Play This Set January 2024 - 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
QuackShot starring Donald Duck	Mega Drive	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic feem %}, {% rauserpic meleu %}, {% rauserpic GamerPupUK %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic wolfman2000 %}

Donald Duck, the most powerful mage in Disney canon if you accept Kingdom Hearts as canon, has gone through a lot in his life. He still has treasure hunting roots, similar to Uncle Scrooge in DuckTales. Of course, Donald is not as calm and collected as Scrooge.

In Quackshot, Donald's temper is an actual mechanic. You can stay calm and collected, but you can acquire power-ups to get angry and burst through enemies. You also have more permanent power-ups such as multi-shot corn, stickier plungers, and actual bubble gum to get through.

This game is a relatively short romp; it should take no more than an hour or two to beat the game. Continues are unlimited for those new to the platforming genre. Mastering is conceptually simple with damageless bosses and a one credit clear.

For those that want a platformer from a simpler time, Donald Duck is your...well, err, duck. Take a shot at it. A Quackshot.

...I'll see myself out.

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Vs. Airman	NES	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic ModelZGolden %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic diablo666 %}

Do you like high-quality crossovers? This creation is a UNIQUE PHENOMENON that directly combines Mega Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. One level is exactly like pure Mega Man 2, with its robots and mechanics, and the other is a mixture of Mega Man elements and the world of classic Mario 1. The set includes these two packages of unique levels, where in one variation or another - you will meet a UNIQUE, WRITTEN from SCRATCH boss Air Man. Each level pack is complex and interesting in its own way. You can even play as Luigi with his unique mechanics.

The set offers many ways to pump up your skill level. I enjoyed evaluating what the author of the hack and the author of the achievements did, and the set came out quite interesting and high-quality. I recommend you familiarize yourself with it.

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Pokemon Regulation Red | Regulation Blue [Subset - Solo Challenge]	Game Boy	Role-Playing Game

• Set by: {% rauserpic Maximdraco %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic Bendyhuman %}

{% rauserpic Rubicate %} created a one-of-a-kind romhack and achievement set with Pokemon Regulation Red and Blue. Each run begins by entering a password which implements various conditions to make that playthrough unlike any other. While that set contains unique challenges to fully test your knowledge of the ins and outs of Gen 1, what about when you're in the mood for something more casual? {% rauserpic Maximdraco %} has you covered with what is, in my opinion, one of the most addictive sets on the site and the perfect example of what subsets are made for. The goal is simple: all you have to do is become the Pokemon League champion 151 times, completing a solo run with each entry in the Kanto Pokedex.

What made this set so much fun for me was the feeling of getting better and better at one of my favorite childhood games. It taught me to ignore my instincts of exploring everywhere, picking up each item, and fighting every trainer, instead offering a new challenge to see how far I can optimize my adventures. I learned how even when avoiding as many fights as possible, all but the weakest few Pokemon are capable of steamrolling the game without needing to grind. I learned where I can pick up invisible Rare Candies and Elixirs without having to go too far out of my way and waste precious time. I learned the power of Body Slam, which a shockingly high percentage of Pokemon have access to, as well as the value in some gimmicky moves I'd normally ignore such as Seismic Toss. I internalized exactly which trainers were potential roadblocks and precisely how to overcome them.

After a certain point, I developed a strong enough grasp on my strategy that I no longer felt my optimizations getting better and better. The set then became satisfying in a different way, as the perfect "turn off your brain" kind of game. I could play through the entirety of Gen 1 in under an hour with ease, letting my mind focus on music or a podcast or whatever suited my mood in any given moment. It's a comforting feeling getting to spend more time in such a familiar virtual world, progressing on autopilot while the actual gameplay takes a backseat to feelings of relaxation. And with each new achievement I earned, that feeling of inching ever closer and closer to the greater goal of set mastery never failed to satisfy.

This is a set I can only recommend to a very specific type of player, and I can absolutely understand why it may seem like a pointless waste of time to many. But if anything I've written here resonates with you, I encourage you to give it a try.

Game	Console	Genre
LostMagic	Nintendo DS	Role-Playing Game, Real-Time Strategy, Action RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic ZamArch %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic MeloDeathAtmoBlack %}

One relatively uneventful evening in July of 2007, I was celebrating my tenth birthday at a local pizza restaurant with a few friends from school at the time. I wasn't expecting much of whatever presents they were going to give me since we were, well, kids, but when one of them handed me a distinctly DS case-shaped box, I was stunned. I'd been raised with the expectation that games as presents were from my own parents, let alone from a kid my age who I honestly didn't think I was that close friends with (Bryan, if you're reading this, I just want you to know, you were the absolute coolest person to me for the rest of the summer. I hope you're doing well). That game was LostMagic. I'd never heard of this game before, and if it wasn't for Bryan, I don't know if I ever would have. True to its name, all these years later, it feels like a truly magical memory completely lost in the history of the gaming medium.

LostMagic is one of the most unique games I've ever played, even down to its genre. You play as a young wizard Isaac, who can conjure a myriad of different magical spells, to fight elemental beasts and monsters, on a quest to inherit the power of the six elemental sages to stop the evil witch Seneka. If this sounds like a great concept for an action RPG, I'd agree - but LostMagic is better categorized as a real-time strategy with monster collecting elements. Those monsters I mentioned earlier aren't just your enemies; you can use certain spells to capture them and have them fight alongside you, which creates multiple layers of depth to the missions. Since Isaac is both a wizard and a kid, he is particularly frail when hordes of enemies come directly at him, so you'll need to consider which monsters will best suit each mission in order to protect him. Some monsters can fly over water or other gaps to quickly capture crystals and take out isolated enemies. Other monsters are downright immortal if you use them against enemies that they elementally resist. The game provides enough variety in its maps and missions that virtually every monster can be a tremendous asset to you.

While the RTS elements are what makes this game so deep and engaging to me, the magic system is the singular standout element of this game. Over the course of the game, Isaac will learn 18 magical runes, three for each element, each with their own unique standalone effect. Additionally, Isaac can combine two runes together to create another spell with its own unique effect. Generally, the first rune will determine the type of spell you cast, which the second will determine its element or other secondary effect. And by the end of the game, there are even a few more spells with three rune combinations for some ultimate spells that... well, I don't think they're worth the mana cost, but it's still a fun and sometimes hilarious addition to mess around with. All total, there are 396 unique spells in the game, and it's all up to you, the player, to discover and figure out which ones are going to be the most helpful to your strategy for each mission. You're bound to lean on a small subset of spells that you're inevitably most comfortable with, which is fine for a normal playthrough, but some achievements for this set can only be earned by limiting yourself to spells from a single given rune, which is a great way to play in this magical sandbox.

This explanation does leave out one crucial detail, that in all honesty could ruin your playing experience for completely understandable reasons. To cast each spell, you need to literally draw the rune on the touchscreen. Emulating this with a mouse will be mostly unpleasant, since this game, being an RTS, doesn't stop the battle to wait for you to finish your input. And that's assuming it will even understand your input in the first place. Even on original hardware, it can be a chore to get the game to recognize some of the rune patterns, especially the higher tiered wind and water runes with their complex curves. The fire, earth, and light runes have never been too much issue from my experience, since they all have sharp angles rather than smooth curves, but it's still more than a little awkward to input those with a mouse. If at all possible, install RetroArch on a smartphone or tablet and play it from there, since your finger or a stylus will inevitably be more accurate.

After writing this, I saw someone else already submitted their own Play This Set entry, but that's not going to stop me from submitting mine anyway, because despite the finicky rune recognition and some hilariously poorly drawn character portraits, this unique treasure of a game warrants all the recognition it can get. I've done all my playthroughs on original hardware rather than emulation, so I haven't had a chance to play through this set via RetroAchievements, but I can tell the developer {% rauserpic ZamArch %} put so much heart and soul into its achievements, creating one of the most fleshed out sets I've seen so far. I'm glad others remember it, but still disheartened that only 32 users have tried it so far. Truly, LostMagic is lost magic, and it doesn't deserve to be.

Game	Console	Genre
~Homebrew~ Mega Man: The Sequel Wars - Episode Red	Mega Drive	2D Platforming, Compilation

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

Mega Man: The Sequel Wars is a fan-made re-imagining of the second trilogy of Mega Man NES games for the Sega MegaGenesisDrive, following in the footsteps of the officially released Wily Wars. Most interestingly, Sequel Wars is not a ROM hack, but rather a full-blown homebrew created from scratch.

At the moment only the Mega Man 4 portion is complete (hence the "Episode Red" subtitle), but don't that that fool you: this "demo" is more feature-rich than it appears, and the set takes full advantage of that. It's got multiple difficulty levels, a "full arsenal" mode that allows you to use the entire trilogy's weapon set, two soundtracks (one styled after Wily Wars' style, and another with a set of brand new bangers by artists such as the legendary SavagedRegime that make the most of the system's sound chip. Toad Man's remastered theme in particular has a permanent space in my head), 3.5 playable characters, and even a set of extra challenge achievements asking you to clear stage segments/bosses with absurd conditions. Altogether the set already has double the value of its base game, and that's without the other two games, the "Wily Tower" stages, and the other extras the developer has shown off in the past. It's BIG.

It's been a hot minute since the Episode Red demo dropped and if Mega Man 5's part of the deal is also getting a standalone release it could very well be right around the corner, so now's a great time to get caught up on what the first 1/3rd of Sequel Wars has to offer.

Game	Console	Genre
Kirby: Power Paintbrush | Kirby: Canvas Curse	Nintendo DS	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic MrOwnership %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic snek2eater %}

Everyone's favorite pink puffball makes his debut on the Nintendo DS with Kirby: Power Paintbrush (Kirby: Canvas Curse in the US). This time, Kirby has been cursed by the witch Drawcia to become a literal ball with no limbs. The player must guide our hero through eight painted worlds to defeat Drawcia and return both Kirby and Dream Land to normal. Aiding him is a magical paintbrush, which is also Kirby's primary method of movement.

Many DS games, especially those released close to its launch, attempted to integrate the DS stylus into the gameplay. Kirby: Power Paintbrush is a game that achieves this, with the feature feeling fun and not just like a gimmick. No buttons at all are needed; to move Kirby around, the player has to either tap him repeatedly or draw a rainbow-colored path for him using the stylus.

The game combines this unique movement mechanic with classic Kirby platforming, sometimes having to utilize power-ups obtained from defeating enemies. Beating a level is easy enough, but finding all of the medals will likely require a bit of skill. At the end of every world, there is a choice between three mini-games featuring reoccurring characters King Dedede, Paint Roller, and Kracko, who will test the player's precision and reaction time with the stylus.

The music is also worth mentioning, mostly consisting of remixes from past Kirby games but with their own glitchy twist.

This set is easy enough for a casual player to beat while also providing some challenge for those who want to master it. I'd recommend it if you enjoy Kirby or games for the Nintendo DS.

Game	Console	Genre
WinBack: Covert Operations	Nintendo 64	Third-Person Shooter

• Set by: {% rauserpic shnick1980 %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic SlashTangent %}

Winback: Covert Operations is a cover-based third-person shooter on the Nintendo 64. Coming out around the same time as Metal Gear Solid, Winback was overlooked by many gamers. However, even today it offers a unique style that wasn't seen until console Generation 8 when Gears of War put cover-based shooters on the map. While Winback saw a "remaster" on the PlayStation 2, it was plagued with issues that made the Nintendo 64 version of the game the best version.

You play as Jean-Luc Cougar a member of the Strategic Covert Actions Team (S.C.A.T.). You are tasked with infiltrating a terrorist-controlled base to prevent them from using the satellite lasers to cause mass destruction and havoc. The game will adapt to the player's actions and change accordingly. Make it through a section without being spotted, then the next area will have fewer enemies. Make it through the gunfight in the warehouse quickly, then the next wave of enemies will spawn in a different spot. The game features three different endings based on how quickly you make it through the game.

The set masterfully crafted by {% rauserpic shnick1980 %} is a comprehensive set covering every inch of the Winback. The set asks you to obtain all three endings, beat the game on Normal/Hard, and complete the game in Sudden Death mode, which makes everyone, Jean-Luc and enemies included, die in a single shot. With level challenges asking the player to beat each level with only the pistol as well as make it through without ever picking up a medkit, this set will put the player to the test.

With the world on the line, how quickly will you make it through? Give Winback: Covert Operations a try and who knows, you might just find a new favorite gem on the Nintendo 64.

Game	Console	Genre
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite	PlayStation Portable	Action RPG

• Set by: {% rauserpic SlashTangent %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic NiterZ7 %}

I remember receiving this game on Christmas morning in 2009 and being incredibly excited, only to be immensely disappointed afterward. The game is hard, does not really explain things like upgrading, has an extremely basic weapon tutorial, and had me stuck in what would be the second boss of the game, Yian Kut-Ku. So with 12 year old me banging my head against the wall while my weapon bounces on this dumb chicken, I put the game down and would never play that particular copy again because I lost my PSP long ago. The series would bring me back eventually with the release of Monster Hunter Tri, the series would finally click with me, and to this day I play pretty much every week, and of course, Tri would become my favorite game of all time.

The games that came after were each bigger and better, and I felt no need to try older games, because why bother? They had pretty much the same monsters, fewer weapon types with fewer attacks each, etc. The only exception being the original Monster Hunter, but more as a museum because that game is a disaster in a lot of ways that really surprises me to this day a whole series so beloved came out of it. However, when I found out about RetroAchievements, the first I did was check if there were any Monster Hunter games and yes, there was only one: Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Finally, it was time to finish what I started so long ago, fight the couple of exclusive monsters this game has, and experience this game I just wasn't able to as a child.

The core Monster Hunter experience is there of course, but in a way different than most would expect. First of all, this game is CLUNKY. That is true for all Monster Hunter games to some extent, but this is the old gen experience: slow and long weapon attack animations, small monsters galore, unfair roars that are shorter than the stagger animation so free monster hit, and of course, the absurd hitboxes that made gens 1 and 2 (and Plesioth) so infamous. That being said, it just forces you to adapt. While modern Monster Hunter is starting to look more and more hack and slashy, the old games are much more about positioning and waiting for the best attack opportunity possible, and that stands as true as ever in Freedom Unite, where these "unfair" situations make you calculate your risks differently. We can extrapolate this logic outside of battle as well, where there is no mid-battle restocking, every item you take to a quest matters, and those left behind will probably hunt you during the fight. No sonic bombs? Too bad, that Plesioth will stay in the water for five minutes. This makes the crafting of the perfect quest an art, and is incredibly satisfying when the plan comes to fruition. Due to the game rules everything makes sense and that should be used and abused for the success of the hunt; we can only take so many items to a fight anyways, so spamming is a completely valid strategy. Items are also surprisingly scarce; it's key to build a good honey reserve because later fights get tougher and rougher and mega potions will be consumed in industrial quantities. Traps and bombs won't be cheap either, so planning is particularly important for item-heavy quests. You can get some help, however, for this is the first game in which you can take a cat companion to hunt by your side, providing you with healing, buffs, and occasionally saving your life by hitting you out of a stagger. They are super cute, so you should take care of them because they are very fragile and don't scale well for G rank, but they may also divert aggro so they do have their role if you need them to.

It has its flaws, but it is the definitive way to experience this gen 1+2 era of Monster Hunter before it received its first modernizations in gen 3. Combat is challenging but satisfying, it introduced fan-favorite monsters like Tigrex and Nargacuga, set building and loadout planning are more important than ever, and the same Monster Hunter experience we see in World and Rise is still there. Seeing the series evolve around these elements that are there since day 1 is pretty incredible and makes me excited about the future.

Also, please don't try to release your palico, saddest cutscene you will ever see 😭.

Game	Console	Genre
Rollerball	NES	Pinball

• Set by: {% rauserpic wolfman2000 %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic AmazingBaha %}

One of the first events I got into when joining RA maybe half a year ago was the 2023 RAWR/weekly roulette and it quickly became a favorite. Before entering crunch mode to try squeezing what other events I could for the year, my free Saturday mornings became a kind of tradition. I would wake up for the morning rolls and spend the rest of the day working out how to get tasked achievements with other players. Because everyone gets the same tasks and a week to do them, I feel like there’s a lot more collaboration compared to the open-ended or competitive events.

A few days ago, memorable games from the year were brought up and some people had small lists of enjoyable games and achievements. I want to celebrate the end of 2023 with one of the games that didn’t even make my list.

The task should have been simple - hit the slot machine and roll 3 cherries. In the end it took several days of on and off playing, but it finally hit. And from my reaction it was clear I needed a lot of time and space before picking it up again:

But when I did, it was as cool as ever. Unlike a lot of pinball games that give you multiple tables, Rollerball has just the one, a sort of megatable representing everything awesome about New York City in four screens: the sky, the skyscraper itself, a surface level featuring what I guess is Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, and finally the depths of the Hudson before sinking into the Empire State abyss.

Each round starts in silence until you pull and release the shooter. On the way up you pass over every screen except the sky as they dare you to “Challenge the Skyscraper”. The music finally starts as you leave the starting gate with a touch of attitude. It's a part of what keeps me coming back as well as the table design. The top two screens feel relatively safe, while the bottom it metaphorically starts to feel like you're drowning and face a struggle in order to get back to dry land (air?). The shots are trickier and more dangerous, but if you can swim and not sink, a lot of the best scoring opportunity can be found in the lower parts.

Just like the real streets of NYC, you'll need to balance high-score with survival if you want to succeed. I'm still a way from mastery, but I'm not even a big pinball fan and find Rollerball fun as hell. It's definitely worth checking out. One thing I noticed before writing this is that beside Skyscraper there is a secondary Match Play mode for VS style gameplay on a completely different table matching the blue elephant against the red donkey. Just like with NY, they get American politics. They being a pre-Kirby HAL, a pre-Lolo HAL even. Actually, while doing research one thing I didn't realize was that HAL did make a Ghostbusters game too and years later were directly involved in the construction of New Pork City. Gotta love it, and maybe I'm onto something. It's too late now but for next year's Retro Olympics I'll need to remember this for the suggestions list.

Congrats to everyone who also reached their badges and I look forward to joining RAWR when the 2024 season kicks off in February - this time I won't be starting half a year late!

Game	Console	Genre
~Hack~ Donkey Kong Country 3: Tag Team Trouble	SNES	2D Platforming

• Set by: {% rauserpic YuriRod50248 %}
• Write-up by: {% rauserpic wolfman2000 %}

For whatever reason, the third game in a trilogy can sometimes be seen as weaker than the second. While some games like Super Mario Bros. 3 defy that expectation, others like Donkey Kong Country 3 uphold that reputation. While there are some disagreements as to why that is for the third game of this classic trilogy, I don't necessarily think the reason is a lack of Kiddy Kong. Perhaps some folks felt the original game was easier than Donkey Kong Country 2 and were hoping for a challenge.

This hack, Tag Team Trouble, aims to rectify that. This is primarily a level hack that updates the levels to more emphasize teamwork. Throwing your kongs up and around is required more than ever. Yes, the levels are a little harder now that keeping both kongs together is essential, but this hack is not opposed to being tricky. Admittedly, the bonus stages didn't have many (if any) changes, but there is nothing wrong with that here. If you wanted harder levels in your DKC3 experience, this hack will provide it.