Play This Set February 2023 - RetroAchievements/RANews GitHub Wiki

Play This Set is a showcase for our passionate community members to write about the games and achievement sets they love. Whether you're an achievement developer looking to promote your work or a player wanting to spread the word about your favorite hidden gem, we're always looking for new Play This Set submissions. If interested, submit your write-up as a private message to {% rauserpic RANews %}.

Game	Console	Genre
Hydro Thunder	Nintendo 64	Racing

• Set by: {% rauserpic BigWeedSmokerMan %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic HolyRayne %}

One of my favorite games of all time. I'm glad to see the set has finally had a few more people try it out since its release, but there are only 4 masteries so the set could use a spotlight. Hydro Thunder is an excellent arcade boat racing title you have probably seen commanding attention if you've ever stepped into an arcade. It's a fairly common arcade machine boasting a subwoofer built into the chair so you can feel the boat engine roar beneath you and a boat throttle instead of the more common driving pedals. The N64 port of this game is excellent, with only the Dreamcast version giving it a run for its money.

Hydro Thunder is exceptionally easy to pick up and immediately start doing well in. You pick one of a few beginner boat options and tracks and then slam on the accelerator until you cross the finish line. The initial draw of the game is that when you collect a boost powerup your boat will actually transform and reveal massive booster engines that will rocket you forward through the pack. A skilled player can often chain enough of these boost powerups to keep those rockets burning the entire race (and is immensely satisfying). The first track in the game most people will play is Lost Island and I urge you to at least try one go of this race to see if the game is for you. This track has it all. Hidden shortcuts all over the place. Massive jumps. Rocketing over the top of a volcano. It's a taste of all the wild exciting gameplay you'll be in for if you decide to stick around to see what else the game has to offer.

Of course any good beginner friendly game will also have some meat for those willing to dig deeper to chew on. You'll begin to notice a few boost powerups as you play that seem strangely impossible to get hovering just above you out of reach. This is when you get to learn the Hydro Jump maneuver. Mastering this ability which involves hitting the brakes and then slamming on the boost to shoot up into the air is tricky, but it unlocks a world of possibilities which also includes some previously inaccessible shortcuts and in some cases skipping over large parts of the track entirely. Using this maneuver and knowing how to meter out your boost powers efficiently will lead you to the #1 spot in the pack and eventually onto the challenging time trials present in this game's achievement set.

If you love wild arcade racing action you owe it to yourself to play this. As the quotable announcer says, "GO, GO, GO!!!"

Game	Console	Genre
Ribbit King	PlayStation 2	Sports - Golf

• Set and write-up by: {% rauserpic blendedsea %}

Ribbit King; you've probably heard of it once or twice from people talking about it but you've never paid attention. One day you ask the question: "Just what is Ribbit King?". My dear boy, it's art...

Ribbit King or Kero Kero King DX (ケロケロキングDX) is a sequel to the original game Kero Kero King released on the PlayStation, this version being released on both GameCube and PlayStation 2. The game centers itself around the fictional sport of "Frolf". Frog Golf. You catapult frogs like golf balls, soaring through the skies majestically with your goal to get a "Frog-In".

The story follows a young carpenter named Scooter. He arrives to the throne room on his home planet, Hippitron, with a distressing message from King Hippity-Hop and his chamberlains. Planet Hippitron is running out of energy! The King explains to Scooter that the planets' energy source of Super Ribbonite is decreasing rapidly. Scooters goal is to get this Super Ribbonite, and luckily for him there's a Frolf Tournament going on that is offering just that as a reward for first place. Scooter and his little buddy Picwick fly off in his spaceship to Ribbetopia where Picwick will teach Scooter how to Frolf; and soon after they meet the referee of the Frolf Tournament, Sluggy.

There are 5 playable planets, each with 4 courses. Ribbetopia is a lush green planet, with vegetation and wildlife. Planet Lavatron is a volcano-themed planet full of lava, odd creatures and eerily abandoned structures. Planet Frosticle is an icy planet with tundras, dangerous waters and even yetis! Planet Techtron is a mechanically-themed planet; it's full of factories, oil spills and electrified spider webs. And finally is Hypnotron, a space-themed planet where your frogs will be in low gravity. Careful not to go out of orbit.

Ribbit King brings a special type of uniqueness that other Golf games cannot capture. With your ball being a frog, a living creature, it's able to do more than just get hit, roll and stop. Throughout every course your Frog can interact with the environment and its surroundings in someway; the most common gimmicks you'll see are the Bubbles, Spider Webs and Flies. Bubbles pop when your Frog flies through and pierces them granting you a varying score, Spider Webs allow your Frog to trampoline off of it giving your that extra distance, and with Flies your Frog will automatically jump towards and consume them if your Frog is within range of doing so. By utilizing what each course offers to you, you can chain gimmicks like these together; so instead of just aiming for that bubble that grants you 100 points take a look around first. You might see that you can jump into a river, swim across it and grab a fly that is over a spider-web, launching you across to another web which lands you next to a snake; who will swiftly pick you up and shake you in his mouth launching you off again a short distance. Chaining like this can grant you 400, 500 sometimes even more points in just a single swing. Frolf is extremely unique in its style and it encourages you to not just go straight for the goal.

Even without achievements, Ribbit King is a great game to pick up and play a couple of rounds on, both solo and multiplayer. I hope this has encouraged you to pick up a small mallet and catapult frogs around the place. Frolf it up.

Game	Console	Genre
Myst	3DO Interactive Multiplayer	Point-and-Click Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic MGNS8M %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Sutarion %}

Myst is one of the best known puzzle games globally. It was released on every platform imaginable in the 90s and continues to get remasters to this day. I will still take the opportunity to play it any time I get. I want to gush about the set that {% rauserpic MGNS8M %} created for this. It is the most clever use of the achievement unlock system I've seen on the site. Each hint/clue that you find has an achievement associated with it. When you unlock the achievement, the colored version of the achievement image displays the hint. For example, the blank slate may become a time that is relevant to a setting. This makes the achievement set work almost like a log or notebook of all the important stuff you find, without having to write it down yourself. The achievement also clues new players into the fact that they discovered something important. This is probably the best version of the game for new players to go into blindly, and it's all thanks to this very cool set.

Game	Console	Genre
Glory Hunters: Chapter 1	Game Boy	Action RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic MrOwnership %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Lonoke31 %}

ATTENTION ACHIEVEMENT HUNTERS:

Are you looking for something more? Fame? Fortune? Glory? If so, take your chance at Glory Hunters and show the world what you have to offer.

In the world of Glorianta “glory” is your currency. By completing “glorious feats” you can earn some glory that can pay for pretty much everything. Guard blocking the road? Bribe them with glory. Want to upgrade your sword to destroy some rocks? Blacksmith needs to see some glory before they work. Want to fish? You’ll need to buy a fishing rod before you can. Now, what these “glorious feats” entail are a wide variety of actions. From simple tasks like reading signs and cutting bushes to getting black out drunk off Dragon Milk and killing the Shameless, there is always a way to earn glory in Glorianta.

Hunters of glory go forth and seek out the secrets of Glorianta. For the true Glory Hunters that aim for the top to show their mastery, do you have the means to break the curse and discover the truth of the Skull Cave?

Game	Console	Genre
Zork I: The Great Underground Empire	Apple II	Text Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic guindev %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic ruuzilla %}

PS2 recently got achievement support so convincing you all to give a text adventure a try is a hard sell...look, I get it!

But maybe all those pesky polygons are getting just a bit too much for your eyeballs? Are your ears getting tired of that super clear Dolby Digital™ sound? How about ditching all of that and playing something that has NO graphics and NO sound? Well friend, it’s time for some Zork!

It’s easy to forget the impact a game like Zork has had. It’s clever writing and inventive puzzles has influenced not only other Text Adventures and Interactive Fiction, but also the fantasy/role-playing genre of video games massively. It’s success and popularity lead to a number of sequels, a slew of spoofs and a fully playable version of the game has even appeared as an Easter egg in a Call of Duty game...

This set is so well thought out and thoroughly creative it was a real joy to play. There are achievements for a standard play through of the game but my favourite part of this set has been the 2nd Quest and Trivia achievements {% rauserpic guindev %} has put together. There’s some silliness and fun with the parser which fits well with the game’s humour, but these achievements really do encourage you to explore and hunt around areas that would be missed if following a walkthrough. I don’t think I’ll forget the a-ha! moment I had with one of these new puzzles for a long time - making a 40+ year old game feel fresh again is no mean feat! So if you fancy trying something a little different, fire up RAppleWin and play a little slice of gaming history.

Game	Console	Genre
Big Ol' Bass 2 | Fisherman's Bait 3 | Exciting Bass 3	PlayStation	Sports - Fishing

• Set by: {% rauserpic Fridge %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Amir96lx %}

I like fishing games a lot and if you like this type of game or maybe wanted to try a new genre for once? Try Big Ol' Bass 2! The main meat of this game is the World Monster Fishing where you have to follow the mission by catching some specific fishes with no time limit in order to complete your mission.

There's also a tournament mode where you can choose on what type of tournament that you want to compete (like speed for example) and battle against the CPU or your friend. Speaking of friend, every game mode supports 2 players local meaning that you can do all the stuff (including World Monster Fishing) with a friend if you desire.

It's so satisfying to catch all the fishes in their largest form (which is called Monster) and who knows, maybe you will catch something even more special than your regular fish? Time will tell. It's definitely one of the better fishing games out there that we have in RA.

Game	Console	Genre
Single Ennead	Arduboy	Collectible Card Game

• Set by: {% rauserpic televandalist %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic BahamutVoid %}

The Arduboy community continues to dish out hit after hit in its library. Single Ennead (1x9) is based on the card mini-game Triple Triad featured in Final Fantasy VIII and later XIV, covering most of the same features but having its own cards.

The rules are simple: you and your opponent have 5 cards and those cards have a number on each edge. You place them onto a 3x3 grid trying capture your opponent's cards with your higher numbers, and whoever has the most cards left over wins. The main goal is to amass a collection of 100 unique cards with unique number layouts. For every 10 cards owned you advance a league, the opponent gets tougher, and so do your spoils. As well as winning a card you also earn money, even more so if you already that card, which you can use to buy extra cards or you can pay the Queen of Cards to change the rules. These rule modifiers can really change up the game and can affect a number of things; my favourites are the Attacker rule that gives the card being played the advantage in a tie and the Highest rule that always earns me the opponent's best card when I win. Open is very useful since you can see the entirety of the opponent's hand and the benefit of Payout x4 goes without saying.

The real strength here is how addictive it is. Games are short and victories are satisfying. The game even has a nice surprise for you once you reach 100 cards but I won't be spoiling that. The set is simple to match, encouraging you to play under each of the rule modifiers and winning with the full possible 9 points that I apologise for having {% rauserpic televandalist %} include.

Single Ennead is easily my favourite game on the Arduboy and Jay Chan should feel very proud for demaking this mini-game so faithfully.

Game	Console	Genre
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime	Nintendo DS	Action-Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic gollawiz %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Chauckles %}

Oh no! A pack of pilfering Platypunks has goonapped the slimey citizens of Boingburg! It's up to a young Slime with nothing to looze named Rocket to travel the world and rescue his bubbly buddies.

For most of the game you'll be using Rocket's stretchy body to explore the world and solve puzzles, but the real fun comes when massive enemy tanks splattack and it's time to call upon the famed Schleimantank: A goolossal Slime-shaped tank with several cannons that can fire anything and everything you and your goop troop can carry, even yourself if you're feeling particularly crafty. Enemy tanks will have their own gimmicks and arsenals, so you'll want to goollect a various assortment of items to play around whatever tricks they might have handy.

Long-time Dragon Quest fans will appreciate the many minor details & nods to past games, but I urge anyone who hasn't engaged with the franchise before to give it a shot, the game is pure fun and oozes charm. It's gooreat!

Game	Console	Genre
Heiankyo Alien	Game Boy	Maze Chase

• Set by: {% rauserpic Etron %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Krepyn %}

Aliens are invading Japan and you are a knight that has a shovel, so you get creative and try to bury aliens by dropping them into holes. In actual gameplay, you are basically trying to dig holes around a map of spread out corridors to trap roaming aliens and then fill the holes on top of them. The game has two game modes: one of them is the newer mode with overall better gameplay (in my opinion) and more forgiving mechanics, and the other one is the older mode, which is a bit clunky. They mostly play out the same.

I played this game as a part of The Unwanted event (which you should also check out). I wasn't expecting much out of it but it really surprised me with how basic yet still fun it was. The set {% rauserpic Etron %} made for this game covers every aspect of the game, with a lot of challenges that are fun and doable after a bit of practice. Old Game Champion was easily the hardest and most time consuming achievement for me, and the satisfaction after getting that was worth it.

Game	Console	Genre
Petals Around the Rose	Pokemon Mini	Puzzle

• Set by: {% rauserpic deng %}, {% rauserpic Infernox %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Enagonius %}

Fun. Fast. Forthright.

Sometimes we want these three F's. Not fancy nor flashy. Just simple, (somehow) easy and quick gameplay that you can get done with in a lightly forgettable way that you can use as a relaxing time; this game and set delivers it all. Just like I wrote this review in 15 minutes, you can master it in 15 minutes – not that this completely lacks challenge, but one could argue these are free points... And still, it was worth my time, gracing me with the joy of discovering this not-so-new puzzle, which the set increments with some extra flavour and new enigmas to quickly find out.

Surely worth your 15 minutes.