I recall that this point-and-click adventure game was hard. Mainly due to the lack of logic in the puzzles, and the try-every-item-on-every-object gameplay. So far, I’ve not been stuck, mainly because I can do some of it from memory. However, I don’t know how to get past the wraith (I thought it was use the slingshot, but no), so I’ve saved for now.
Ah, Rare. Remember them, back when they were good? Before they’d even started work on Kameo, which was about selventyfourten years ago? When they first became Nintendo game developers? Well, this is the sort of thing they wrote. Sadly, this hasn’t stood the test of time as well as Rescue Rangers. It looks fine, and the music and title screen is great and all, but the controls are terrible. Most of this is due to the floaty way the snakes …
Next week on ugvm (the newsgroup, that is) has been designated Retro Week. In preparation, I fished out my NES and some games. This was one of those I decided to try. And, it’s pretty good. Yeah, it’s a standard platformer, but there’s nothing wrong with is so far as I can see. Well, aside from the nasty limited continues and the go-back-to-the-start-of-the-level when you continue thing, but that’s normal for games of this era. I reached the first end …
Just a brief play on this today, managing to complete another three or so levels. No real problems as yet, either.
Well, level 52 threw pretty much EVERYTHING at me – every type of baddie yet seen (aside from the huge walker and dino-mechs), all at once, and then sent in a second wave just as I thought it was all over. But I managed it, after a few attempts, and then it was finally time to take down the mothership. And take it down I did. Of course, it seems the whole of the rest of the world has been …
The war has certainly turned. Every level is now a mop-up of all the baddies I’ve previously had to retreat from, and some new super-giant giant spiders and flying ant things sent out as a last resort by the Ravagers. And lots, and lots, of things to kill at once. Fahsands, in fact. And I’m up to level 52. Just this and the next level remain. EDF! EDF! Or something.
Why does formatting a new (super-fast SATA) hard drive take FOREVER? So far, it’s been going for about an hour. I wiped and reinstalled Tiger on an old G4 Mac mini last week in less time than this is taking just to format, and the mini has a slooooow 4200rpm laptop IDE drive in it. Yeah, I could do a quick format, but since this drive arrived in the smashed up box from yesterday’s post, I thought I’d best do …
Yet more giant ant/spider/robot destruction today. Considering how repetitive the game sounds, it’s amazing how different each level can be. In one, you’ll be in narrow caves full of ants and a flamethrower is a must, and then the next, you’ll be in a city shooting down UFOs whilst avoiding spiders on the ground. It’s really rather addictive. So much so, in fact, that I’m now up to Level 40 after some extended play this evening.
Next week on ugvm (the newsgroup, not the magazine) is Retro Week. I’ve decided. So, in preparation, I downloaded this from the Wii VC library. I vaguely remember playing it once before, and, in fact, I thought I owned it for the NES, but perhaps not. It’s a bit like Sokoban, only with less pushing and more baddies. Sort of. The idea is to collect all the hearts on the screen, which activates a treasure chest, and you reach that …
City Link is a well known courier company. Infamous, in fact, mainly because of how crap they are. I order a fair amount of stuff over the internet, and have yet to deal with a courier company who isn’t crap, but of all of them City Link stands proud as the Worst of the Worst. I won’t go into the problems I’ve had with them in the past, but will say that I’ve had things incorrectly delivered, lost, broken, and …
Still delving deeper and deeper into this abyss of insects. Only completed two levels though – the one where you start of surrounded (the trick is to dive into a tunnel, flamethrower-first, and turn around), and the one after it. I’m still only 10% complete on the game though. How many levels are there in this thing?! EDIT: Oh, 53.
It’s Final Fantasy Tactics! Only with insects! Sort of! Played the first few levels of this, and it certainly looks like the sort of thing I want to pay for. Ace.
Aha! Killed them! It seems that rockets are mostly a waste of time on the Hectors, as rifle fire can actually stop them charging their lasers. The upshot of that was me getting past that level. I had a level full of red ants at the beach then, which was easy. I actually completed the level three times as the armour drops were plentiful and I made use of them. Then, more ant/red ant/spiders in the city with nests to …
SPIDERS! Big spiders that hop and fire webs! And go splat when you shoot them! And then! A HUGE walking spaceship thing. And I mean HUGE. It has to be the biggest moving thing I’ve seen in any game ever. The graphics, especially in terms of how much is going on at once, are waaay better than I previously thought. No wonder my character looks crap and the buildings are bland when there are ninezwelftyten thousand hunter killers and Hectors …