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gensakudan.com
Popfan
@gensakudan.com
130 followers 52 following 1.9K posts
30丨Game developer丨Music composer丨Professional web developer丨Does a little bit of everything丨Language aficionado 🇩🇪 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🇪🇸丨Loves old Sega games and lava lamps

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And arrive they did! Golden Axe Warrior showed up first on Tuesday, Great Soccer arrived yesterday.
Two Master System games: Great Soccer on the left, Golden Axe Warrior on the right.
January 30, 2026 at 12:22 PM
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And the final count for #GamesBeatenIn2025 is 16. A far cry from the 25 I was aiming for originally, but somehow I just didn't have the drive to do a whole lot of anything this year. Barely managed to reach parity with 2023.
A collage of all the games I've beaten in 2025. From left to right, top to bottom: Stinky and Loof in Wonderland, Shinobi, Jaseiken Necromancer, Chiki Chiki Boys, Atomic Runner, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Ghostbusters, The Addams Family, Wonder Boy, Tomb Raider: The Last Reveleation, Tomb Raider Chronicles, Touhou Kinjoukyou ~ Fossilized Wonders, Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies, Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice, Estpolis Denki, and Estpolis Denki II.
December 31, 2025 at 2:05 PM
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Game #16: Estpolis Denki II
31 December 2025

Glad I got this one cranked out before the end of the year. Game's kinda piss-easy, but the story more than makes up for it, and the reprise of the final dungeon theme gave me goosebumps all over my body, my god...

#GamesBeatenIn2025
Box art for the game. The four heroes are riding an airship through the sky, looking out towards a floating island. Commencing the final battle. Two balls of light are flying across the land. To be continued (in) ESTPOLIS I
December 31, 2025 at 1:46 PM
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Game #15: Estpolis Denki
26 December 2025

Fairly interesting battle system for this one. Also didn't need to grind at all, thanks to the stupidly high encounter rate. The story is lighthearted for the first 90%, then immediately starts punching you in the gut repeatedly.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The box art for the game, showing the four protagonists standing on a cliff, looking out to a fortress on a floating island. The final boss defeated. Biography of Estpolis - Fin The final results screen, showing the total play time, the amount of times my party got wiped, how often each party member died, how often I stayed at an inn, how many battles I found, how many times I lost to bosses, how many treasure chests I opened, and how many hidden items I picked up.
December 27, 2025 at 8:29 AM
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Game #14: Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
23 November 2025

Like DD, I feel like this had a really weak first case. Athena got done extremely dirty, too, and the game just drags on way too much. I still really enjoyed the story, though, and Simon is peak malewife material.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The box art for the game. A sepia picture of the face of a law office in Khura'in, with the Capcom logo in front. This is the final screen of the credits. Sorin bridal-carrying his wife, Ellen.
December 27, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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Game #13: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
8 November 2025

I wasn't too sure about this one at first, but the second case immediately pulled me in. Really anticlimactic ending after all that build-up, though...

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The box art for the game The final screen from the credits, with Apollo, Phoenix and Athena all dramatically pointing at the viewer. Phoenix about to get kissed by an orca.
December 27, 2025 at 8:18 AM
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My sister decided to gift me a Mega Drive game for Christmas this year, much to my surprise. And she got lucky enough to get one I didn't actually own yet, too.

*And* it's complete in box!
A clamshell case of Disney's Aladdin for the Sega Mega Drive.
December 26, 2025 at 10:29 AM
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Composed by A.Iwanaga, you say...?
Ariya Iwanaga from Touhou 20.
December 20, 2025 at 7:27 PM
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With the ever-growing amount of posts on my blog (we're at 13 now), I finally decided it was time to getting around to implementing a pagination system.

Given the size of each post, I've settled on five posts per page for now.
A cropped snapshot of the Retrograde Road blog, showing a new navigation section to jump between pages of blog posts.
December 13, 2025 at 1:53 PM
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Gamers on Bluesky when they bring up the Game Gear and the only talking point they have is its battery life:
Store shelves filled to the brim with Buzz Lightyear action figures
December 6, 2025 at 12:43 PM
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Couldn't resist, so I got my own copy, which finally arrived in the mail yesterday!

I haven't gotten around to opening it up yet, but I'm excited to give it a read as soon as I can.
A white hardback book titled "The History of SEGA (Unofficial)", by author Joe Douglas. The cover depicts various Sega consoles: The Master System and Saturn above the title, and the Mega Drive and Dreamcast below.
December 2, 2025 at 12:05 PM
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The collection is finally complete... or at least as complete as it'll ever be. I doubt I'll be getting BMX Trial anytime soon.
An arrangement of clamshell cases. Going from left to right, top to bottom: Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System), Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (Master System), Alex Kidd: High-Tech World (Master System), Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Mega Drive), and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (Master System).
November 29, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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Game #12: Touhou Kinjoukyou ~ Fossilized Wonders
19 August 2025

Technically got my first Normal 1cc two days ago, but I only just cleared Extra. The demo gave me a pretty mixed first impression, but the full version actually turned out pretty nice.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
Jewel case cover for the game. The background consists of blues, greens and whites, with a faint silhouette superimposed on top. Final stage cleared. The final screen of the credits, showing a pyramid under the full moon. The text congratulates me for my Normal 1cc and encourages me to try Extra next, which I did. Extra Stage cleared.
August 19, 2025 at 5:24 AM
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Since we're sharing Game Over screens in the replies, I've always found the one from Zelda 2 way more unsettling in the Japanese version. I guess the common ground is that using anything other than "Game Over" (or "You Died") has a lot more weight to it.
RETURN OF GANNON THE END
August 4, 2025 at 3:31 AM
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Game #11: Tomb Raider Chronicles
13 July 2025

Fairly short game, but also one where the devs made it abundantly clear that they hated every second of working on it. The remaster may have fixed the bugs, but kept in all the other questionable design decisions.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
One of the game's box arts: A bust shot of Lara Croft holding one of her pistols while surrounded by dark blue clouds and lightning. Lara in a catsuit, landing atop some wide, tiled-floor stairs. Her mission control, Zip, is telling her to get her bony ass outta there. Final statistics, seconds before exiting the final level of the game. All 36 secrets were collected, and the total play time is only a little over five hours.
July 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
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Game #10: Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
29 June 2025

Continuing my trip through the classic Tomb Raiders. This one tried a lot of new things, but not all of them landed, and the remaster itself added its own fair share of frustrations with the usual bad lighting.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
Box art for the game. Lara is exploring an Egyptian tomb, holding a flashlight in one hand and a pistol in the other. Statistics before completing the final level, Temple of Horus. Of note is that all 70 secrets were found. Statistics before completing the bonus level, The Times Exclusive. It's a short level with only two secrets, both of which were found. The credits scroll by. Behind them, Lara is preparing to snatch a golden skull from a pedestal as tall as she is.
June 29, 2025 at 11:34 AM
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Game #9: Wonder Boy (SMS)
28 June 2025

An any% clear that missed three dolls and took probably dozens of continues, but it still counts! Now I can finally say that I've beaten every entry in the Wonder Boy series.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The cover art for the game, showing a minimalist illustration of Tom-Tom (blond-haired boy wearing a leaf skirt (?) and holding a stone hammer) jumping over a snail that's at least twice his size. Tom-Tom inside a castle, facing off against the unnamed evil king who kidnapped his girlfriend The same castle interior, but with Tanya rescued. She throws up her arms in celebration while a heart floats between her and Tom-Tom. The text above is her dialogue: "Thank you for risking your life to rescue me. Oh, Tom-Tom, I love you so much!" The End. My highest score is 214060 points, with my final score not even coming close.
June 28, 2025 at 4:28 PM
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I did explicitly specify 7 days, so if it doesn't want to go as far back, I'm not sure if there's much else I can do.
Excerpt from the feed settings for the Sega 8-bit feed. It shows that the input is indeed from the past 7 days, at least on paper.
June 14, 2025 at 11:46 AM
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Even with savestates at the start of each level, recording footage for my Atomic Runner playthrough was hardly a walk in the park, so here's a fail compilation to tide you over until the full video is ready and live.
June 14, 2025 at 10:56 AM
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Okay, I've confirmed that the RPS patterns I've noted down are indeed 100% consistent. Cracking that code was the only thing left in the way of a reliably deathless run.
June 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
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At last, my other ebay purchase arrived in the mail. It was *supposed* to arrive last Saturday, but the driver either got lazy or his shift ended before he could get to me.
A physical copy of Atomic Runner for the Sega Mega Drive. The box art depicts a helmeted man in a metal suit (the protagonist, Chelnov) is shooting lightning from his fists. A city skyline at night serves as the backdrop.
June 10, 2025 at 4:51 PM
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(visible shock)
Lara is visibly shocked.
June 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
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Game #8: The Addams Family
7 June 2025

I distinctly remember struggling heavily with this game as a kid, but this time around, I just breezed right through it, despite the slippery controls.

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The box art for the game, showing the family posing for a group photo. Gomez and Morticia are in the center, embracing each other. Behind them is Lurch, brandishing a feather duster. To the left (from the viewer's perspective) are Grandma and Wednesday, to the right are Fester and Puggsley. Thing is standing on its fingers on the ground, in front of them. Gomez inside the Addams family vault, dodging a volley of golden gavels thrown by the evil judge, who's standing atop what looks like a purple booth. Morticia is kept captive (?) inside, one hand on the counter while the other is raised with the palm facing upward. A framed scene of Gomez and Morticia in front of some wallpaper with a red striped pattern. Hearts are flying up from below the screen, partially obscuring the text. It's a line spoken by Morticia, which reads: "Well done, my darling, you have saved the family fortune and Fester has returned to the fold." A shot of the Addams family residence at nighttime. Most of the windows are lit, and fireworks are being shot into the sky.
June 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
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Game #7: Ghostbusters
6 June 2025

Oh fuck, two games in one day! Got this one by the sheer skin of my teeth. Not to mention I was gripping my controller so hard for most of the playthrough that now my hands hurt...

#GamesBeatenIn2025
The box art for the game, depicting the iconic Ghostbusters logo: a surprised ghost poking through a "no entry"-like red sign. Raymond facing off against the final boss: Janna, who seems to be taking the shape of some kind of floating undead samurai with long tusks and an eyeball in its abdomen. The stage consists of purple rocks, with the background showing various skeletons embedded in the wall, tinted entirely in green. All stage clear!! A bonus of 10 million points is awarded for clearing the game, equating to almost 32 times the amount of points I scored over the course of the game up to that point. To the left of the text box is a portrait of Raymond beaming at the viewer. Raymond posing with a double bicep flex in front of a cheering crowd. The text "Presented by Sega 1990" is written above him.
June 6, 2025 at 4:57 PM
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Game #6: Michael Jackson's Moonwalker
6 June 2025

A major cakewalk, compared to the hell that was Atomic Runner. Though this game wasn't without its sudden and unreasonable difficulty spikes, either.

But hey, another childhood game checked off the list!

#GamesBeatenIn2025
POV of the cockpit of Michael Jackson's battleship. An exploding vessel is seen in the crosshairs. Below that is an incoming message saying "Noooo...", and to the left of that is a portrait of Mr. Big, the game's antagonist. To the right of the message window is a radar, showing the position of Mr. Big's ship as a blue dot. The same screen as before, just without any trace of Mr. Big or his ship. Instead, "CONGRATULATIONS" is written across the screen in big, shiny letters.
June 6, 2025 at 10:29 AM