Sonic Mania

You're not alone. DKC3 is my favourite out of the trilogy, too. I'd still say DKC2 is a better game, but I love DKC3 the most.

Have you ever played the GBA port? It's a little rough around the edges, but it's got a new world with new stages, and a totally different soundtrack. It totally changes the game's atmosphere, and not in a better/worse way, but in a brighter, more optimistic way. That said, I like DKC3's subdued nature.

I like the theme! I should steal your icon and use it myself to really mess with people

The N64 Starring Goemon is hella fun, yes
But avoid the GB one (I got it on 3DS, and it was my biggest VC purchase regret ever). It's kind of like Legend of Mystical Ninja for SNES in that it's overhead, but some of the gameplay is pretty mean, and the bosses...oh man, a lot, if not all of them have minigames that you have to win to beat them, and the final boss is very not fun.

Could you elaborate a little on Freedom Planet? I'm not doubting you, I've just been stalled on the game for a while and could use an excuse to skip the story and switch to Arcade Mode.

Klonoa! I really hope you keep enjoying the game, or at least enjoying the music

I totally know what you mean about feeling like you're so close to having played an entire library. At this point, because I did pick up Jack Bros, I think I will slowly try to track down the last 3 games over time (Waterworld, 3D Tetris, and Nester's Funky Bowling). The library is so small and I'm such a fan of the machine that I think I can cost justify it to myself over time. I agree about the JPN exclusives though, way too pricey for my taste

The bad news (or good news) is that I do think Jack Bros is worth it. Even though the game is really pretty short, it's an interesting game and totally worthy of tracking down if you're already a fan of the VB. It's kind of a twin stick shooter/roguelike/dungeon crawler/puzzle hybrid. Really a cool blend that you don't see too much in other games.

I will say that while I got the US version, you could probably get a copy of the Japanese Jack Bros and get through without trouble. There is very little story to speak of, and the text in the game is mostly helpful hints about monsters that you could pretty reasonably work out for yourself. None of the dungeons have any text based puzzles or anything.

Glad to see another VB fan on the site!

Yay, they arrived! Glad to do business with ya, AJ.

My cousin and I co oped Die Hard Arcade about a year ago (he lives an hour away, as opposed to a 6 hour flight, so we co op games a LOT more, and generally see each other a ton more), and we really enjoyed it. I forget how long we spent on Deep Scan, but it felt like a while.

You should definitely look into Dynamite Cop on Dreamcast if you liked Die Hard Arcade, it's the sequel. Not really a direct sequel I think, but it's VERY similar in terms of gameplay and cheesy humor. I think that was the first co op game we played, actually.

It's not a permanent increase in credits. You only get them once, and they're redeemable until you turn the game off or reset. So you have to play Deep Scan for a while before you start Die Hard Arcade. I don't remember how many points it takes to get extra credits, but it tells you on the bottom of the screen while you play.