deKay's Gaming Diary

Zack and Wiki (Wii)L COMPLETED!

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:00:00 +0000

It took over an hour to finish off the boss, as I had several failures, but eventually he was defeated. There were then four (or five?) "Game Over" sequences, including two more after it declared "Fin", and then it was finally over. Now there are some extra challenges to complete, but I haven't a clue how to go about accessing them. The books on the bookshelf are mostly empty still too.

Total play time: 12 hours 27 minutes.

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:40:00 +0000

ONE HOUR AND FOURTY FIVE MINUTES.

That's how long it took me to complete Barbaros' Land. In fact, aside from a quick fail of the final "boss", that's all I did on the game today. I'm up to around 11-12 hours in total, but it doesn't feel that long. The time just vanishes while I play.

Anyway, since I'm on the last bit of the game (I think), I'd best start asking for a sequel. Mind you, only seven people bought the original so that probably isn't going to happen, sadly.

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:09:00 +0000

Getting close the end now, I'm sure of it. I've completed all the open levels, rebuilt Barbaros, and killed a giant squid. Now it's off to Treasure Island itself! Woo!

Pop (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Advanced mode make me am cry from my arm. The idea is to hit the maximum score possible as quickly as you can. Sadly, for me, that too almost an hour an a half. Hence the arm pain.

However, I did manage to rank 58th in the world!

Pop (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:10:00 +0000

The guy responsible for this WiiWare title posts over at rllmuk, as do I, and so I thought it nice to give him a bit of support. Not least because I managed to get 1000 Wii points to buy it with from Nintendo Stars. If you've no idea what any of that means, tough.

After an hour of moving and removing stuff I actually wanted to keep, my Wii had enough space to let me download Pop! And then I played it.

It's good, in a non-game sort of way. You burst bubbles. I seem to be missing some gameplay aspect, as that's all there is to it. It's kind of thereputic, and certainly fun, but like Electroplankton and bubble wrap, there's no actual game.

Assault Heroes (360): COMPLETED!

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:21:00 +0000

I was going through my list of downloaded content, re-licencing stuff to my new 360, when I realised I'd bought this but barely played it. I'd not even managed the spider boss at the end of the first stage.

So I gave it another go, and, if you've read the title of this post already you'll already know, I completed it. It wasn't actually that hard, so I'm not really sure how I managed to fail so badly on previous attempts. The only time I actually lost all my lives was actually on the section after the end of game boss! Luckily, you can continue from there, and so I soon finished it off.

Netted quite a few achievements in the process too. Aces!

Assorted XBLA Demos (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 10:45:00 +0000

I tried some more demos today, all of XBLA games I'd downloaded over the last few weeks.

Battlezone
Looks amazing, but the demo is only five seconds long. So I'm not buying it as there's no way that gives any sort of representation of actual game.

Wits and Wagers
A quiz game where your answer is largely irrelevant? And only 700 questions? I say no to you, sir.

Rocky and Bullwinkle
It's Wario Ware, only in Rocky and Bullwinkle costumes. It was OK, but very rough around the edges. The drawn-for-the-game art of Rocky and Bullwinkle is awful, especially when compared to the clips of the cartoon. Also, since we're not from the US, we don't care about Rocky and Bullwinkle anyway.

Ticket to Ride (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Just two games of this today, against my wife.

She won both. I'm sure she cheated.

Assorted Xbox 360 Demos (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:16:00 +0000

Caught up on a few of these today. Thoughts as follows!

Don King's Prizefighter
I didn't like Fight Night 3. It was overrated, and not nearly as impressive as everyone (EA especially, unsurprisingly) suggested. But this... is worse. The best thing was the FIFA-esque nonsensical commentary. Par examplé: "Calzaghe goes for the face again!" as I (Calzaghe) completely fail to grasp the controls and am being pummelled without getting a single hit in. "Calzaghe delivers a devastating right hook!" as I block my chest only to get a left fist to my nose. Amaze!

Top Spin 3
They've changed the controls and now I can't play it. Next!

Soul Calibur (XBLA)
It's great, of course, but I'm hoping the full version isn't this easy. Aside from getting my health bar down to half on the first round of the first fight (as I worked out what button did what), I managed to perfect everyone. I'm sure the DC version wasn't like this.

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Just one level today - the Airship one (called "Operation Takeback", or something). It wasn't especially hard, but I had to restart several times, meaning it took ages. I kept missing things, making later bits of the solution impossible.

But MAP GET! Aces.

Ticket to Ride (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:49:00 +0000

So James Luff wanted to challenge me to this, eh? I bet he wishes he hadn't now, as I soundly thrashed him 2-1. Hurrah!

Ticket to Ride (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:11:00 +0000

Played this again several times today, with my wife, and (because I am ace) won most of the games. Except she then won by such a margin on one game that she even got the "score 150 points" achievement - which I've not got myself yet!

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 13:16:00 +0000

Worked my way through all (well, all bar one) of the Fire World levels today. I don't know if they're actually getting easier, or that my brain is now becoming tuned to the way the game expects you to think, but I certainly found them easier.

Even the boss (although good, and clever) was much easier than the previous two.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 11:28:00 +0000

Having played this at my in-laws earlier in the week, my arm was twisted to buy it. And, having played it today, my arm was twisted some more. Literally.

The thing is, the events are either far too easy (Skeet Shooting, 100m) or far too hard (Swimming, Long Jump). The swimming in particular - I can do the first 50m easily (in first place), but then without changing rhythm, somehow get overtaken instantly and then come 8th. It makes no sense!

Ticket to Ride (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:44:00 +0000

One game against the computer, two against my wife. I won two of the games, and was convinced I was going to win against my wife a second time when I'd blocked pretty much every sensible route from Miami to New York, only to find that by me forcing her to take the longest route imaginable, she won. Bah!

Lego Indiana Jones Demo (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:58:00 +0000

It's good, but it just doesn't feel quite as good as Lego Star Wars did. I think the lack of a gun is a big issue, as the whip is too slow and inaccurate, and punching requires you to get too close. I did find a crossbow near the end of the demo level, but it only seemed to allow two shots before it vanished.

And it's far too easy to fall of cliffs. Grr.

Ticket to Ride (360)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:30:00 +0000

I played the demo, and instantly warmed to it. In the same way Catan and Carcassonne have both been ace. So I had to buy it!

And then promptly lost to the computer. It would appear the AI improves once you've bought the game. The demo is a lie!

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:57:00 +0000

Completed all the remaining Ice World levels today, including the fiddly IMMA CHARGIN MAH LAZERS one. Then I opened up the Lava World levels (so... grass, ice, fire... desert next? Cave? Space? Thems the rules!).

Completed the first one there too.

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:50:00 +0000

Ah... for some reason the things I tried on the monkey-boss level last time I played didn't work, but this time, they worked fine. Very odd. But with that done, and the other "first world" level complete, it was onto the second world - the ice one.

Only done two levels here so far though.

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:45:00 +0000

I'm at the in-laws at the moment, and they have this game. So we all played it for a while. It seems very good, but the games vary wildly from very easy (skeet shooting) to very hard (swimming) to seemingly random (long jump).

I was either very good, or absolutely terrible, as a result.

Zack and Wiki (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:49:00 +0000

And today I played this. It too is very good!

It's a point and click adventure game (which are generally ace), but with Wii-specific controls for certain actions. For example, you turn a key in a lock by twisting the remote. You saw down a tree by thrusting the remote forwards and backwards like a saw, and so on. It's intuitive and doesn't feel tacked on in the slightest, unlike some other Wii games.

So far I've completed 5 "levels", and have attempted the "boss" once. But I got stuck.

No More Heroes (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:18:00 +0000

I bought two new games today. I haven't bought any in ages, and finally got round to paying in some cheques for my birthday this morning. And they were on offer in Gamestation. So I thought, why not?

So I bought No More Heroes and Zack and Wiki, both for the Wii.

I've only played the former today, but so far, it has been excellent. I've done the training, killed the assassins ranked at 10 and 9, explored the town a bit, collected coconuts, assassinated a bloke in a car park, and went shopping. I love the style of it, and the controls are way better than I expected.

Spore Creature Creator Demo (Mac)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Look! I made stupid things!

This is Hoppy:

And this is Steve:

Here's Steve doing something:

And here's a nice photo of Steve:

Bomberman Land Wii (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:24:00 +0000

You may have noticed I've not posted anything all week. That's not because I haven't played anything, it's just because I've been really busy. Besides, the only game I've touched is this one.

And I'm around 8.5 hours into single player mode now. I've completed the Ring and Delta zones (both with ease), but now I'm on to the Diamond Zone and it's suddenly become really hard.

There are three games making it difficult for me to progress. The hardest is "Water Skipping". It's impossible. The second is "Bomb Smash", which is impossible. Then there's the multiplayer "Bomb Balloon", which is impossible.

So I'm stuck and frustrated and I don't like the game any more. Bah.

Bomberman Land Wii (Wii)

noreply@blogger.com (deKay) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:03:00 +0000

I went back to the single player story mode on this today, and finished off all of the first zone - coming first over all. I was quite surprised I managed to come first, as after the first (of four) rounds, I was so far behind the leader there was no way I was going to be able to win.

But I did - with 114 points compared to my nearest rival on 81.

Unfortunately, I have found a large flaw in the game. To play the minigames (to earn "pieces" - the points you need to win), you need tokens, and you're given more tokens than there are games to play. However, if you get top score on a game, you can't play it again. So, basically, if you're good, you run out of games to play before you're out of tokens. Which is silly.

Oh, and you rack up hundreds of training points (which you spend on things) in the training games, but there's nothing to spend them on. You buy all the best stuff from the shop, and you still have hundreds and hundreds of spendable points left.