Another game series ruined by Sega. The first two Super Monkey Ball games were awesome, but they slid down to this – an overly simplified, challenge-free entry into the series. Levels have barriers or “grooves” so you don’t die. There are no tricky turns, no jumps, no difficult levels at all. In fact, I found myself finishing most worlds with more lives than I started with. Still, it was fun. Ish. Shame it didn’t carry on with another 8 worlds …
14 hours in, and the main 198 levels are, finally, completed! There were some real head scratchers in the last few sets of puzzles, but thankfully my “tactic” of leaving a level I was finding impossible, then returning the next day, seemed to help. Of course, there are now the 50 or so bonus levels, and untold user-made levels to work through, so it isn’t the end really. Fantastic game, well worth the £5.40 or whatever it was, and far …
I was expecting to be disappointed. After all, how could I be anything but? Although if you’re set up to be disappointed and your low expectations are pretty much met, how could you actually be disappointed? Deep. Things started out surprisingly well. Classic Sonic’s first few levels were pretty good, actually, even if they did still feel like the physics were on the wonk. Even Modern Sonic’s levels were bearable for a while, but as the game progressed things just …
Hey, did you know that the free GBA games for 3DS Ambassadors were up today? Well, they are. And Mario Kart: Super Circuit (wot is ACE) is one of them. 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 …
There was an update to the 3DS last week which added a few features (like 3D video recording and marginally better friend list management), and as part of it there was a new Streetpass Quest II “mission” for the Mii Plaza. Hurrah! Unfortunately, you can’t do it unless you’ve completed the first Quest twice, when I’d only done it once. So, armed with 300 play coins, I set about doing it again. Surprisingly, I managed it with “just” 240 coins …
Actually, this isn’t awful. Well, it is in that it isn’t anywhere near as hard as the original two Gamecube games, but it’s actually playable and fun. For the first two worlds, at least. I’ve no idea if it gets any better or worse after that as that’s as far as I got before I decided to return to Pullblox.
It may be completed, but while bad people remain unfacestabbed, the assassinations must continue! I’ve spent most of my time plundering the Lairs of Romulus, and also finishing off the remaining Leonardo’s Machines bits (although one still needs to be done), as well as mopping up all the feathers, some Borgia Flags, and lots of treasures. I’ve also tried completing the Shop Quests, but I’m still a few items short. Alongside all this, I’ve also been sending my assassins off …
TOO MANY GAMES. That is, too many 3DS games. Too many! Who’da thunk that a few months ago? Other than me, I mean. Pullblox is a simple puzzle game where you “pull” shaped bits of wall out of the back of the screen, then climb up them, pushing them in and pulling them out as necessary to progress. And it’s wonderful. It’s a great idea, it’s lovely and happy blue skies and stuff, and it even has a level editor …
I don’t know what to say. At some point in the game, it says “Classic Sonic can now use the Homing Attack!” and I died inside. I don’t want to talk about it.
Rant moan rant rant moan. That’s all I’ve seen written about the new 360 GUI. It’s rubbish. Everything is hidden. There’s too many adverts. Games aren’t the focus any more. It’s too confusing. Everything is seventeen menus deep and behind carousel images. Rant bloody rant moan moan. With good reason: Everything is hidden. There’s too many adverts. Games aren’t the focus any more. It’s too confusing. Everything is seventeen menus deep and behind carousel images. Of course, it looks nice. It really does – …
Dug out the NES the other week to record some more stuff for Game Over, Yeah!! but it wasn’t working. The PSU was shot, so I bought a new one from consolegoods.co.uk. I was sceptical because the NES needs a 9V AC adapter at 1.3A, and this was a 9V DC at 400mA. I read up a bit about it and it turns out that much of the current is needed to actually convert to DC internally, and in fact, theres …
Well, I wasn’t expecting that. I mean, I was expecting to finish it, of course – but I didn’t expect to play though Sequence 5 and get to the end and have “Sequence 9 Complete” come up. Turns out I was much further through the game than I thought. Since I’ve spent about 80% of the game “off-story”, that means the main story was very, very short compared to Assassin’s Creed 2. I don’t really mind as there’s been plenty …
Remember Daley Thompson? He was that guy in the 80s who was always in the Olympics. Who was reasonably good. And had AWESOME facial hair. Like a brush, it was. Well, in gaming circles, he was known for his ability to break joysticks. Many a Quickshot 2 was destroyed in the playing of his waggle-tastic sports games. And this, was the original – Daley Thompson’s Decathlon. It’s possibly worth noting that Ocean were a bit colour blind when they made …
On the eShop today was this – Zen Pinball. I’m quite a fan of Pinball FX (by the same devs) on the 360, and have put far too much time into some great handheld pinball titles like Metroid Pinball, Pokémon Pinball, Sonic Pinball Party and so on, so was really looking forward to Zen. And it doesn’t disappoint. The 3D is fantastic, and really adds to the game. The physics are spot on, and it feels like a real table. …
In many ways, this is just Assassin’s Creed II. The fighting is the same. The moves, the same. The basic assassination techniques, the same. You still have towers to scale, and tombs to raid, and armour to upgrade and paintings to collect. There are still treasure chests left randomly across the map and guards on rooftops who tell you to get down. Even the doctors still go on about lead-based cures for things and how a weekly bleeding is good …
