Play This Set February 2025 - 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. Our inbox is always open, whether you're an achievement developer looking to promote your work or a player wanting to spread the word about your favorite hidden gem. If interested, submit your write-up as a private message to {% rauserpic RANews %}. Please note that we currently have a large backlog of submissions, so it may take a long time before yours is featured.

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ The Magical Lands	Nintendo 64	3D Platforming, Collect-a-thon

• Set by: {% rauserpic dericobanjo %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic 1stPrize %}

There are many Super Mario 64 hacks out there. Some easy, some hard, some creative, some refreshing, but I know for a fact that people aren't particularly fond of SM64 hacks after experiencing sour tastes from older not-so-polished hacks like Mario and the Mystic Purple Stars. This is why I want to present the hack "The Magical Lands" to you today!

The reason? First off, this hack was released in 2023, meaning it received much more polish than other hacks prior to its time. Also, this hack IS actually easy! Even if you aren't that experienced in platformers, this is very doable as it's about as difficult as vanilla Super Mario 64, and maybe even easier. Second off, the levels are top-solid. It's a "reimagined" type of hack; many areas like Bob-omb Mountain or Jolly Roger Isle reference their vanilla counterparts, but are distinct enough to be complete new levels. Some bosses are reused with new mechanics to keep things fresh, while there are also completely new ones, including even an infamous Mario character which I won't spoil for you. The music is also funky to listen to!

The set itself consists of 100%-ing the hack, which is just 43 Power Stars and character-specific challenges for each course. The challenges are fairly designed and fun to figure out. Otherwise we just have damageless like everywhere else, which isn't too tough, and that's about it. If you're looking for an easier and fun Super Mario 64 hack, I can hugely recommend you this! Go check it out!

Game	Console	Genre
Daze Before Christmas	Genesis/Mega Drive	Action Adventure

• Set by: {% rauserpic Dexterspet %}, {% rauserpic JAM %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic TheRailnerd %}

I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed Daze Before Christmas. It's a great 2D platformer that I'd compare to Mega Man. Running through levels shooting evil toys is pretty fun. The music, despite being mostly remixes of the same Christmas carol, never got old. The bosses all had fun gimmicks you had to use to damage them, and the sleigh levels that break up the platforming were a neat twist on sidescrolling shoot 'em ups.

As for what I disliked, the environments were an odd choice for a Christmas game. Santa has to go through grimy factories and dark caves to gather presents, and the bosses don't have anything to do with the holidays. Also, the physics made me feel like Santa was constantly running on ice, even when he was on wooden floors. I honestly dread replaying to get the damageless achievements just because of the sheer number of enemies I slipped into.

Overall, I find the game to have some irritating elements, but the game is still excellent. I highly recommend playing it.

Game	Console	Genre
Twisted Metal	PlayStation	Vehicular Combat

• Set by: {% rauserpic tele %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic ShagthePoker %}

Twisted Metal is a car combat game. If you're not familiar with that term, it's a arena combat game where you fight several other vehicles using various weapons. It's structured similarly to a fighting game where you pick your character, go through multiple stages, and get your ending. It takes place on Christmas Eve, making it an appropriate game to play during the holiday season.

It's a quick beat, around an hour. Sadly, this game had hilarious live-action endings that were replaced with text walls near the end of development. I recommend watching the live-action endings on YouTube whenever you beat the game, as they're bad in the most entertaining way possible.

It's an early PS1 game that was the first of its genre, so, as you'd expect, it's an incredibly janky game. This is both a great and really annoying thing, as it leads to really funny moments, but can also screw you over. In no other game will you see a semi-truck doing a Tatsumaki. Unfortunately, you'll also get stunlocked by broken AI like Sweet Tooth, or ram into a wall and die due to the difficult controls.

The aspects of this game I appreciate most are its atmosphere and its simplicity. It's got a 90s grunge vibe that I haven't seen in any other game. The soundtrack is great. It has the heavy metal that one would expect from this kind of game, but it also has really good dramatic and ambient tracks, my favorite being the Rooftop Battle theme. It has very simple gameplay that's easy to understand while being more deep than it seems at a cursory glance.

However, there are a few downsides. The controls are dated and difficult to adjust to. Some weapons are useless as they do little to no damage. There are pedestrians with guns that will shoot at you and chip away at your health. If you're already low on health, this can get you killed, which is very frustrating.

I'd recommend Warthog and Roadkill as your first characters and for the achievement Twisted Metal Champ due to their high armor and ram damage. Focus on doing ram damage as the larger characters (aim for the corners of enemy vehicles for the best results). Smaller characters should use hit and run tactics. Power and Homing missiles are the best weapons, prioritize grabbing them.

The set itself is simple, but fun. Most achievements allow the use of level passwords, which means you don't need to do an entire playthrough in one sitting for every character. It also means that you can have 3 lives when doing the "Fight For Your Life" cheevos, making them easier than they first seem. There are some fun miscellaneous achievements like getting into a building using a special jump.

Game	Console	Genre
Lotto Fun	Arcade	Casino

• Set by: {% rauserpic Hexadigital %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic ShabaDaba %}

I like Lotto Fun because it scratches an itch in my brain. It does not care how badly you want to win. It does not care how hard you try to win. You put in your virtual quarters and it takes them away. The gameplay of Lotto Fun is very simple. You choose a set of either three, four, or six numbers, and then get to watch the machine show you a different series of numbers indicating that you have lost yet again. The sets of three and four I consider to be the diet version of this game; the choose six mode is where Lotto Fun begins showing its true colors.

While using RetroArch's fast forward feature, the choose three mode took me twenty minutes, while the choose four mode took me around ninety minutes. I spent eight more hours grinding the choose six mode. I managed to match five numbers on my third spin, and that very quickly became a pattern in what I had yet to realize had become a downward spiral. After roughly three hours of spins, I made the stupid mistake of changing my numbers to get some of that fresh luck on my side. Before these new numbers appeared, all six of my initial numbers appeared no less than three times. I briefly considered returning to these cursed numbers each time they appeared, but my fear of seeing my current numbers appear as soon as I stopped betting on them kept me from repeating this mistake again. I care very little about whether this is a mathematical fallacy; nothing stings more in Lotto Fun than seeing your numbers appear without your money riding on them.

If you won't keep feeding the machine your money, you'll never have a chance at winning. If you can't take it when it's so over, you'll never be there when it's so back. Gamble responsibly fellas :)

Game	Console	Genre
Vexx	PlayStation 2	3D Platforming, Collect-a-thon

• Set by: {% rauserpic SuperMeatBro %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic LeeD %}

What started out as playing it as a joke amongst friends turned into an unironic love of this game. Vexx is a hidden gem of the early 2000s 3D platformer genre that I feel deserves a little more love. While it might not be as polished as something like Ratchet & Clank or Sly Cooper on the PS2, Vexx's design stands out as one of the more smooth games movement wise. The controls feel something akin to Super Mario 64, where at first they feel a bit stiff and unresponsive, but once you master them you are able to move about the stages with speed and agility, and it feels damn good doing so! The set by {% rauserpic SuperMeatBro %} is a perfect mix of completion, collect-a-thon, and some spicy challenges mixed in as well. Grinding out Curse You Boy!! was tough, but learning and perfecting that fight and pulling it off felt great, and a great way to end the game. Practice makes perfect! All of the extra live collectathons will also test your abilities, but once you master Vexx's movement they should all be a piece of cake.

Vexx does have a few flaws though. The level design reaches a difficulty that feels unfair at times, especially after the midway point. Also, the performance on the PS2 leaves something to be desired. Without overclocking, the game constantly switches between 30 and 60 FPS depending on how demanding the area you are in is. Supposedly this is due to this being a poor port, where other consoles had better versions (hopefully with sets someday!). The story is also mostly nonsensical, for what story there is. Outside of a few cutscenes the game really just lets you go. By the time I hit the late game cutscenes, it was showing characters from dozens of hours ago that I had completely forgotten about. This could be good or bad depending on the player!

All in all, I enjoyed this game enough to chase all the leaderboards available, and still have times where I wish there was more I could play of it. It wont be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like 3D platformers, especially of the PS2 era, Vexx deserves at least a playthrough.

Game	Console	Genre
~Demo~ Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams...	Saturn	Action

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

This little demo disc is the perfect way to learn how to play NiGHTS. It's just the first level from the main game, so you aren't dealing with anything too crazy, and you play it over and over getting better and better at it as you unlock Christmas presents (and achievements!). NiGHTS is a score attack game, and the best way to learn is just by playing it again and again, so this is like a nice festive tutorial disc.

You'll have to fiddle with your Saturn clock a bit to get the New Year and April Fools' rewards - you can easily go back to your Saturn BIOS by holding A+B+C+Start - but the trickiest achievement in here is probably The Clever. Thankfully there are a lot of video resources online showing you how it's done, since this is also an achievement in the Steam/360/PS3 port. It seemed impossible to me when I first tried out NiGHTS on Steam a decade ago, but if you keep trying you'll get it eventually.

If you're looking for tips and tricks on how to play NiGHTS in general, this video helped me a lot. Overall, this was one of the easier sets to master for the RetroAchievemas event, and I'm glad it was included - it finally drove me to learn how to play NiGHTS!

Game	Console	Genre
Mega Man X	SNES/Super Famicom	2D Platforming, Action

• Set by: {% rauserpic Jaarl %}, {% rauserpic GalacticSpear %}, {% rauserpic Telerophon %}, {% rauserpic Thoreau %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic gameburke %}

Mega Man X is one of the greatest games ever. The controls are perfect, the music is incredible, and the art and style is 90s bliss. Once you get a feel for dashing around the ground and walls, you feel totally in control. The pacing of the levels are fun, with mid level bosses, cool themes and levels that change depending on your path, and your powers are useful in lots of different circumstances.

The achievement set that pairs it is equally great. It has the standard progression achievements: beat the 8 bosses from the levels, then the final climb to the end. Then it has all the collection achievements that are pretty normal: collect the heart upgrades, get the armor upgrades, get the sub tanks. The rest of the achievements really show how much depth there is in Mega Man X and help guide you to the interesting things to see. There is an ultimate weapon that is a little hidden. There is a way to get your full buster charge upgrade early. Achievements for those help guide you to get those upgrades and fully upgrade Mega Man.

Then there are achievements for different ways of playing levels and bosses. Because Mega Man gives you the option to play levels in any order, you can end up fighting any boss first, which means you should challenge yourself to be good at beating a boss with your starting weapon. But if you do beat a boss with its weakness, a lot of bosses will do unique things. You can chop off Flame Mammoth's snout or Launch Octopus' tentacles with the boomerang, or you can destroy Armored Armadillo's armor with sparks. Not only do the bosses change, but the levels change too depending on the order you play the game. Levels can become easier or more challenging depending on which levels you play first, and the achievement set helps you see all the varieties.

Finally there are the challenging achievements: damageless, deathless, restricted upgrades. These are hard, but manageable. Most of these are pretty easy to setup and try again and again. A run through the entire game can take less than an hour if you've played a lot of Mega Man games and start to learn where everything is, so replaying for the challenges isn't too painful. You can knock out a lot of them together as well. You can probably get most achievements in 2 playthroughs, 100% and low%. In your 100% run, you won't die as easily, use a lot of the powers to do cool things, and get the extra collectables. Low% is the most challenging, but will give you the coveted ZERO Mode achievement. The final boss will be a little challenging, but you don't need to do it deathless, so you can try the boss over and over again. The final level has an easy way to fill up your energy and lives right before the boss too, so you can try again and again until you beat him.

Overall, it's a great set for a great game. It lets you explore all the hidden things the game has to offer, and play the game in multiple ways to really challenge yourself.

Game	Console	Genre
Big Bird's Egg Catch	Atari 2600	Arcade

• Set by: {% rauserpic MaddieKittyTV %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Cushionydragon3 %}

Most of the Sesame Street games with achievements on this site are usually bare-bones edutainment titles with so little content to offer that you'll question how they winded up onto store shelves and feel bad for anyone who actually owned them at the time.

Big Bird's Egg Catch is NOT one of those games.

This game is shockingly good for what it is, and the set provided does absolute wonders to it by taking what would normally be just 5 minutes of checking out an old game to nearly an hour of arcade-style action. I'm literally almost 21 as of writing this, and yet I am somehow gushing over a literal kids game (which is definitely a sign of how good this game truly is). I like how it progresses in difficulty, giving the player new challenges like obscuring the eggs as they go through the chutes and even blocking the view of the chutes themselves. One thing I also like about this game is the manual it comes with, in which it includes a read-aloud story with Big Bird, a note to parents about how the game can help kids develop things such as hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills, an incredibly well-written gameplay guide going over each mode that also comes with tips for parents to help their child understand the game better (which is incredibly wholesome), and even a miniature activity set!

Out of all the Sesame Street games I've mastered, this one is my favorite, bar none. I'd say this is an underrated set that's perfect for either beginners to RA or to those looking to cool off with an easier set. This game is everything a kid's game should strive to be nowadays, and that's saying a lot considering this is a Sesame Street game on the friggin' Atari 2600!

Game	Console	Genre
Sonic the Hedgehog: Pocket Adventure	Neo Geo Pocket	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic mprobinson %}, {% rauserpic ColonD %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic RetroVanny %}

"Why play THIS specific Sonic the Hedgehog set?" you may be asking. To be quite honest, no, it isn't the greatest Sonic game of all time. It isn't groundbreaking. Nothing like that. The reason I think people should play it is honestly, it's (to me) the biggest "hidden gem" in the franchise.

Sonic Pocket Adventure is kind of that mixture of everything I love about older 2D Sonic games, but with its own little twist, and quirks that you may or may not notice on a first playthrough, as little as it can be. A couple examples being, this is the very first game to have Sonic with the green eyes look, before going 3D. Also, Eggman is using his old outfit, but by the end of the game, he may or may not be rocking a new attire to bring him up to more "modern style".

Each level is also based on a level from Sonic 2, but uses different tracks than the original stages, and they're all remixed very well. The classical 8-bit track-renditions of some of them are more of a jam than the OGs they're referencing.

The game also just feels fun to play. Most of us can agree that the earlier portable Sonic games, such as Sonic 2 on Game Gear can feel always just a little.. off. Like their weirdly slippery controls at times, awkward jumping, stiff movement in the air when it feels like it, that sort of thing. Pocket Adventure does away with that and feels, to me, that they've almost perfected 2D on a handheld with this entry.

And once you've beaten the game, not to worry! There's a secret Stage like in S3 when collecting all the emeralds! And they're way easier than the Special Stages in Sonic 2 anyway (yes, I'm TERRIBLE at the S2 half-pipe specials. I know, sad LOL). And even then, THAT'S not all either! If you feel like going the extra mile, there are pieces you can find in each stage that you use to form puzzles in a different menu which all look nice in their own way!

All-in-all, it's the best 2D Sonic can get when it comes to older handhelds. This is one I always recommend people now if they ask for what Sonic game they should play. It's a blast, and the set on site is a fun one to tackle too! Not too difficult, but definitely not TOO easy either!

9.5/10 in terms of overall score for me. I love this game.

Game	Console	Genre
Felony 11-79	PlayStation	Arcade Racing

• Set by: {% rauserpic Pudpod %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic DrJordo %}

A rich man has purchased an ancient casket, hoping to open it and receive the untold riches said to be within. It can only be opened with the help of three artifacts, and you have been hired to obtain them, by any means necessary. Felony 11-79 (or "Runabout" in its original Japanese release) is a heavily arcade-influenced driving game in which the player is tasked with retrieving an object and escaping the area before time runs out. Needless to say from the title, you won't be asking nicely to borrow them. Throughout the three stages, you'll also have to complete some other tasks to assist your escape, such as collecting explosives to get past a gate. The stages are linear, but contain several shortcuts and alternate paths. The destruction caused by the player is tracked, and the exact dollar value of everything destroyed is displayed. The player can choose from several vehicles, like a moped or a pickup, and unlock more by beating levels, getting under a certain time, causing a certain amount of destruction, or destroying nothing at all. The achievements in this set lay out the specific requirements for these unlocks.

This game is not without its problems. As mentioned before, it is very short, at only three stages. There's a half-baked fuel system where each car has a limited amount, but only a few of them have to worry about it, and for those that do, there's no way to get more fuel. Several of the fastest vehicles don't have an automatic transmission option, so be prepared to drive stick if you want those speedrun achievements. As for destruction, each vehicle has limited health that can't be repaired, so damage taken and value given by targets must be weighed when planning one's route for those achievements. Oh, and did I mention that every car in the game controls horribly? The first time you play this game, even beating the stages at all will be an uphill battle, as your car constantly careens out of control. Mastery of this set requires not only skill, but patience in dealing with the game's terrible controls.