Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate (3DS): COMPLETED!

On the one hand, this is a perfectly serviceable Metroidvania style game with meaty Batman Arkham type combat and a story to follow on from the Arkham Origins game. On the other hand, it’s a 2D game that tries to fit into a 3D space, with the plane you’re on frequently changing and disorientating you, and a map that serves to confuse as much as direct. Detective Mode returns, but is rarely sufficient to show where to go or what …

Blok Drop U (Wii U): COMPLETED!

I was able to get hold of a free copy of this from someone, and felt a little guilty I hadn’t spent the feeble 89p or whatever it usually costs. Having played it, though, I’m not any more. It isn’t a bad game at all, but it suffers from two problems: It’s too random, and it’s too short. The idea is to tap on grey blocks, making all of them disappear, leaving a single red block balanced somewhere without it …

StreetPass Battle (3DS): COMPLETED!

Finally! After $hlmun attempts at beating the Emperor in the final country, I won! Why did it take so many attempts? Because it’s entirely down to luck whether you win or not. You see, unlike the previous battles where you can choose how many of each type of army to use, and the order to send them out (and the ability to spy on the enemy to find out what they’re going to send out), the final battle is five random …

Hyrule Warriors (Wii U): COMPLETED!

I hope my B, and to a slightly lesser extent, Y buttons are OK. In my twelve hours running through the main Legend Mode campaign, I’ve pressed them rather a lot. I don’t think they’re worn out, but not since I played one of those “shooting watch” games have I hit a button so many times. Mash mash mash mash mash. BBY. BBBY. BBBBY. Other variations, peppered with ZR (bombs, usually) and the odd X to pull off a special …

Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD (PS3): COMPLETED!

It seemed very hurried towards the end. Years were skipped. Very little story exposition happened. Events just occurred in quick succession, and I realised how linear this Assassin’s Creed game actually was. I’d started to suspect a twist at the end, and by the end of Sequence 7-ish I’d realised what it was. The ending threw me, until (spoiler), and the Citizen E thing happened. Overall, it wasn’t a bad game, but it’s probably the worst Assassin’s Creed title in …

Hyrule Warriors (Wii U)

For many years I’ve lamented how the the 3D Zelda games (that is to say, those that aren’t top down rather than those you play with glasses) are, well, pants. Over my time as a gamer, I’ve never got into the Samurai/Dynasty Warriors series. I’ve played a few, and even bought the 3DS one, but stopped there. So why did I have a moment of weakness and buy a download code for Hyrule Warriors, a combination of all that is …

Assassin’s Creed: Liberation HD (PS3)

On the PS3, you say? Am I mad, you ask? Yes, and possibly yes. In my defence, I had a load of PSN credit and it was on sale. And I’d been playing and enjoying Assassin’s Creed IV. So it made a bit of sense. Currently, I’m about half way through the game (just returned from Mexico, for those in the know), and I’ve noticed that the game seems about half finished. No, those are two different things. What I …

Mega Man 4 (Wii U): COMPLETED!

And so the steamrollering of Mega Man games continues. Once again, eight evil robots stood between Mega Man and Dr… wait – Cossack? Not Dr Wily? That can’t be right?! Spoilers: No, it isn’t right. Turns out rubbish Russian stereotype Dr Cossack was merely Dr Wily’s pawn, working for him as Wily had kidnapped Cossack’s Ushanka-wearing daughter (more stereotyping). Tch. Robot ideas are running low now. Toad Man? Pharoah Man? Dust Man?! Rubbish. Oho! That’s a joke by the way. …

Mega Man 3 (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Three down, three to go. Well, NES Mega Man games, anyway. They just announced the SNES Mega Man 7 is in the pipeline for the Wii U Virtual Console, so it won’t be over so soon. Mega Man 3 adds some new stuff to the series. The main thing, which had me stumped in a room until I realised, was you can now slide. This lets you squeeze under stuff, and is useful for avoiding certain attacks. The vaguely named …

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Wii U): COMPLETED!

And with what seemed like a dash for the finish, the story blundered to a close. The second half of the game consisted mostly of actual assassinations, thankfully, but the boating was still there. Another rubbish element was introduced too – the diving bell missions which controlled horribly and you had to hide in seaweed from sharks. No, really. Rubbish. Luckily, there was just one of those, and the rest were optional. I optioned not to bother with any more. …

Mega-lo-Mania (MD): COMPLETED!

It can’t be two and a half years since I last played this. Surely. I’m sure I’ve played it more recently. Maybe I did, but didn’t mention it. This playthrough had a rare occurrence! Usually, when I reach the final level, I have nobody to beat and just instawin. You see, in the last few epochs, you’re supposed to hibernate some of your men so they’re around for the final battle. Your rival gods are supposed to do the same, …

StreetPass Mansion (3DS): COMPLETED!

With my Windbag of Woe +2 almost maxed out (I got it to level 28 of 29), I didn’t see much point in pursuing more treasure chests. Not least because I can kill anything in a single hit and they can’t damage me more than 1HP (I have about 160) at a time. Assuming they manage to get a hit in. Which they rarely do. As a result, I didn’t bother too much getting matching blocks, and just tore through …

Mega Man 2 (Wii U): COMPLETED!

Is this 2 or II? The title screen says II, but everywhere seems to reference it as 2. Up until writing this, I’d thought the roman numeral numbering system for Mega Man games only applied to the NES ones, and the Game Boy games used standard decimals, but I don’t suppose it really matters. What does really matter? The game! Which is just the same as the first one. Well, OK, that’s a slight lie. There are differences. First of all, …

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (Wii U)

Assassin’s Creed III was a disappointment. After the great previous three games (especially Brotherhood), Ubisoft seemed to throw all the fun out of the game and fill it with useless and tedious sidequests. You can see it started a little in Revelations with the ill-advised Tower Defence bits, but aside from one single mission it was entirely optional and avoidable, but III was filled to the brim with nothing I wanted to play. Naval battles. Ship upgrades. Homestead improvements. Yes, …

Mega Man (Wii U): COMPLETED

When I downloaded Mega Man X the other week, I didn’t really anticipate playing any of the older Mega Man games. I sort of intended to play X, and, if I liked it, to pick up X2 and play that. Capcom clearly anticipated this and in their recent sale (all the NES Mega Man games on the Wii U Virtual Console are half price) failed to drop the price of X2. This forced me to pick up the original Mega …