Your only tools are the 3DO system’s control pad, your brain and your decision making ability. Prepare to be Trip’d in the first 3DO set on RetroAchievements.

CLUE (SNES)

Game Console Genre
Clue: Parker Brothers' Classic Detective Game Clue: Parker Brothers’ Classic Detective Game SNES Board Game

Achievement Set and Writeup by herrshaun herrshaun

The classic Parker Brothers board game is back - on SNES!

Mr. Boddy has been murdered in his own home! You are one of his esteemed guests, and it is up to you to crack the case. Use your wits, investigate the rooms of the Boddy estate, interrogate the other suspects, and finally, bring the murderer to justice. But be careful, you’re a suspect too, so you’ll need to act fast before one of the other detectives cooks your goose!

The game is fairly simple and takes very little time to understand. My achievement set introduces some unique and fun challenges, designed to really get the most out of this humble board game. Players can either get them all in one dedicated session, or space out games of Clue between their other games and activities at their own leisure. Additionally, certain achievements are designed to allow players to unlock more than one at a time, so the experience should never be tedious. If you like board games, whodunnits, or mysteries in general, you will love Clue on SNES!

Dr. Mario (GB)

Game Console Genre
Dr. Mario Dr. Mario Game Boy Puzzle

Achievement Set and Writeup by Falc0re Falc0re

My earliest memories of this game reach back to the release year, playing secretly in school under the desk, so I couldn’t resist to work on this classic.

On this set I tried to bring a rewarding accessible approach and some few tough challenges on. For the first time we will go beyond level 20 and explore the technical limitations of the game with big combos. Where the streak playthrough cheevos will challenge even the best of you.

How many unlucky patterns can you fix without losing your calm? Can you handle an early misdrop which blocks half of your board? You are more than welcome to find out.

For the more casual gamers every level is rewarding on a small scale what should invite you to come back to the game occassionally and just clear that one more level.

I’m excited on your approaches and when I can congratulate the first master. As I’m writing these lines no one tackled the streak playthrough ones yet. And I’m also curious about your ideas and feedback, I’m planning Tetris & Dr. Mario (SNES) already, so feel free to spread your ideas and wishes. I love puzzle games and will do my best to provide you a classic but fresh experience.

Sonic Jam (Saturn)

Game Console Genre
Sonic Jam Sonic Jam Saturn Action

Achievement Set and Writeup by Retronplay Retronplay

In 1997, it was the midst of the fifth generation of game consoles. Nintendo had released the Nintendo 64 along with Super Mario 64, and Sony had released the widely popular PlayStation, with Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon to back it. Yet, Sonic fans had not received the proper 3D treatment for Sonic on the Sega Saturn.

A proper 3D Sonic wouldn’t be released for another 2 years. In June 1997 however, in the Sonic compilation Sonic Jam, we received a sneak peek of what it might look like. That would be Sonic World, a single level of what a 3D Sonic game would look like.

Sonic World contains 8 missions in which you collect rings and other collectibles within a time limit. The Sonic Jam set challenges you to get excellent times and fully explore Sonic World’s environment. Enjoy collecting rings and exploring in Sonic’s 3D Saturn outing.

Final Fight 3 (SNES)

Game Console Genre
Final Fight 3 Final Fight 3 SNES Beat ‘Em Up

Achievement Set and Writeup By jplima jplima

When you think about fighting games from 90’s, what comes in your mind? Yeah, Street Fighter II. And what about beat ‘em ups? Sure, you’ll say Final Fight, the game that consolidated the genre in 1989. But now I’m gonna talk about its third release Final Fight 3 in western or Final Fight Tough in japan.

The game brings up what was missed in prior games: combos, special attacks, SUPER special attacks, better graphics and so on… Guy is back teaming up with Haggar and two new characters: Lucia the police officer that kicks some asses literally and Dean the electric man that wants vengeance because his family was murdered by the Skull Cross Gang, the enemy that is trying to take control Metro City.

The achievement set was revised/updated and now it is finally complete with new challenges, beginning with easy ones like kill X enemies with specific weapons, perform the special and super special attacks for each character, medium achievements like beat the game, kill the bosses without dying and the hard ones like finish the stages without losing a life, or finish the game on expert without using continues that will take a little time and patience to be unlocked. Oh, I couldn’t forget the special achievement that you must act like Michael Jackson performing moonwalker during the first scene of the game. I think it is a pretty balanced set and covers what the game can do.