Sorry, not Mario Kart. Some other game that’s nothing like it.

Of course, the 3DS Mario Kart, Mario Kart 7 is out too. And probably better. But you could have both! Hurrah!

Skidding on to the Nintendo 3DS comes Mario Kart 7.

Pick your favourite Mushroom Kingdom character and aim for the chequered flag in the latest addition to the popular Mario Kart family. With new tricks under the hood Mario Kart 7, for the first time, gives you the opportunity to customise your karts to give you the edge in a race and gliding karts!

Note: This is a sponsored post.

Note: This is a sponsored post

Note: this is a sponsored post.

And fiftyquagillion times more exciting than Sonic Generations coming out for the 360 and PS3 tomorrow. Why? Well, there’s this reason for starters:

Note: This is a sponsored post.

I mean, that looks AWESOME. Oh I hate you, Sega. So very very much. Because now I need to buy this game, and you KNOW I will, and then you’ll make me pay for trusting you again by putting Amy and Big and Cream and all the other rubbish characters in it and having 17 Tailses and making the game physically stab my eyes while I play.

Gaaah!

It’s been a slim few months for releases I’ve been interested in. Partly because there haven’t been that many big games over the summer, and partly because due to the £18 Rule I don’t get much on release any more and by the time they’re cheap enough to buy, my interest has waned enough not to bother. And I have lots of games to get through anyway – not least Fallout: New Vegas, which I recently bought some more DLC for and have been having fun with that.

It’s probably also worth mentioning that I’ve not actually bought any physical 3DS games since it came out either. Yes, there have been some good games since then – Starfox, Zelda, Resident Evil – but nothing to interest me. I already own $hlmun copies of Ocarina of Time anyway, and have never managed to get more than a few hours in before getting bored with it. 3D Zeldas aren’t my thing, despite my love of Zelda games. 2D all the way!

I have, however, bought a pile of GB and GBC games on the 3DS Virtual Console – Link’s Awakening DX, Mario Land, Mario Land 2, Donkey Kong, Mario’s Picross… all excellent games I’ve put lots of time into. Then there’s the 3D Classics versions of Excitebike, Xevious, Twinbee and Urban Champion, and some DSiWare games as well. On top of that, Nintendo gave us 10 free NES games, and a copy of Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, which was awfully nice of them. So – plenty to play. Too much, even.

Things are going to change soon, however…

First impressions from people about Super Mario 3D Land have been very good, although some have been complaining there’s a run button. You know, just like in every 2D Mario game ever. Yeah, the 3D Mario games use analogue control, but much of this game seems to be 2.5D, from various different angles. I’m sure it’ll make sense when I play it, and I have faith it’ll be excellent.

Every Mario Kart is AWESOME. Even those (like Double Dash) that aren’t awesome are still AWESOME. So this one, in 3D, will be AWESOME. Of course.

I didn’t buy Luigi’s Mansion when it came out, because it looked rubbish. Then I got it, and completed it, and loved it. I’m not 100% sold on the controls (gyro and lack of a second stick might hinder it), but if they’re solved by good level design where they’re not needed? SHINE GET!

Finally, for the 3DS for now, and completely out of nowhere:

Tetris Axis looks brilliant. Not the main Tetris mode (they ruined that years ago with infinite rotate, block hold, and being able to see several blocked ahead), but all the other modes. Looks like they’ve crammed a billion puzzle games in together, and it’s only £17.99. Just under the magic £18!

Of course, there’s not just 3DS stuff I’m looking forward to. In fact, the biggest game of the year for me is this: Skyrim.

Oblivion was one of the best things ever made ever. Ever. And the reason I bought an Xbox 360. I spent almost 200 hours on it. I loved it. And this? This looks even BETTER. And I’ve not even seen much about it, having been on media blackout for many months so as not to ruin anything. So excited for it.

Finally, there’s The Goddamn Batman:

With Batman: Arkham Asylum probably the second best game I played last year (Fallout: New Vegas just pips it), and with this seemingly more of the same only more and MORE and more and better, how could I not be looking forward to it? It looks amazing!

Why don’t you have one yet? Unless you do, of course. In which case, well done!

I got my 10 free NES games today too. They look great on the 3DS screen!

This Wii game was completely off my radar as it seemed like it was one of those Japan-only RPGs that would never see light of day on these shores. But then I found it was coming out in Europe. And I suddenly got very interested. It even reached number 7 on the all formats chart this week, which is quite an achievement! NEED.

I made the video in 2004 when visiting Zaanse Schans, Netherlands.

Look! Monkeys!!

Monkey Quest is a multiplayer online game and virtual world for children from Nickelodeon.

Saints Row: The Third – Professor Genki’s Hyper Ordinary Pre-Order Pack!

Really Chocolatey Thick Shakes. Embrace the Meltdown.

Put your skills to the test and rescue our penguins from the chocolate meltdown at www.embracethemeltdown.com

Penguin Meltdown is the ultimate test of staying calm under pressure. Show off your skills, challenge your friends and play to secure the top spot on the mother of all leaderboards.

Penguin Meltdown is a race against time. Navigate the GALAXY, MILKY WAY and MARS penguins to safety across the Thick Shake lake. Catch the Really Chocolatey Thick Shakes to increase your time on each level.

Dodge lava balls and melting chocolate chunks to be the ultimate Penguin rescuer! See www.embracethemeltdown.com for your chance to win really chocolatey stuff every month!

Best get on it before this then:

Goldfish – We Come Together (OFFICIAL) from Goldfish live on Vimeo.

Could it be that the cycle has been broken?

Almost certainly not. But it looks nice.

“Original” Sonic level:

“Modern” Sonic level: