Outrun 2006 (PSP)

Yes! I bought a PSP game! Mainly because I saw it in a bargain bin for less than three quid, and I quite like Outrun 2006. And I quite like this too. It’s not without fault, though. Firstly, there’s the save game bug. Like some other early (and mainly Sega) PSP games, the game won’t recognise there’s any free space on memory cards bigger than 4GB. Mine is 16GB, with 14.5GB free, and Outrun said there wasn’t enough space for …

Wario Land 3 (GBC)

This is really more than a bit good, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a bit like Mario 64 in that each level has to be completed multiple times to get different treasures in different ways, but obviously in 2D. And it’s more puzzley. But the idea is still the same. I’ve collected about half the treasures so far, and opened up quite a few levels meaning I was wrong with the 4-levels-per-world statement in my last post. At least one …

Let’s Play! Dominator

I don’t really like side scrolling shooters. There are a few in the genre that have interested me over the years – Side Arms, Zero Wing and Sol Feace. Of course, I loved Parodius and Ai Cho Aniki too, but they’re “comedy” shooters. I was never a fan of most of the “big name” shooters – Gradius, R-Type, Thunderforce, etc. I don’t know why. I played an unhealthy amount of Gynoug, but never really liked it. But one game I …

Digital Dragon System

Just look at this! It’s AMAZING! You know the OneStation handheld Famiclone? What do you mean “no”? I wrote about it right here! This, the “Digital Dragon System”, is actually just another OneStation. It even says “OneStation” on it. But it’s a different shape! And! It has 999 games built in! And! The cartridges are a different shape! Gasp!! Other than that, it’s the same thing. A poor quality handheld Famiclone with fewer than advertised games (they’re almost all duplicates) …

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)

I played a little bit of this last week, but have managed a few more hours on it over the last few days. And I’m enjoying it less and less. A couple of days ago, I had to catch a fish. Which was fine, except it then took almost an hour figuring out that I wasn’t supposed to pick the fish up, but turn into the wolf and sniff it. Obviously. Then yesterday there was an awful snowboarding section. Yes, …

Wario Land 3 (GBC)

Hello! No, I’m not dead. I’ve just had no time to game, no unpacked consoles to game on, and no internet access to update my diary even if I did have both of those. For reasons I don’t really understand, I started playing this yesterday. On an actual Game Boy Colour as well! How exciting! I’d never played it before, but have played, and completed, the second and fourth games in the series and enjoyed them. This is more like …

Let’s Play! Bonus: Advanced Lawnmower Simulator Advance

Just to finish everything off, here’s my other remake of Advanced Lawnmower Simulator – for the Game Boy Advance. I wrote it in 2004, and it was actually a lot easier than writing the Game Boy version. I even added a “SNES Mode 7” style rotate to the title screen, and included music (from the film The Lawnmower Man). Sadly, the only onlineable emulator I could find (Boycott Advance Online) runs too fast and without sound. Ah well.

Let’s Play! Bonus: Game Boy Advanced Lawnmower Simulator

In 1999, I entered the Bung (remember them?) Game Boy homebrew coding competition with a version of Advanced Lawnmower Simulator. It was the first, and only, Game Boy game I’d ever written, and required me to pretty much learn C just to be able to code it. The other day, I found a Java based Game Boy emulator (JavaBoy), and so, combined with my GB version of ALS, I present to you an online playable version! Woo! Oh, and in …

Halo: Reach

“The highly classified bio-augmentation procedure is a Spartan candidate’s final and most difficult ordeal before joining the ranks of the legendary soldiers. The dramatic interpretation of Carter’s rebirth as a Spartan embodies the themes of courage, sacrifice and honor in “Halo: Reach” and gives viewers a unique look into the origins of a central character in the upcoming blockbuster game. ”

What a mistake Sky turned out to be

A few weeks ago, I had to ditch Virgin (I didn’t want to – I just couldn’t get their service any more) so was on the look out for an alternative. For cost and features, the best all-in-one TV/phone/broadband package seemed to be Sky. BT Vision looked pretty good, but none of it is HD, and it relies on broadband of “an acceptable speed” – something I couldn’t find out until after it was all installed. So I duly went …

Let’s Play! Trantor

I’m thinking of making Friday “Lets Play! Friday”. What do you think? One of the most visually impressive Speccy games, with huge sprites and colour-clash-be-damned graphics, Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper was rated highly but then mostly forgotten. With just 90 seconds before the bombs in his body explode (they don’t make ’em like this any more!), Trantor must find the items to slow the detonation.