This DS game arrived this morning. I know lots of people have been saying how ACEBEST it is, but I haven’t actually played a Castlevania game since Super Castlevania IV, and that was more than 10 years ago. Five minutes on the crap 3D N64 Castlevania doesn’t count (although that was more than 5 years ago anyway). Anyway, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. What I got, was a slick, smooth, fantastically animated platformer with a deep weapon upgrade …
A game with a sub-subtitle? Amazing. First things first. This is not quite like the Metroidvania Castlevanias that I love so much (like Dawn of Sorrow or Symphony of the Night). It’s also not quite like the “original”, more linear Castlevanias like those on the NES and SNES. And it’s not even quite like the new “reimagined” Lords of Shadow game for the Xbox 360, despite the title and the fact it follows on from that game’s story. It is, …
What’s this? A game that isn’t on the Wii? Amazing! It’s been around for a while, but for several reasons I never picked it up. I saw it for under £12 this week though, so couldn’t resist. And, like every other “Metroidvania” game ever, it’s excellent. So far at least – I’m only about an hour in. It differs to most others by not being almost entirely set within Dracula’s Castle. I’ve not even been near it yet. This makes …
Again, the stats: 8 hours 34 minutes in, Level 39 reached, 895.5% explored. Good lord. Who’s betting it’ll be 1000% when all is done? So I completed the final four paintings. Or at least, what I thought were the final four. The bosses today included Medusa (who was VERY easy, once I realised there was a place you could stand, from where you could slap her about, but not get hit by any of her attacks (well, you had to …
Wow. Just wow. Yeah, so it doesn’t have the soul collecting of Dawn of Sorrow, and the tag-team system ranges from pointless to annoying, but how any reviewer can say this is anything less than fantastic is beyond me. It ticks all the boxes: save points and warps in sensible places, a shop to buy potions, a great (if confusing, currently) story, and excellent graphics and controls. Today’s play took me back to the City painting, as Wind told me …
Just in the nick of time! With my handheld versions of Castlevania having run out yesterday, Play Asia delivered Portrait of Ruin today. Phew, eh? And… is it any good? Of course it is! It’s ACES! The first thing to hit me was the graphics. Not the character graphics, as although they’re good – they’re nothing special, but the backgrounds. Several layers deep with detailed parallax. 3D objects in the distance (like a big abbey thing which you see ‘around’ …
So, no sooner had I finished Harmony, I was on to Aria. They’re even on the same cartridge (hence the same box art on the left there), so I didn’t have to swap games or anything. Ace. Only played for about half an hour so far, and Soma’s sword (rather than Juste/Nathan’s whip) is taking a bit of getting used to. I’ve already found a few things about Harmony that I prefer to this (yes, I know – and I …
And so it’s out with Circle of the Moon, and in with Harmony of Dissonance. I’ve played it for almost an hour and a half already, and I’m enjoying it. There’s something not quite right about it, though. Maybe it’s the way Juste (your character) has a bizarre blue glow and shadow trails. Maybe it’s the fact I had to start again completely powerless. It could be that L and R perform dashes rather than special moves. Or perhaps it’s …
Since the release of the original Game Boy Advance, I’ve leapt on every Nintendo console on (or before!) launch. Why should this change with the release of Nintendo’s new 3D fancy DS followup? Answer: it shouldn’t. And here’s 5 reasons why I’ll be getting one on release day: 5. The games. If you believe, they will come. The same is always true of Nintendo consoles. New Super Mario Bros, Professor Layton, Ouendan, Hotel Dusk, Another Code, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow. …
Pikmin 2(GC 12/01/2005) Zoo Keeper(DS 29/01/2005) Paper Mario 2(GC 30/01/2005) Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude(Xbox 07/02/2005) Sonic Adventure DX(GC 09/02/2005) Fable(Xbox 17/02/2005) Mr Driller: Drill Spirits(DS 17/02/2005) Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap(GBA 21/02/2005) Ribbit King(GC 27/02/2005) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas(PS2 06/03/2005) Gitaroo Man(PS2 12/03/2005) Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon(Xbox 19/03/2005) Yoshi Touch & Go(DS 27/03/2005) Mario Golf: Advance Tour(GBA 28/03/2005) Metroid Fusion(GBA 08/04/2005) Bubble Bobble: Old & New(GBA 15/04/2005) Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars(GBA 18/04/2005) …
Play Asia have a sale on at the moment, offering 20% off, well, pretty much everything it seems. Which is ace. I can personally recommend these huge bargains: Crackdown (360) Р¬£15Prey (360) Р¬£10Gears of War (360) Р¬£18 Phoenix Wright 2 (DS) Р¬£12Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS) Р¬£10 More here!
Yes. It really is called that. And I haven’t got much of an idea as to what I’m actually doing in the game, as it is all in Japanese. I know it’s mostly a fruit machine game, but the top screen keeps doing things and people appear and twirl their moustashes or jiggle their breasts (as gender dictates), and sometimes I have to play blackjack at the same time as playing the slots and it all gets very confusing! I …
Ah, the Game Boy Advance. To many, a portable SNES without enough buttons to effectively be a portable SNES, and one with a screen invisible in all but the glow of a 100W lightbulb. That didn’t stop it from having arguably the best catalogue of games of any system, however, and with the lit screen of the GBA SP (further refined in the GB Micro), it became and remains my favourite handheld ever. And I loved my DS and 3DS a lot. …
