Chapter 3 is enormous. Like, really enormous. It contains the maps from chapters 1 and 2, and then about 50 times as much content again. And it isn’t just how many rooms there are, either – the puzzles and platforming sections are harder, so take longer. There are quests to get items which have you travelling (not too far, usually, thankfully) round the map as you try to complete them. With enough of certain items, you can ring bells, but …
I’ve never played Earthbound before. That’s not really surprising, as it never came out in the UK, and I wasn’t that much of a SNES gamer anyway – certainly not to the point of wanting to import US games. I didn’t really know that much about the game either, apart from that it was an RPG, set in roughly the modern day, in a relatively “normal” setting, and was absurd. And had Ness from Super Smash Bros in it. Or …
Do you like Guardian Heroes? Of course you do. Everyone with any sort of soul does. As a direct consequence of liking Guardian Heroes, you also (even if you haven’t played it) like Code of Princess. It’s a sequel that never was, with no link to the original. Save for playing out very similarly and being awesome. I won’t describe how to play Code of Princess because you already know (and if you don’t, go away and read about Guardian …
I’ve often said that I love buying games that are bizarre and obscure. Usually, they’re crap – which often explains why they’re pretty obscure. Sometimes, though, they’re great. By obscure I mean they’re pretty much unheard of to the general gaming public. This is either because they’re for a machine never released in whatever region of the world they’re in, or the game bombed so nobody bought it (these games aren’t always bad, surprisingly), or even just that nobody forgot …
Visually, this has to be the cleverest, most well done art style I’ve seen in ages. Somehow, it welds live action with steampunk comic-book, adding some 1940s war film overtones, and film noir lighting. Pretty much the entire film was recorded on a blue-screen, yet everything seems real enough – albeit almost sepia-toned in places (and where appropriate). The plot follows Joe (“Sky Captain” himself) and Polly, a reporter and love interest/rival for Joe, as they investigate the giant robots …
So, the end of the year is nigh, and I thought I’d round up this year’s games. That is, the games I’ve played this year, rather than just those that have come out this year, although in most cases it’s the same thing. January The year started as 2006 ended – with Castlevania. Specifically, Circle of the Moon and Harmony of Dissonance on the GBA, supplemented by Super Castlevania IV for the Wii’s Virtual Console. There was also a lot …
Yes, time again to catch up on some demos that I’ve downloaded recently… Cyberball 2072Rubbish. Hated it on the Megadrive, and although this is a conversion of the superior arcade original, it’s still rubbish. American Football games are all crap, and this one adds crap robots to double how crap it is. Amazing. Fatal Fury SpecialHmm. It’s not awful, but with Street Fighter II and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 already available on XBLA, it isn’t really wanted. The Fatal Fury …
That’s right – not only did I buy the staggering game that is Lady Cruncher, I found next to it another game: Cruncher in Mazeland. You heard me. It’s a sequel! Here’s a quick review: Cruncher in Mazeland is a Pac-Mania clone, only from the same camera angle as the Saturn game Bug! and stars a toilet/robot hybrid in drag. On each level you collect balls, bananas or coconuts (instead of dots) and giant balls or apples (instead of power-pills) …
Remember this? Well, I bought it today, as it was only a pound. It took a bit of convincing to run on my MacBook (under Parallels) as it kept flicking screen mode, but eventually I made it work. And OH MY, was it so not worth bothering. Here’s a brief review: Lady Cruncher is a Pac-Mania clone, only from the same camera angle as the Saturn game Bug! and stars a toilet/robot hybrid in drag. On each level you collect …
Well, that didn’t take long. Not in number of days, anyway. In number of attempts, somewhat more. The last few levels were somewhat difficult (especially the Cops vs Alien Robots one), but the actual last level was pretty easy, requiring only a couple of tries. Very enjoyable game though. Much better than Gitaroo Man. I just need to go through it again now, on one of the harder modes. Possibly. Or not.
Hoorah! The World’s Strongest Robots si teh defeat0rised. Again. Turns out they were not quite as difficult as I was expecting this time round, and Pluto only took 326325 attempts instead of 9843965839. After that, it was Stage Hoppathon time, meeting people and collecting “clues”. I would repeat them here, but they’re both spoilers, and completely hatstand. So, fought a huuuuge great ninja robot, jousted with a robot on a robot horse, and generally got very, very confused. And then …
Er, OK. So “Pluto” (no, not Mickey Mouse’s dog, the big hornéd robot thing) wasn’t impossible after all. Sodding hard, but not impossible. I’ve spent more time trying to kill him than actually playing the rest of the game so far. Yes, “so far”. Despite being the end of game boss, Pluto isn’t the end of the game. Oh no – there’s more. Lots more. Only, it’s the same as before only different. Er. Yes. Basically, after killing Pluto, you …
