Ticket to Ride (360)
Three games on this this evening, and I won all three. Managed to gain the achievement for getting over 150 points in a single game, too.
3D Ultra Minigolf (360)
For some reason, ny wife decided we should play this today. It’s sad to see how it has aged so much already, although some of it is probably due to how we’ve been playing Golf: Tee Off! a lot recently. Anyway, we played the Explorer course, and I won, getting a score of -8 at the end of it.
Double D Dodgeball (Demo) (360)
I missed this out from my list earlier. And for good reason: it’s crap.
Golf: Tee It Up! (360): COMPLETED!
Played this again for quite a while today. I’ve now managed to come first (and under par) on both courses – hence the “completed”. The Scottish course, complete with Stone Henge, is by far the harder of the two. It seems to have much stronger winds, smaller patches of fairway, and larger (and more) trees. On the other hand, the Caribbean course has lots of water. Which I ended up in for the first time playing my wife. I thought …
Too Human (Demo) (360)
Amazingly, this didn’t turn out to be pants like I was expecting. OK, so it doesn’t feel like a game that has been in development for, what, 40 years? And it isn’t quite as hack-everything as the previews seemed to suggest. And there’s a story (about technologically advanced Nordic Gods or something) too. Rough edges include the lack of proper camera control, The Kameo Effect on far too many surfaces, and some minor animation problems, but I had fun for …
Assorted XBLA Demos (360)
Yes indeed – it is XBLA Demo Catchup time! 1942: Joint StrikeAs I’ve said before, shooters aren’t my thing really. However, I’m one for nostalgia and this is a great looking, and playing, remake of 1942. I’m tempted to get it, except I know I’ll be crap at it. I was crap at the demo as it is. SchizoidIt’s like Geometry Wars, only two player, and with no shooting. And you control both players. And it’s pretty good. Go! Go! …
Gauntlet (GBA)
The other half of Gauntlet and Rampart, obviously. And, like Rampart, it’s an excellent conversion even on a very small screen. I did get stuck on Level 14 though – I had a pocket full of keys (© The Rock) but had to pick up another to progress. But I couldn’t. Thankfully, the old hang-around-for-a-few-minutes trick worked and the walls all turned to exits.
Rampart (GBA)
Another of the Play Asia package today. This one is actually one half of the “Gauntlet and Rampart” double game cartridge (which, at the time of typing, you can get for a bargainous £5 from here). And? It is, as it always was, ace. I remember I was on holiday with a friend one summer and we walked three miles to the nearest arcade just to play this. It loses a little with just one player, but still plays fantastically …
Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (GBA)
This arrived in the post today, along with some other stuff, from Play Asia. And, since ugvm Retro Week has been extended into this week, it was ideal for playing! Or so I thought. It turns out that in the process of simply porting the original Megadrive Sonic game to the GBA, Sega couldn’t help but rape my childhood memories by making it worse than those shoddy “fan-made” Flash-based Sonic games. It has more issues than a journal library. Par …
Yoshi’s Story (Wii): COMPLETED!
N64 on Wii, of course. Even though I have it on the N64 too. Tch. But I completed it for the first time ever! I know it isn’t a hard game, and the main point is to use it as a sort of Score Attack thing, but still. It really was very good too. And I finished up with three non-dead Yoshis!
Mario’s Super Picross (Wii)
I haven’t played this in ages! I think I was a little put off last time as I thought I’d finally completed all the levels, only to find I’s opened up a million more. Completed the rest of Level 8, and three puzzles in Level 9.
Super Retro Weekend Special!
With it being Retro Week (now extended to Retro Fortnight) on ugvm, and with a guy coming up in a few weeks to interview me about old game systems, I rummaged through the loft this weekend for some old kit. Standout games were: Virus (Speccy)It’s a bit bloody hard, yes? Qix (Atari 400)Excellent, even if the Qix (that’s the multi-line baddie in the middle, yes?) seemed to move at random rather than bounce off things. River Raid (Atari 400)Pretty good, …
Simon the Sorcerer (Wii)
Yeah, on the Wii. Via SCUMMVM. Sadly, after an hour’s play, I saved my game only to have SCUMMVM crash on me. I’d barely done anything in the game, aside from wander round, but still – if the save routines aren’t going to work, I don’t think there’s much point playing. Shame.
Ice Climber and Pinbot (NES)
It’s Retro Week on ugvm! But, it would appear that I’m out almost every night this week. Thank the lord for a spare hour today, and my OneStation. In case you’ve forgotten, the OneStation is a portable Famiclone, not much larger than a Game Boy Micro. Anyway – the games. First up was Pinbot. I was impressed that the ball physics were much better than I was expecting. Most 8-bit pinball titles are pretty poor in this regard, but Pinbot …