• 18Dec 09

  Brutally Short

  
  
  THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE MINISH CAP
  I can't say that I've played this game all that much in the last two to three days, though I have made some progress. It's not been all that difficult just wasn't playing it much.
  
  I did wake up the shoemaker and get the Pegasus Boots. I also made my way to the Wind Ruins and obtained the bow. My next task is to clear the Fortress of Winds. It looks like a doozie when checking out the map on page 13 of the GameSpot Game Guide.
  
  TRANSFORMERS
  Even less progress has been made in the 2004 PlayStation 2 release of Transformers. That's to say that I haven't touched it at all. Instead I played...
  
  WATCHMEN: THE END IS NIGH PART 2
  ...Part 2 of the Watchmen beat-'em-up.
  
  I was quite shocked to see just how short the game was. Part 1 contained six levels and Part 2 is only half that. On top of that Nite Owl and Rorschach don't learn any new moves or combos. They're definitely not recommendable based on those reasons and the crazy asking price.
  
  However, I really like the beat-'em-up genre. You could say that I'm pretty loyal to them even though I won't blindly buy them. I found the Watchmen games to be brutally satisfying, especially the finishers that Rorschach would pull off.
  
  For great brutal beat-'em-up action that's not insanely priced and is a good deal longer than Parts 1 and 2 of Watchmen together, check out the Rockstar Toronto 2005 release of The Warriors. It even has a better 2D arcade beat-'em-up unlockable game than the recent Xbox Live release called "Armies of the Night."
  
  Oh, and by the way, in case you haven't guessed it yet, yes, I finished Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2 making it the 47th game beat this year.
  
  Thanks for reading and have a great final week before Christmas!
  • Posted Dec 18, 2009 5:30 am PT
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• 15Dec 09

  A Surprise In The Minish Cap

  
  
  THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE MINISH CAP
  Before I even get into the game I should point out that a Legend of Zelda of fan I'm not. This has to do with it being an RPG and that the series itself has overall changed very little in the 20+ years it has been around. I have a few of the games on the Game Boy systems and I couldn't get into them.
  
  The Minish Cap was the only one I had yet to try that I own. I decided to give it a go when someone on the Retronauts podcast had mentioned that it was the easiest game in the series.
  
  By my estimation I'm about one-third of my way through the game so far. I'm looking for the Pegasus Boots at the moment. I don't know if this game is easier just based on that I got frustrated at being stuck in the other games and didn't stick with it to know for sure.
  
  I can say that I'm enjoying myself more often than not this time around. However I do still get stuck from time to time. There was this one point where I had to throw a bomb in a fountain of water to make something happen. There wasn't any indication that I had to do that. Instead I got the same effect from dumping the water out of the bottle I had. Neither make any sense to me and if I hadn't done the latter trick by accident and had read about the former trick in the GameSpot game guide, I would've probably given up on this game too. It's what I like to call "Zelda logic." I'm sure to run into more of those moments before I'm finished.
  
  TRANSFORMERS
  Just as with Batman Begins, ebbderlict started up the 2004 PS2 release of Transformers. It's another game that I've owned for awhile and I figured I'd start it up too.
  
  The first level of the game takes time to get you acquainted with the controls and the abilities of the Autobots that you can use. It even feels like a simple and easy level to boot, but all of that changed once I got to the second level.
  
  In this level, Antarctica, the way around isn't so obvious and without a map of any kind, the frustration can certainly set in. It was also here where waves of enemies would show up quite often making it a slow process to get anywhere and that's even if you knew where to go.
  
  I'll be giving this game a few more chances, but I can't guarantee I'm going to like it all that much. I never thought that I'd actually be thinking that I'd rather play a Zelda game over anything else.
  
  CONTRA
  Whenever I play Contra, I play to beat the game every time. Yesterday I did just that back-to-back. The second time I asked Usagi704 to time me. My clear time was 15 minutes and 36 seconds with only one life lost. Damn I love this game!
  
  That's it for now. Until next time you guys take it easy.
  • Posted Dec 15, 2009 5:00 am PT
  • Category: Games
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• 11Dec 09

  The World's Greatest Detective

  
  
  BATMAN BEGINS
  I finished Batman Begins yesterday making it the 46th game finished this year.
  
  Despite the mediocre reviews and gameplay that's a bit simplistic, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of enjoyment I received from playing this game. This was probably because I checked my expectations at the door before starting and left the idea of a Batman: Arkham Asylum like experience behind.
  
  The look and the atmosphere of the game were great and it was really what made it fun for me. There's not much replay value outside of three classic batsuits and the camo colored Batmobile which you earn once you beat the game for the first time.
  
  To get an honest take of the game I suggest checking out ebbderelict's review. He says pretty much what I've been saying and would say if I reviewed the game myself.
  
  GIFT GIVING FOLLOW-UP REDUX
  I have narrowed my choices for the games I wish to give down to four. Those games being Brain Age or Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for my niece and Sonic Rush or Wario Land 4 for my nephew.
  
  With little time to find my first choice of Astro Boy: Omega Factor for my nephew, I decided on Wario Land 4 that I'd seen many times at the local It's About Games store. At least that was the case until I cleaned and tested the GBA games. I switched out Wario Land 4 (for my own collection) for Sonic Rush as I know the latter game is frustrating and I wasn't planning on getting back to it anytime soon.
  
  For my niece I decided on Namco Museum 50th Anniversary for a couple of reasons. 1) The math, as simple as it is, would probably be a problem for a 6-year-old and 2) Namco Museum is a guaranteed hit as she specifically named that game. I own the 2001 release, which I do think is better than this 2005 version, but the best games are still included.
  
  NEW GAMES
  While I was at the previously mentioned store, I also picked up another RPG in the form of Dragon Warrior II for the NES. I liked the original and Usagi704 played the sequel on the Game Boy Color compilation aptly titled Dragon Warrior I & II and liked it.
  
  The subtraction of Sonic Rush and the addition of Wario Land 4 and Dragon Warrior II to my collection has brought the number of unique games to 700. I'm still amazed that all of that fits within a small corner of one room.
  
  
  
  Like always I'll put up another blog here soon so thanks for reading.
  • Posted Dec 11, 2009 5:16 am PT
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