Achievements Anonymous – Retro & Remakes

We puts on our rose-tinted shades for this week’s column, as we look at Achievements and Trophies for the games of yesteryear.

I absolutely love retro games, and I also love remakes of old games. Add Achievements and Trophies into the mix, and I’m a very happy gamer. So, this week I decided to look back at some of my favourite Achievements and Trophies from some of the best retro re-releases and remakes available on modern consoles.

Game: SEGA Vintage Collection – Streets of Rage (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
Achievement/Trophy: A Kangaroo’s Best Friend

The Streets of Rage trilogy is one of my favourite series of games ever. They are amazing brawlers that have yet to be bettered, even today. So I start off with an Achievement/Trophy linked to an amusing Easter Egg from Streets of Rage 3.

In the second stage you will come across a mini-boss by the name of Bruce and his pet marsupial, Roo. If you pay attention to animal welfare laws and don’t beat up the kangaroo, and beat up Bruce for imprisoning such a majestic beast instead, Roo will run away, unlocking him as a playable character, as well as unlocking the Achievement/Trophy.

Game: Street Fighter 2 Hyper Fighting (Xbox 360)
Achievement: Perfect World Champion

Continuing with the pugilist theme, we come to an old school classic. Most of us grew up with Street Fighter 2, and the prospect of finishing the single-player arcade mode without losing a round. It seems like a simple task but, for some reason, this Achievement is surprisingly difficult, even on the easiest difficulty setting.

My advise is to stick the game on the easiest difficulty setting with a 30 second match timer, and pick Zangief. Make sure Ryu is your first opponent and if he isn’t, restart the game until he is, as he is one of the toughest opponents in the game. As soon as the match starts, keep jumping to the left. Once in the left hand corner, use your strongest dropkick. It’s hard to describe the timing, but if you time the kick near the highest point of the jump, your CPU opponent will either walk straight into your kicks, or hang back and wait.

This method doesn’t guarantee you victory, as you may have to adjust the strategy against enemies with projectiles but, after some practice, this lofty goal is in your reach.

Game: SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection – Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine(Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
Achievement/Trophy: Yatta!

For this Achievement/Trophy, you’ll need to finish Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, the Sonic-branded version of popular puzzler series Puyo Puyo.  It’s a tough game, but if you’re struggling, there are ways to make this a little more achievable.

First things first, use the password Yellow, Orange, Blue, Blue and you will start on the final level in Easy mode. All you need to do is beat the last opponent, but if this is too much for you – cheat! The SEGA Mega Drive Ultimate Collection has a built in Save State function. Use this to your advantage before every move to ensure you are putting your beans in the best places.

Game: Perfect Dark (Xbox 360)
Achievement: Act Your Age, Joanna

Another mildly amusing Easter Egg Achievement, this time for the brilliant HD version of Rare’s Perfect Dark. The summary advises you to Destroy Carrington’s Wine Collection, and that’s exactly what you need to do.

On the fourth stage, Carrington Villa, once you reach the basement you will find yourself surrounded by shelves, stacked with bottles of wine. Simply shoot every bottle of plonk to listen to Carrington’s disapproval at your actions, and earn this Achievement.

Game: Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)
Achievement/Trophy: Steel Grip

An easy Achievement for Metal Gear Solid 2, that requires little more than a few minutes of grinding to attain Grip Level 3, a skill that is useful for getting past some areas of the game, and collecting some of those useful dogtags.

While playing as Snake in the Tanker chapter, reach the Engine room. As soon as you enter this area, you’ll notice that you are on a structure that is several floors high. Dispatch all the nearby guards in this area, and return to the top floor. Now jump off the railings to the left using Y/Triangle, so that you are hanging from them, press A/X to drop down and then quickly press Y/Triangle once more to cling onto the railing on the next floor below.

Repeat this around 20 times and you’ll get the Achievement.