Wish this Set October 2023 - RetroAchievements/RANews GitHub Wiki

After a brief hiatus, Wish This Set is back! Thank you so much for your submissions!

Wish This Set is a showcase for our passionate community members to write about the games they love that aren't yet represented on the site. Is there a game you'd like to see receive an achievement set? Let us know by sending a private message to {% rauserpic RANews %}. We encourage you to explain what makes the game so special to you, and you may be featured in a future issue of RANews!

Game	Console	Genre
Daikaijuu Deburas	NES	Kaiju-themed Strategy

• Write-up by: {% rauserpic cicadahuman %}

Kaiju video games have been a mixed bag. Godzilla, Monster of Monsters had beautiful sprite work, but the game was very difficult and had major slow down issues. Not to mention the annoying stun locks during the boss fights. The second Godzilla game on the NES, War of the Monsters, tried a strategy game approach. Without the game manual explaining the weird slot mechanic, it’s confusing and slow. Reading the manual makes the game more enjoyable, but still feels a little soulless. Where these Godzilla games on the NES fail, there’s one kaiju game that does the genre justice, Daikaijuu Deburas.

Daikaijuu Deburas sets itself apart from its contemporaries by being a hilarious and gorgeous love letter to kaiju media. From the start of the intro cutscene to the end of the game, the kaiju movie references are abundant. You even receive a Gotengo-like super weapon in your arsenal to aid in your fight. To top it all off, the weird Japanese humor and spoofs of popular kaiju tropes will keep you laughing.

Developed by Data East for the Nintendo Entertainment system in December of 1990, Daikaijuu Deburas, or Giant Monster Flaburas, is a strategy game where the player has to stop an invading kaiju from destroying a mysterious giant egg. Taking control of the Earth Defense Force, you have all the military machines you would expect in a tokusatsu kaiju movie. For the beginning levels, Deburas is too strong to defeat. The player must stall and counter the kaiju while moving the Transport Truck carrying the egg to the Goal space on the map. Just like many NES titles, Daikaijuu Deburas can be rather difficult. The game’s save feature helps ease some frustrations, but be prepared to load previous saves to restart.

The hard work of hacking and translating this title was done by:

• BlackPaladin
• Lazermutt4
• Cyneprepou4uk
• abw
• Pennywise
• Vinheim3.

Game	Console	Genre
Getaway, The	PlayStation 2	Sandbox

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

What a time to be a gamer back in 2004. GTA was considered as peak video games, and companies wanted to follow Rockstar's fame by doing their own GTA-like. Than The Getaway came out. This game has 2 campaigns - one with Mark Hammond, whose son gets kidnapped by some kind of gangster, and one with the detective Frank, all connecting dots to the story. Pretty heavily story driven and linear, this game is basically composed by third person gunfights and driving... all from point A to Point B.

It was an ambitious game for its time. Roaming around the city of London with high-quality textures, without any hubs on screen adding a movie-like immersion. Shout out to some realistic movements your character has (just watch him walking up stairs...) and some weird mechanics like being able to recover health from touching a wall to catch your breath. This game has a special place in my heart and I hope to finally be able to finish it once this gets a set.

Game	Console	Genre
War of the Monsters	PlayStation 2	Action, 3D Fighting

• Write-up by: {% rauserpic EthGoesBOOM %}

War of the Monsters is a hidden gem on the PS2. It's a 3D fighting game that parodies a bunch of classic monster movies like King Kong, Godzilla and The Deadly Mantis. The player selects one of the many monster characters in the game who then engage in a violent and chaotic brawl with other monsters in a nearby metropolis, crushing buildings and destroying civilization in the process. Each character has its own abilities and you're able to use cars and other objects as projectiles, alongside the classic gameplay of just beating the crap outta each other. The game has a wide variety of modes such as the story mode, vs mode, minigames, free-for-all, endurance mode, and sudden death. It also has a ton of unlockable content like characters, skins, levels, and modes.

Due to the decent amount of content the game offers, there are a lot of achievement possibilities such as various ones for completing levels in the story mode, beating bosses in the story mode, finishing the story mode, unlocking the locked characters, skins, levels, and minigames, winning a certain amount of games with each monster, throwing a certain amount of each projectile like cars etc, winning every minigame, winning a match in every level, winning in Free-for-all, Sudden Death, Endurance, etc. It would be great to see this underrated classic get some love.

Game	Console	Genre
Corvette	PlayStation 2	Racing

• Write-up by: {% rauserpic AstrodomeKid %}

This was an arcade/sim racer published by Global Star Software and developed by Steel Monkeys. Originally released for PC in 2003 (and later ported to PS2) to celebrate the legendary namesake's 50th Anniversary, it allowed fans to drive almost every Corvette ever made at the time, including standard models, limited editions, race models, and even police models.

It has both an arcade mode and a career mode, each with an Amateur mode where you race all the standard Corvettes throughout the years and a Professional mode for the special models. Arcade mode as you can imagine is a no-frills mode that lets you race in any order you want, while Career mode uses a more linear path where winning races unlocks upgrades to enhance your Corvette's performance. In addition, it has five unlockable special modes where you can take on time trials, one-on-one, endurance races, etc. And by completing modes or winning every race within a specific generation in arcade or career, you will unlock trophies and movies honoring your accomplishments. And this trophy system would work great as inspiration for devs to create achievements on the site.

I wouldn't call this game a masterpiece, but I like it nonetheless, especially with all the childhood memories I have of it. If you're a Corvette fan like me or just have a thing for racing games, definitely give this one a shot.

Game	Console	Genre
Bonk's Revenge	Game Boy	Platforming

• Writeup by: {% rauserpic AfroRyan %}

Bonk's Revenge is a fantastic PC Engine game. One may assume that Bonk's Revenge on Game Boy is a watered down port of said fantastic game. That assumption would be wrong, however. I wouldn't blame you, though; in Japan, the GB spinoff games are titled "GB Genjin," a pun off the original Japanese "PC Genjin," itself a pun on "PC Engine" (they rhyme of course, but for full context, in Japanese, "genjin" roughly translates to "primative man" or cave man"). So in Japan, it was understood that GB Genjin 2 was not a handheld port of PC Genjin 2, but instead a sequel to "GB Genjin," the names of which imply a subseries as opposed to shrunken GB ports. To further complicate/confuse the matter, in America the 1st GB game was simply called "Bonk's Adventure," but to reiterate, that GB game is entirely different from the PCE/TG-16 original. That's not even touching the European name of the franchise, "BC Kid," and the extra layer of confusion that entails. Now that we have the confusing naming history out of the way, let me get into the meat of why I wish this had a set.

Bonk's Revenge GB has unique costume power-ups for Bonk to wear, which drastically change the way a player interacts with a level. In fact, some areas can only be accessed with specific costumes. Many of these revolve around "stealth Bonk," who is very clearly meant to be a thief. That form can access doors only available to him, and can lead to treasure or to jail, where some of your smileys are taken away. The other forms come with their own abilities, of course, but I'll spare you the details. All said, it's obvious that Bonk's Revenge GB is the true predecessor to Super Bonk 2 (which came out a year later), which utilizes a very similar costume/powerup system. The core Bonk gameplay remains intact; jumping and attacking in rapid succession allows Bonk to stay in the air longer, and many platforming challenges and optimizations come as a result. The series' reputation for happy, catchy tunes isn't sullied here either; Bonk's Revenge GB is full of hummable tunes.

Progression achievements are obvious enough for a level-based platformer, but many custom challenges could be conceived with the costumes. There's also the standard smiley collectable challenges that would encourage full level exploration. We can't forget the minigame where you fight some sort of cyborg-Bonk with a time limit which could easily have a cheevo or two designed around it. Overall, a fun, balanced set could be easily concocted given the content of this surprisingly robust and original Game Boy entry of the Bonk series...or should I say PC Genjin...or BC Kid...

Game	Console	Genre
Fossil Fighters	Nintendo DS	Role-Playing Game

• Writeup by: {% rauserpic yuvi3000 %}

I never had any consoles growing up. I got by with cheap PC games on the family computer and emulating what I could. I've always been a Nintendo fan and a fan of prehistoric creatures. Pokémon was one of my favourite gaming franchises early on and I learned a lot about RPGs and the creature-collecting vibe from that. So when I found out that a new creature-collecting RPG came out where you used dinosaurs to battle, I was more than excited! Sadly, I was not able to get a Nintendo DS and eventually gave up trying to emulate it on my potato family computer... until years later I was able to get a pretty decent smartphone.

Emulating DS games was something I immediately loved and I finally rushed to try out Fossil Fighters. I loved every moment of it. From the use of many of the most interesting and even lesser-known prehistoric creatures, to the great humour in the game, to the addictive gameplay, I had a blast. I was so excited that you actually got to dig up fossils from scratch and resurrect your own creatures. And when you clean the fossils, the dust even clouds up the screen so that it becomes more difficult to continue cleani- OH MY GOD, YOU CAN BLOW THE DUST OFF THE SCREEN USING THE MICROPHONE! This blew my mind at the time and won me over even more.

Seriously, though, for a family-friendly game, I thoroughly enjoyed the wacky story, the gameplay, the memorable characters, side-quests and Vivosaurs. There's a lot of fun in the dialogue and the in-game descriptions, I was surprised by some unexpected parts of the story, and all the way through, I could never shake how underrated this game was. If you're a fan of family-friendly RPGs, anything prehistoric, sci-fi nonsense, silly humour and a focus on exploration, leveling up and perfecting your techniques, I'm sure there's something for you here. I certainly hope more gamers check this one out, so please can we get a completed set for this game so I can play it through again?

Game	Console	Genre
Petz: Catz 2 | Petz: Dogz 2	PlayStation 2	Adventure

• Writeup by: {% rauserpic Guinea %}

Petz: Catz 2/Dogz 2 are two games that are very different when it comes to the Catz/Dogz series. Instead of the usual pet management style game, you take control of one of 40 breeds of cat/dog and go on an adventure around South Pawville. The primary objective of the game is to stop an evil wolf named Ivlet from wreaking havoc on the island and potentially destroying the world.

Throughout the adventure you meet and interact with different characters across different locations such as Dolphin Coast, Lappy Lake, and Whisker Woods. There are lots of tasks & minigames to complete which unlock the areas and various items which help you progress along the way. You can also catch butterflies, insects, and fishes which can be sold for gold which allows to buy different clothing and accessories to really make your dog/cat look epic!

The game offers a mix of exploration, combat against hostile creatures, and puzzle-solving elements which overall makes it a really fun game and deserving of achievements.

Game	Console	Genre
Puyo Puyo 7	Nintendo DS	Puzzle

• Writeup by: {% rauserpic Lilpaulo3232 %}

Puyo Puyo 7, as the name implies, is the seventh mainline entry in the Puyo Puyo series, AKA one of my favorite video game franchises ever. Rather than taking place in a fantasy setting like in the previous six games, it takes place in a world similar to the real world. The main story follows a school girl named Ringo and her mission to try and stop Puyo from flooding her world. Five new characters and a new game mode called "Transformation" which serves as the main focus of the game were all introduced into the series. In Transformation mode, you can transform into either an adult or a childlike form and your board will change size and behavior according to the form you have transformed to for a limited amount of time before returning back to normal.

I would very much like to see another Puyo Puyo game on this site, regardless of which one it is. As I have mentioned it is one of my favorite video game franchises ever and it holds a rather special place in my heart right next to a certain Japanese bullet hell series. I look forward to seeing a decently challenging, but not ridiculously difficult set for this mainline series game.

Game	Console	Genre
Madou Monogatari I	Mega Drive	Dungeon Crawl

• Write-up by: {% rauserpic PlugMeister %}

I'm sure that many of you are familiar with Compile's long-running Puyo Puyo franchise of puzzle games, but how many of you are aware that it's actually a spin-off? Enter Madou Monogatari (commonly translated as "Sorcery Saga"), a series of dungeon crawlers that began on Japanese home computers, starring none other than Arle Nadja herself as she makes her way through magic school and beyond. The main draw of these games is that they're RPGs without the numbers - your health, magic, and level are all purposefully hidden from you, forcing you to rely solely on visuals, sound, and text to determine the status of both yourself and the many foes you'll cross paths with. (The status of your wallet, however, is an exception!) While this may sound extremely daunting at first, the same colorful, whimsical cast of characters that would later appear in the Puyo Puyo games are still present to keep things varied, upbeat, and fun, such as Carbuncle, Drago, Suketodara, and many more!

I chose the Mega Drive version of the first game for this write-up for a variety of reasons, the most important being that it received a wonderful fan translation by LIPEMCO! Translations in 2020, a group known for doing excellent work on translations for both Madou Monogatari and other games. The second is that this version of the game has many things that make it unique from all other versions, such as digitized voice clips for every(!) character, and even some completely new characters. The most significant change, however, is the combat: although the games in this series are primarily turn-based, the Mega Drive version ditches this entirely in favor of much more action-oriented real-time battles from a side perspective, and plays almost like a fighting game in certain aspects - you'll often find yourself jumping to avoid attacks, blocking to reduce damage, and using directional inputs to cast spells. Last but not least, this game holds the important distinction of being the very last official release for the Mega Drive in Japan - the Saturn had already been out for well over a year, and the Nintendo 64 would hit store shelves just three months later!

Will this 16-bit obscurity finally get the recognition it deserves by getting a set? Will Arle be able to make it through the Magic Tower in one piece - but more importantly, will she be able to pass, or even ace, her final exam at magic school? Should a kindergartner really be drinking something called "Wizard Wine"? The answers to these questions are in your hands, RA community! Gao - er, go for it!

Game	Console	Genre
It's Mr. Pants	Game Boy Advance	Puzzle

• Writeup by: {% rauserpic WarioFan63 %}

If you were an avid follower of Rare's internet presence in the late 90's and early 2000s, you might recall they had a mascot character of sorts in Mr. Pants, a stick figure-esque character parading around in nothing but a bowler hat and red underwear. If you weren't logging on every month or so to see the latest in their Scribes, you might be familiar with this delightful fellow making cameos in Jet Force Gemini and Banjo-Tooie. Though the fans would send their love of Mr. Pants to Rare in the form of fan art and even the occasional fan game, this inside joke would eventually become an outside joke with his own GBA game in 2004.

What was once intended to be a Donkey Kong puzzle game eventually got repurposed to star Mr. Pants a couple years after Rare was sold to Microsoft. The purpose of the game is to create squares and rectangles that are composed of at least six blocks. The blocks don't fall, so you can slap these squares anywhere on the board where you've got space. The shapes all need to be one matching color, but if your shape is looking like it's not going to become a smooth square anytime soon, you can overlay a block of another color on top of the problematic parts to help round things out.

In Marathon mode, you'll need to keep making squares until the time runs out before a purple crayon snake spirals through your entire board. Making squares will push back the snake to help you survive until the end. Wipeout mode has various uncompleted blocks scattered over the screen with the goal being to pull from what the game gives you to build them into a proper square and clear the board. And naturally for a game like this is a puzzle mode, where you use a predetermined queue of blocks to solve the various shapes that Mr. Pants throws your way.

The game has a basic enough framework to kickstart achievements from, with trophies handed out when you beat each mode on each difficulty with harder difficulties waiting in the wings. Puzzle mode also throws some new artwork that gets unlocked in a gallery for every 5 stages you complete. If you need someone to host a puzzle game while singing along to the music and chatting away at you the entire time, then the answer is clear: It's Mr. Pants!