Oh dear, Nintendo. What have you done? Mario 64 was one of the best games ever created. Better in many ways than Mario Sunshine, even. But this DS port is awful – ruined almost entirely by the dreadful controls. The digital pad is no good for the tight turns and run-speed control required, and the touch screen isn’t responsive enough and awkward to use. Played it for a good two hours today, and it hasn’t “clicked” yet. I have 8 …
Had another few goes on this today. It still isn’t much easier! Managed to complete 500m, but only because I bought a “one hit shield” item. Having said that, I had a life spare at the bottom so I could have done it. Unlocked Puchi as a result, and completed 300m with him. Also had a go at Pressure Driller mode, which is even more frantic than Mission Driller. Managed to defeat the 200 ton baddie, and nearly got past …
Made a proper start on this DS game today, only to find it really hard. I think I must be missing some gameplay mechanic, as I can’t even do the 500m level, let alone the harder ones! I never was very good at the older Mr Driller games either. Haven’t tried Pressure Mode yet, but that seems like it’ll be even HARDER.
Servers are back up, and I’ve just done a bit more Subway-teaming with two other people. Unfortunately, they were not nearly as good as last night’s team, being unable to heal, and dying on me when confronted with an Infector. Tch. At least I got up to Level 15 now, which makes me a “Devotee”, apparently.
Wandered down to the Subway for a bit, and killed assorted Stim Fiends and Filth Fleas to get a bit of money and XP. Ran over to Old Athen to have a look round, but saw nothing of great interest. Came back to West Athen and bought myself a belt in the shop. I added some Morphing Memory to it, and now I can do more of the things I don’t currently do. Or something. Had to finish up early …
Did some more subway teaming today. Delved very deep into some odd looking place, along with four others, all Level 10 to 14. After an hour or so of killing frighteningly hard baddies (which were much easier teamed!), I was up to Level 14 myself. Said my goodbyes and left then. Got to try that again soon, though – it’s the best way to level up, as you don’t need to worry about healing with doctors on your team.
Yay! Up another level today. And I found a decent second weapon, so I have one in each hand. Killed a few more Shadows today too, as they’re a bit easier to bump off now I am TEH 1337 POWAHOUZ. Or not. I joined my first team as well, and went deep into the subway until we got attacked by nasty poisonous thingies. Then my team mates ran away like cowards, leaving me to kill them myself. Which I couldn’t …
Went back to this for an hour or so, and managed to gain another level. Still not powered up enough for my new axe, but slowly getting there. Made a fair bit of money (for someone on level 11!) too, and did a far-too-easy mission.
Got myself a bit more money, and then decided to see if I couldn’t upgrade some weapons and stuff. And couldn’t, as they’re all far too expensive. So I decided to try the Trade Skill functions, and make myself a weapon instead. This involved more than I thought – I needed a recipe, a construction kit, and four items. I managed to combine the first two items, but then found my Computer Literacy wasn’t of a high enough level for …
Managed to gain another level today, and a few nice bits of gear too. I took on one of the nasty Reptilian-Xindi-lookalikes (a Shadow) in the subway, who was two levels above me, and won. Loads of XP and a piece of chest armour that knocked my Melee AC up from about 10 to about 55. Which was nice. Killed a Vagrent, which gave me a weapon to go with my Kinetic Axe: a Vintage Red Wine Bottle. PH33R ME!
I have now become a bit more, as they say in this game, UBER. I’ve bought myself a cheap healing nanoprogram, which has made things a LOT easier. Until I ran into six Shadows that some guy was fighting. He nearly died, so I healed him. And so they came after me instead. Run away! Managed to get out of the Subway of West Athen with just 3HP left. Phew.
Not doing so well on this today. Managed to get myself killed by a Level 5 Filth Flea. I mean, COME ON, that’s like banging a shin and losing all my health.
Waving my arms around in front of the TV is not something I generally do. Shout and swear at it, yes, but not pretend I’m actually part of a game by doing so. EXCEPT WAIT! I am part of the game! With the Eyetoy, you too can actually be in Virtua Fighter, Puyo Puyo, Super Monkey Ball and other Sega games. Almost. Well, it was fun for a bit anyway. My arms hurt too. Some games work better than others: …
My Santa Hat and Suit are now off, and so it’s back to the gimp garb. I gained a level today, so I’m on Level 8 now. Or 9. Or forget which. It isn’t easy enough to level up, which is a pain, and there’s nowhere to make easy money. I’ve gained four levels now, and still don’t have enough money to buy a decent weapon. Bah. Anyway, I’m Chutney the Nanomage on Rimor if you want to find me.