When you try to blaze through as many games as I do, it’s easy to forget details about what happens in each one. Luckily, contributor Chibz has provided a way to maintain a text log of each game as I play it. Even better, it can be used by anyone with a Backloggery.com account!
Our new Java application, called BackScratcher, was conceived when fellow ICG author, Hiro, lamented his inability to automatically keep logs of games as he played them. After inputting your Backloggery username and setting a scan interval, BackScratcher will regularly pull the info from your “Now Playing” section and create a text file for it. Should you be playing several games at once, it will correctly organize the info into a separate text file for each game. It even keeps duplicate entries from being recorded; that’s how smart this thing is!
The first game to get the BackScratcher treatment was Snatcher for the Sega CD, and I thought I’d share my experience with it. Snatcher was one of Hideo Kojima’s early projects, back before his every waking moment was consumed by the Metal Gear Solid series. It’s a “cyberpunk adventure” involving body-snatching cyborgs that uses a now antiquated command menu (i.e. “Look,” “Talk,” and “Use Item”), but the story was still rather enjoyable.
While not exactly a mini-review, my BackScratcher file should give some insight into how I felt while playing the game. So, without further ado, here is Snatcher as seen through my Backloggery profile (with some added commentary):
- I get a perfect score at the shooting range first try and she accuses me of lying. Figures.
(This game optionally supported a light gun; regular controllers just used a 3×3 cursor grid.)
- Still reading the computer database. It just keeps going…
(The amount of background info available in the game to read was impressive.)
- Hahaha, my navigator is called Metal Gear. “Named after the menace of the late 20th century.”
My buddy and partner, Metal Gear mk II
- Decapitation!!!
- 00:47, Act1. I like Metal Gear’s voice. Voice acting in general is pretty decent.
- 01:25, Act 1. Off to meet a Chinese Napoleon… and looking for buffalo meat.
(Yes, buffalo meat. At a restaurant. To eat.)
- 01:41, Act 1. Whoa, that 18 year-old girl had the voice of a 35 year-old woman.
- ~02:30?, Act 1. The costume club cameos are an awesome touch.
Can you name them all?
- ~02:30?, Act 1. Oops, got myself thrown out of the club. Choose command: APOLOGIZE
Oops.
- 03:27, Act 2. This is gonna be a shorter game than I thought. No complaints here.
(I’m a busy guy; I have a lot of games to play. I appreciate short to mid-length games!)
- ~05:00, Act 2. Metal Gear mk II > CSI
(He can analyze a crime scene faster than the entire CSI cast!)
- ~05:00, Act 2. Showdown with a ceiling walker… awesome.
- ~06:00?, Act 3. That last shooting sequence was intense.
My awesome J.U.N.K.E.R. gun
- ~06:00?, Act 3. Still watching the loooong ending.
- ~06:00?, Act 3. Metal Gear Sega CD? Hahahaha
(I would post a picture here, but I try to avoid spoilers 
)
Even though I completely enjoyed it, I’m glad the game was shorter than expected. Choosing commands from a menu can get tedious, so I feel like the shorter length maintained a good balance.
I’ll plan to continue posting BackScratcher game logs in the future, with the next one being Little King’s Story (a great Pikmin-esque game!).
Want the Java app for your own use? Download BackScratcher from our downloads page.
