Happy 25th Birthday

Completed Games November 2012

Kung-Fu Panda - 360

Just the one game completed this month and bar one really annoying thing about the game Kung-Fu Panda turned out to be a short but enjoyable game.

The game loosely follows the film, taking some liberties, but that doesn't distract from a fun and vibrant game with simple controls but moves that you can power up by collecting coins. There are also numerous bonus items to find and the levels are varied enough to not become repetitive.

The only criticism, as briefly mentioned above, is the amount of annoying QTE's which in places can really spoil things, such as the last fight of the game. You take on the final boss in a one on one fight and then at the final hurdle instead of beating him the game flicks to a QTE meaning that you don't get to give him that final punch that he deserves. Apart from that though Kung-Fu Panda is a game worth playing.

November Purchases

Just another two games purchased in November.

Puzzler Collection I picked up on a whim as I like doing puzzles and I play my DS nearly on a daily basis to and from work so it should pass the time. I bought Conduit 2 as I enjoyed the first one and though I haven't really heard much positive stuff regarding the sequel I would still like to play it.

October Purchases

Just the two games purchased in October.

As mentioned previously I picked up WWF: Royal Rumble from the Play Expo and was very pleased to have done so as it's a game that I've been after for some time now. Pac-Pix I picked up for cheap on a whim after reading about it on the Darkstalker90 blog here. Darkstalker90 gave it a good review and so when I saw it out and about I thought that I would give it a go.

Completed Games October 2012

Another Code R: A Journey into Lost Memories - Wii

Just the one game completed this month and sadly it was a disappointing game.

Another Code R was a very disappointing game and one that sadly needed a lot of changes to it to be enjoyable. Despite it's short length I really enjoyed Two Memories for the DS but it seemed like Cing took the criticism on board regarding the shortness and made Lost Memories double the length but half the fun. Both the story and game play are slow and meandering sadly offer up very little enjoyment until the puzzles which are far and few between and even then some of them can be annoying due to the sensitivity of the Wii remote. Elements of the first game are just suddenly dumped about three quarters into the game and if you haven't played the first one will just seem to be random and pulled out of thin air. It is a shame as I really did enjoy the first game but sadly near the end of this one I just wanted it over as quick as possible.

WiiU thoughts

As mentioned in the Play Expo 2012 thread I got to play on the upcoming WiiU and here are my thoughts.

Before I begin let me just say that I am a huge Nintendo fan (have been since the NES) but, and it's a big but, I'm also not one of those people who thinks that everything Nintendo do is absolutely amazing. For a start I thought that Mario Bros. Wii was dull as ditchwater and the 3DS launch was a right royal screw-up but because of this it means that I can go into the launch of a new console with an open mind.

When the major details regarding the WiiU were finally announced back in September I had pretty much decided that I was definitely going to be buying one at some point (a post that can be read here) but even then there was still doubts, like how will the pad be utilised within games, will it be uncomfortable to use, while the games certainly look enjoyable will they play well? doubts that I had even as I was queuing to play on the WiiU, doubts that quickly disappeared as soon as I picked up the pad.

Lightweight and comfortable to use I had absolutely no problems at all using the pad, even when having to tilt it to progress on Rayman Legends. I suppose the only 'problem' that I had with the pad was when playing Ninja Castle on NintendoLand as I found it a little bit difficult to line it up to hit the Ninjas with the shurikens but that was more me trying to slide/throw at different speeds and times than anything to do with the pad.

Talking of NintendoLand, I also played on The Legend of Zelda: Battle Quest and Luigi's Ghost Mansion, one was great and one not so. I love the LOZ series and I was hoping to say the same about this but unfortunately I just found it to be a bit slow and dull. I played using both the pad and the Wii remote and I have to say that using the pad was better as the game was a little bit more fun. When using the pad the player plays as an Archer while the other player(s) play as characters using swords. I found the Archer to be better as you just had that little bit more to do with having to hit enemies in the air and aim for crystals in higher up places to open doors. Giving the pad a little shake refilled your arrow bag but overall I just wasn't that impressed with the game play.

Luigi on the other hand was absolutely brilliant and is definitely worth playing. The player using the pad plays as a ghost who has to chase the other players and grab them to 'kill' them. The thing is though is that the ghost can see every player on the pad/TV screen while the players using the Wii remotes cannot see the ghost at all, meaning that all they see on the TV screen is blackness where the ghost should be. Players can kill the ghost by shining their torch on it (and like in the original Luigi's Mansion game the ghost has 100 points) and can also resurrect other players but at the expense of the possibility of their torch draining which means that they have to hunt for a new battery. The game is really interesting and fun and can be quite strategic, especially when there are four other people playing.

They were the only three games that I played on NintendoLand but I also played on Rayman Legends and Mario Bros. WiiU to mixed reactions. Rayman Legends was an absolute joy to look at and to play with bright colourful graphics and game play to match. Using the pad I took control of a character who can cut ropes, attack enemies and pull things across the screen, a particular highlight being grabbing an enemy who was sticking their head out of the ground and stretching them up the screen so that the other player could bounce off them to reach a platform. Another highlight was getting to a section where the Wii remote player jumps onto a platform and the pad player tilts the pad round to move the platform allowing for the other player to jump up to their destination. The game really utilises the pad and is definitely one that I will be buying at some point.

Mario Bros. on the other hand was to me just as dull as the Wii version. The graphics looked great but the game play was just lacking, especially for the person using the pad who's only involvement was to touch the screen to produce platforms for the other players to jump onto. In all honesty I found it to be so excruciatingly dull that I couldn't wait to put the pad down and try with the Wii remote, unfortunately I found that to be just as bad but this time due to problems with the kit and so I moved on to Batman: Arkham City which I was excited about. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get to play on it due to being behind a person who just could not grasp how to use the pad. I did get to see how the pad was utilised within the game but unfortunately after a few minutes the 'give me the pad and let me do it' monster started to rear it's ugly head so I took a wander to have a look at ZombiU.

Unfortunately ZombiU was roped off for over 18's only, though you could still see it in action over the rope, and so due to not wanting to queue again I only got to see it in action. I thought that some of the graphics looked a little ropey but the game play did look interesting, though I have to admit that I did start to wonder if it would get a little predictable after a while. A couple of memorable bits were using the pad to scan Zombies for ammo whilst not knowing if they would come back to life and having to decide when and where to use the torch to conserve battery power. It's a game that looked like it had good atmosphere and interesting sections but without properly trying it not one that I will be rushing out and buying.

I didn't intend for this post to be so long so I will wrap it up by saying that I'm now 100% convinced about buying a WiiU and that after playing on one (well several really) I can honestly say that I would recommend it to other people.

Play Expo goodies

As mentioned in my previous post about Play Expo 2012 I picked up some goodies including posters and games, pictured below is what I picked up.

Lenticular poster for the new Metal Gear game.

Poster for the upcoming Darkstalkers Resurrection release.

Play Expo goodie bag for volunteering.

Extra extra, read all about the Play Expo in the free newspaper.

Cost me an English fiver but was worth it after all these years.

.

Given to me as a gift from the excellent TwoHeadedBoy

So there you have it, just some quick photos of all the lovely things that I picked up at the Expo.

Play Expo 2012

Better late then never, I was meant to post this nearly a couple of weeks back now but unfortunately life got in the way. Here it is at last, my thoughts on Play Expo 2012.


Saturday

I had to set off very early on Saturday morning to arrive at the venue on time for it to open and I managed to arrive fifteen minutes after opening to find a very big queue outside which was due to technical issues on the inside. Due to this the event was delayed by thirty minutes and originally the organisers were going to open for thirty minutes longer but in fact opened for an extra two hours, top marks for that.

I was volunteering on the Saturday so managed to get in to see what I was supposed to be doing and it turned out that I was on the afternoon/evening shift which meant that I got the morning to myself to freely wander round and try things. After taking in the rather large array of hardware the first thing I did was pop over to Console Passion and pick up a complete SNES game in the form of WWF Royal Rumble, a game that is now nineteen years old and if memory serves me right not actually that good a game but one I've wanted for years none the less.

After that it was time to head over to play on one of my holy grails of gaming... the Crazy Taxi arcade machine. It was free play and I certainly made the most of that free play as I had some goes over the two days of the event. After a couple of plays on the arcade I headed over to the WiiU section which was starting to open. I managed to stand second in line on the none ZombieU side (that was in a separate section for over 18's) and waited and waited until finally giving up due to some of the machines breaking.

By this point the doors had opened and the place was starting to fill so I decided to take a wander round the retro section seeing what machines had been set up and what games were being played on them. Playing on machines that I hadn't played on before like the Vectrex and games that I had never played before like Judge Dredd on the SNES and Hulk on the Saturn.

I then briefly had a look around the developer section without playing anything due to queues before starting my volunteer shift on the modern section. Once that was finished and the crowds were winding down I headed back to the developer section to try out games like Darkstalkers Resurrection and the new Devil May Cry which was fun enough in the small amount that I played. I had a look at the new Metal Gear Solid game and it looked interesting. If you played the twenty minute demo you received a poster, due to it being so late I cheekily asked if I could get a poster and the member of staff was kind enough to give me one. I also picked up a Darkstalkers poster to go alongside it which was good.

Alongside all of this I met a few people from the Retro Gamer forum including markopoloman and friends who I shared a room with and Darran, the Editor of the Retro Gamer magazine. I also met a couple of member who are fellow bloggers, jdanddiet who writes Jdandiet's Gaming and Move Blog and also TwoHeadedBoy who writes TwoHeaded Thingies and who also gave me a Ghostbusters two from the box of goodies that he had.


Sunday

I was volunteering again on Sunday morning and this time I was assigned to the retro section which was more to my liking. Due to a late night in Manchester Sunday started with a mad dash to the venue to prepare but luckily we made it in time.

For the first couple of hours I was wandering round the retro section making sure that people were getting on OK and enjoying themselves and chatting with various retro gamers. After that I was on the information desk next to the entrance and which was also next to the Cos-play section. It was interesting seeing the people in the Cos-play section and the dedication that they put into their costumes. Whilst not something that I would myself I do admire the people who do partake in Cos-play, especially when the costume looks like this.

Once I'd finished on the info desk I played some more retro and met some more people, both from the RG forum and people at the event. I headed over to the WiiU stand again and this time I managed to get in and try out the hardware and what hardware it was, even with the consoles still being developer kits. I'm not going to go too much into it as I'm going to write a separate post but what I will say is that after playing Rayman Legends, Mario Bros. and NintendoLand is that I will definitely be buying one at some point.

I also played on some 3DS games which included Kid Icarus, the new Professor Layton game (well I watched part of the opening story before moving on) and the upcoming Paper Mario: Sticker Star which was an absolute joy to play. The graphics loved lovely and the game play of what I played was superb with the stickers being used for fighting and for using as part of the environment, There was also a game hub that resembled the one from Mario Bros. 3 which was great.

After this I played some more Darkstalkers and the latest Pro Evolution which was a bit meh and also on the first Metal Gear on the NES. A guy next to me was playing Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation and just as he died someone walked past and shouted Snake, Snake, Snaaaaaaaaake which made me laugh, unfortunately the guy playing didn't really see the funny side.

Sadly I had to leave a little early to head home so unfortunately ended up missing the staff competition on Chompy Chomp Chomp but from what I did see it looked like a fun game and people seemed to be enjoying playing it.

Over the two days there were some minor quibbles (like food prices and the attitude of younger gamers) but overall I had a thoroughly enjoyable time, played some great games and met some absolutely wonderful people and really enjoyed being there, which is what gaming is all about.

More photos can be found on the Game Over Yeah Facebook page.

Game Over Yeah will be at Play Expo

As the title says I will be at the Play Expo in Manchester this weekend.

For those not in the know take a look at the website here. Packed to the rafters with retro gaming, coin-ops, pinballs, modern systems (including the WiiU), tournaments and cos-play there should be something for everything.

I know of at least one other blogger who will be attending so if you are come and say hello, I'm dste from the Retro Gamer forum.

Pictures and a detailed account will follow early next week.

Classic Corner Two

Welcome to classic corner two where this time I'm going to take a look at one of my all time absolute favourite games, Secret of Mana for the SNES.

Developed and published by Square and released for the Super Nintendo in 1993, Secret of Mana was a hit both critically and commercially and it's not difficult to see why.

It's difficult to know where to start when describing Secret of Mana as a classic as there is so much that you can talk about, the characters, the story, the music, the game play, Santa Claus, so I'll start at the very beginning with the opening scene of the game.

As soon as you switch the game on you are introduced to enchanting and slightly haunting music as the titles appear and the screen opens and scrolls up to reveal the three lead characters standing before the Mana tree. It's a great opening which you get to savour before you are told about the history of Mana. Shortly after that you are introduced to your first playable character and the game quickly begins.

 

It's not long into the game that you meet the second of your three lead characters and what characters they are. Starting of as the hero you go on to meet a girl and a sprite and each person has their own individual strengths and weaknesses and reasons for joining the adventure. The main hero uses the Sword of Mana and is brilliant at combat but cannot use magic, he is tasked with re-energising the sword and saving the world from monsters and the big bad. The girl is physically weaker than the hero but can cast healing and support spells, she is trying to find her love who has been sent by the king to try and stop the monsters. Finally, the sprite is the last character who is physically the weakest but is strongest with magic, especially offensive magic. He joins the quest to retrieve his lost memories. As per usual with RPG's each character can be levelled up alongside their weapons and magic by killing enemies, finding weapon orbs and by rescuing spirits known as elementals.

The plot/story is pretty much your standard good vs evil like in the majority of RPG's but it's the way that the characters are portrayed and their reasons for taking part in the quest that make the game that little bit different. The girl and sprite are not in it to save the world, they want to find the love of their live and regain lost memories, the hero is only initially fighting due to being banished from his village for removing the sword, it's not like Zelda where a hero is called upon to save the world.

The game play is set in real time allowing for you to kill enemies and level up as you walk around between villages and dungeons. There are numerous bosses in the game which include a giant frost demon that when defeated turns into Santa Claus. As mentioned previously weapons and spells are upgraded by finding orbs and elementals. There are quite a few weapons found in the game and each one can be upgraded and includes a charge attack which means that you cannot attack whilst charging but once unleashed the attack takes off a lot more energy from the enemy. One really good thing about the game is not only that you can swap characters to fight with at any time but also that with the aid of a multi-tap up to three players can play at the same time. Extra players can drop in and out of the game at any time which is also handy. The world that the characters inhabit is huge and to cut down on travel the characters can be shot from a cannon (after paying a fee) to where they need to go, that is until the player accesses Flammie which is a giant dragon that is controlled by the player.

Moving onto the graphics and sound. Presented in a top down style the graphics are great with the characters through out the game being nice and big and the colours of the various parts of the world being bright and well done. The game also takes advantage of the Super Nintendo's ability to use Mode 7 when controlling Flammie. The music is fantastic as evidenced by the opening and uses a variety of tunes to show off the different parts of the world, ranging from somber to dance like.

To me Secret of Mana is a near perfect game, there are sections of grinding that could have been done without, but overall the game is vibrant, the game play fantastic, the characters are instantly lovable and the music is wonderful and that is why it's in my classic corner.

Attitude of Gamers

I was originally going to write a similar post to this a few months ago when the Capcom/sexism incident occurred but for various reasons never managed to get round to it.

Lately though the attitude of gamers has reared it's ugly head again and has prompted me to finally write something about the way that a portion of gamers have been behaving recently.

There have been instances in the past few months where I have sighed, rolled my eyes and moved on like the Mass Effect 3 ending debacle and incidents where I have felt a little ashamed to be a gamer like the afore mentioned sexism fiasco. Lately though it seems that these incidents are becoming more and more regular and it was the recent Nintendo announcement of the WiiU and specifically Bayonetta 2 that got me really thinking about the problem.

I apologise in advance for the language in the pictures but it's these pictures that epitomises exactly what is wrong with some gamers in this day and age. I mean seriously, threatening to kill someone because a game is Nintendo exclusive. Did they threaten to kill someone because God of War was a Sony exclusive or is it just because it's on a Nintendo console. What really gets me though is the sheer ignorance behind the post. If they had done any kind of research (like typing Bayonetta 2 into Google) they would find that the whole reason the game is WiiU exclusive is because Nintendo are actually pumping money into the game after it was cancelled on X-Box and PlayStation. Of course Nintendo are going to want to make it WiiU exclusive, they are a business.

 The picture here again shows how ignorance prevails as yet again most of the people have a go at Platinum Games for releasing the game as a WiiU exclusive. I love the comments two to four as I'm presuming that the person has played a few games on a WiiU before making these judgments. I also love the fifth comment about about 'loyal gamers', loyal how? Loyal to Platinum Games as a quick look at their resume shows that up to this point in time they have released four games in Europe/USA with two of them being Nintendo exclusive and the other two being Bayonetta and Vanquish for the 360/PS3. So if he is on about being loyal to the company then I'm presuming that he owns all four games, but wait, as just mentioned two of the four games were Nintendo exclusive so from his post I'm presuming that he doesn't own all four games released by Platinum Games. Is he a loyal gamer because he only plays on one out of three home consoles?

I could sit here all day ripping apart the posts but the one that really irked me was the last comment about no one playing interesting games on the Wii (that's straight after she incorrectly states that Bayonetta 2 is in fact being released for the Wii and not the WiiU). Well here's the thing, not only is the comment completely false and judgmental it's also completely wrong. I know this because I PLAY INTERESTING GAMES ON THE WII. In fact I own and play nearly 100 'interesting' games on the Wii compared to about 40 on my 360. Do you know how I play interesting games on the Wii? I open my eyes and look. Just like I look past the FPS and Fifa's on the 360 to play games like Catherine and El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron I look past the 'shovel ware' on the Wii and play games like De Blob, Little King's Story, Boom Blox amongst many others. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing the likes of Fifa and Gears of War as they are good games but for me personally I wouldn't call them interesting in the sense of finding something different.

Moving on from all of that, I do apologise for the length of the post, on Friday September 28 I picked up the free Metro newspaper which had an article regarding women playing games. The article quoted some statistics (which are most likely all made up) about how 47% of games are women yet a lot of them are subjected to abuse when playing online purely because they are female. I'm always up for a bit of banter when playing games with other people but it's absolutely disgusting how far over the line some males take the abuse and insults. I'm not saying that women are perfect and I imagine that some of them give as good as they get and rightly so but sometimes it's shameful being a male gamer and being associated with the people who come out with this stuff.

The latest incident to upset those oh so sensitive gamers is an advert from Nintendo for the 3DS featuring Dianna Agron 'playing' on Art Academy. The bit that has made people get their knickers in a twist is the line 'I'm not a gamer, I'm an artist'. Big deal is all that I can say. The advert isn't aimed at 'gamers' who buy the likes of Mario, Metroid, God of War, Gears of War etc etc, It's aimed at a market who may not play them and may be looking for something different and Nintendo are showing of a different element of the 3DS to those people. Shock horror gamers, Nintendo are a business who need and aim to make money to survive, hence them advertising to people who may not be traditional gamers.

There is also a second advert featuring American gymnast Gabrielle Douglas which features the line 'I'm not a gamer, I'm a coin collecting champion'. First things first, if the context of the advert was that she wasn't a gamer then to me she wouldn't be playing the 3DS in the first place. The second thing to me is that what she's actually saying is that she's not only a gamer, she's a coin collecting champion because she plays the game so much (might not be true in real life but for the purpose of the advert it is). Maybe if the line was 'I'm not just a gamer' or 'I'm also a coin collecting champion' then maybe the poor little souls might sleep easier at night.

The final nail in the coffin for me at the moment is the furore surrounding Resident Evil 6 and the reviews that have been handed out to it, especially the 'gamer' scores. At time of writing the user score on Metacritic for the game is 0.8 based on 2795 ratings. So basically 2795 'gamers' have played and completed the game and the majority of them think it's one of the worst games ever and have said so on Metacritic, hmmm. I'm guessing that quite a lot of them have indeed not played the game and have based their score on the demo or what other reviews.

Anyway, it looks like I could be here all day ranting and I do apologise but I'm now just a bit fed up of the idiots who give gaming a bad name, it's bad enough that a lot of non-gamers think that gaming is immature and juvenile and this a lot of time sadly I can see why they think that.

Don't even get me started on fanboys and 'hardcore/casual'.

The two videos can be found on The Official Nintendo Channel on Youtube.

Wreck-It Ralph

I imagine that most people by now know about the up-coming film from Disney Wreck-It Ralph but with a new trailer released today I thought that I would give it a mention.

Directed by Rich Moore and featuring the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch and Alan Tudyk, Wreck-It Ralph follows Ralph as he becomes tired of being the bad guy in his own game so sets off into other games to prove that he can become the good guy.

Featuring cameos from villains that we all love including Bowser and Dr. Eggman the trailer looks fun and it's definitely a film that I will be going along to see.

The film opens November 2 in the US and February 15 in the UK but in the meantime if you head over to the official website you can play the Wreck-It Ralph game which is done in the style of the original Donkey Kong.

The above trailer can be found on theWaltDisneyStudiosUK Youtube channel.

September Purchases

 Just the four purchases this month, three of them being games.

Manhunt 2 was picked up pre-owned on the cheap and is a game that I wouldn't mind playing. Beat the Beat was in a Game sale and was purchased using remaining Game points so cost nothing in the way of money. Mario Sports Mix is yet another sealed game and another that was only a good ole English fiver and the Marvel vs Capcom 3 steel tin was bought from KW from the Retro Gamer forum to go along side my other collectibles.

Not an outstanding month but still three games that I want to play.

Completed Games September 2012

Another Code: Two Memories - DS
Gears of War 3 - 360

Only two games completed in September, though not through lack of trying.

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Another Code. Developed by the same people who did Hotel Dusk and Last Window it's an interesting game that despite being a few years old now really utilises the DS and it's controls, delivering puzzles that make you use features to figure out the answers. The only major problem that I found with the game was the length, I completed it in about 4+ hours which was a shame as the game is fun with an interesting storyline.

Gears of War 3was a very enjoyable game in co-op and an improvement over the second game, despite the second game possibly including my favourite section. It was a good and fitting end to the trilogy despite the game feeling a bit easier than the previous two and final boss not really being that difficult. It had a couple of sections that dragged but overall it was a game worth playing.

Coins

Regular readers may remember back in April when I bought Pandora's Tower that Nintendo offered a reward of three coins for registering the trilogy of games of Xenoblade Chronicles/The Last Story/Pandora's Tower. Well, I registered the games and today the coins finally arrived.

What you may not notice there is that the box is a velvet type of box and feels rather nice on the fingers.

 

 The front of the coins.

 

The back of the coins.

Apologies for the state of the pictures, I'll update with some better ones at the weekend when there is some natural light.

Overall though I'm really pleased with them, they feel weighty and not cheap and they look really nice and should look good next to the box with the games and art book in.

 

Completed or not completed?

That is the question.

I've been thinking about this since I 'finished/completed' Lego Batman a couple of weeks back, when is a game completed these days?

Back in the old days (and I'm not saying how old) generally games would have a start, middle and end, exceptions being sport and fighting games due to the fact that you could complete the game with multiple teams/fighters, but even then there were a few sports games where the main mode was a knock-out type game where you won a trophy and that was it. These days with sports games you can be playing season after season and theoretically never complete the game.

Anyway, slightly going off on a tangent there.

The example I'm going to use for the purpose of this post is the aforementioned Lego Batman on the 360. I imagine that the PS3 version will be very similar but the 360 version is the one that I played through. For those of you who haven't played it Lego Batman consists of two fifteen levels for heroes and fifteen levels for villains broken down into three separate stories consisting of five levels each. That's fair enough, a fair bit of game play there and after completing one set of fifteen levels you get to see the end credits. Only one thing about that though, after each 'story' level has been completed a 'free play mode' unlocks allowing/meaning that to properly finish the levels you need to go through them all over again. That wouldn't be too bad if you didn't have to keep going through them over and over again until you collect all of the relevant cannisters, Lego parts etc that are hidden throughout each level to unlock bonuses, bonuses that also need to be bought by collecting studs on each level which work towards your 100% in game completion. Add to all of that two bonus levels and completion starts to look a whole lot bigger, but then they are included within the 100% completion and once finished you can put the game down.

But wait, this is the 360 version remember and what do you get on the 360 version... achievements.

Yes, the achievements where if you really want to complete the game you need to unlock all 46 achievements which range from completing episodes to smashing all street lights in a particular chapter (does that really add anything to a game?!). If and only if you decide to go for all the achievements is the game then really completed or is it when you complete all 100% of the actual game. The one good thing about Lego Batman is that it didn't have any DLC as then the game could be never ending.

At the moment for me Lego Batman is finished due to completing the thirty story modes for heroes and villains. If I were to 'complete' it then I would at least play through the free play modes and then go on to complete all 100% of the game. I personally do not count achievements towards the completion of a game for two reasons, 1) I don't much care for them and 2) some games like Gears of War include online achievements for the like of multi-player which have no bearing on the solo mode.

I know that there have always been games like this, for example Super Mario World had your basic levels, the 96 exits and then the bonus star levels, but these days games seem to have more and more definitions of 'completion' and multiple endings that sometimes it's nice to just have a start a middle and an end.

What do you class as 'completed' these days?

Five games I've started over and over again...

...but am still yet to complete.

I imagine that everybody has at least one game that they go back to every now and then in the hope that it will be the time at last where they finally complete the game.

In the past year I managed to knock two of them on the head and finally completed them (Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker) and thoroughly enjoyed playing them. These next five though have been sitting on that pile for years now and one day their time will finally come.

 Cybernator - SNES

Cybernator isn't one of the greatest games in the world but it has that certain something that makes me want to play it and finally finish it. Sadly it also has that certain something that makes me want to just switch it off after dying. When playing I speed through the first five maybe six levels and then somewhere down the line I die and instead of just carrying on I just get up and turn it off. I do genuinely want to finish it but need to find that last bit o f motivation to do so.

 Banjo-Kazooie - N64

Pretty much everybody knows Banjo-Kazooie and off those that do and have played it they have most likely also finished it, not me though. I start the game with much enthusiasm and play through the first few levels finding and collecting everything, enjoying what I'm doing and then at some point I switch if off to have my tea, go to bed etc and then the next day it doesn't get switched back on, or the day after that or after that until eventually I start the cycle again. No idea why as I do like playing the game.

Legend of the Mystical Ninja - SNES

I think that Mystical Ninja is a fabulous game and over the years I started it numerous times both solo and with a second player but years later I've yet to complete it and I think the main reason is the mini-games, specifically Gradius. Despite being able to only play the first level of Gradius I always end up getting to the machine with it on, playing it for a bit and then switching the game off even though I genuinely do want to carry on and finally complete the game and see all of the weirdness behind it.

 

Fur Fighters - Dreamcast 

The problem with Fur Fighters is that the levels are huge and I mean huge and you pretty much have to scour every inch of the levels to find the babies required to complete the level. Despite it being a great game it's pretty much the only reason that I'm still yet to complete Fur Fighters as I have to admit that I like to take a break from playing the game to try something else, unfortunately that break tends to get longer and longer until I have to start the game yet again.

 

Evolution - Dreamcast

Evolution is one of my all time favourite games, absolute love it and over the years I've put in god knows how many hours playing it, until the last boss that is. Every single time I play it reach the last boss and die, no matter how much I'm leveled up I die and it drives me mad. I turn it off promising myself to go back to it a day or two later to finally defeat him and for some reason or other never do and so the cycle continues over and over again which is why Evolution makes it to the top spot.

So there is my top five games I've started over and over and am still yet to complete. There are actually more games, looking at you Body Harvest and Zombies, but these are the ones that have been started the most over the years.

Do you have any games you start over and if so what are they?

Twelve games I want for the WiiU pt2

Moving onto the second six games, again in no particular order.

I'm a fan of the first game as I found it to be a fun action packed game that it didn't take itself too seriously and featured now memories from the past. Due to this, and despite the trailer featuring no game play at all, I'm really looking forward to the sequel and it's definitely a game that I will be buying.

The second bundle game and a lot has already been seen and said about ZombiU. From my perspective it looks like an interesting and tense game in the fact that like Nintendo Land it should show of the capabilities of the pad and it should hopefully be tense in the fact that the game doesn't pause when changing weapons and the like on the touch screen. I have heard about problems with the amount of Zombies appearing on screen at any one time but hopefully this will be resolved by launch.

It's an Aliens game that from the trailer looks like it should be very dark and atmospheric and though I don't like to compare games if it's anything like the first Dead Space game then it could have the potential to be tense and claustrophobic. I've heard the complaints about the lack of female characters which I have to agree with in a series where the lead character is female and hopefully the developers will rectify that. Beyond that though the trailer looks good and who here isn't looking forward to using the pad as a scanner like in Aliens.

They're coming outta the walls. They're coming outta the goddamn walls.

Yes, this has already been released on the 360 and PS3 and I have every intention of buying the GOTY edition for the 360 when it is soon released but if the WiiU manages to add a lot to the game then I could warrant buying it again as this could be the new version of Resident Evil 4 where the controls justify buying the new version.

I'm not going to lie, I found New Super Mario Bros. Wii to be quite a dull game and in all honesty I found it a chore to complete, therefore I am a little apprehensive about this version but then it is on a new system and the trailer does look interesting with what you can do with the pad and it could be really fun in multi-player. Therefore I am going to keep an open mind and add MarioU to the list.

I think I've only ever played one Tekken game in my lifetime and though it was quite enjoyable I've never been too fussed about buying any of the games, that was until now. I've already seen people saying that they enjoy the recent release on 360/PS3 and I have to say that with the addition of the Nintendo costumes and the quite frankly bonkers mushroom battle mode it could be time to finally invest in a Tekken game.

So there are the the twelve games that I fancy buying from the recent announcements and as said previously that's the what I have seen from the possible launch window. Do you fancy anything from this list or are you going for games that I haven't mentioned. Let me know in the comments section below.

All videos bar the Tekken Tag one can be found on the Nintendo YouTube channel. The Tekken Tag video can be found on the NamcoBandaiGamesEU channel.

Twelve games I want for the WiiU pt1

Now that the dust is starting to settle from the WiiU announcements I thought I would start having a proper look at what games from the launch period I would fancy buying when finally purchasing a console.

I managed to find a whopping twelve games that I would fancy playing on the machine and in no particular order here are the trailers and my thoughts on those twelve games.

One of the two console bundle titles this looks like it should do for the WiiU what Wii Sports did for the Wii. Featuring numerous solo and multi-player mini-games showing off what the pad can do Nintendo Land looks like a good fun game, especially with the addition of mini-games based on Zelda, Metroid and Pikmin.

Despite owning it for a couple of months now I've still yet to play Rayman Origins but I have heard it be raved about so if Legends is anything like Origins then it should be a good game. The trailer looks interesting with showing how the pad can be utilised to move platforms, especially when tilting and moving the pad around. All in all hopefully Rayman Legends should be a good game to play.

I like the Rabbids, moving on.

It's Pikmin, not really much more to say apart from the fact that the trailer makes it look like a fun and enjoyable game.

This went onto my list as soon as I saw the trailer when it was called Project P-100. It looks like a crazy hybrid of Viewtiful Joe and Pikmin which can only be a good thing when done right and from the looks of the trailer it looks like it is certainly being done right. Definitely one to keep an eye on.

I'm still yet to play the first game due to not being able to find the steering wheel pack for a reasonable price but it is a game that I do fancy playing. I know that the original is far from perfect but it is a game that I fancy playing and judging from the trailer the same can be for the WiiU version. The tracks and characters look interesting and hopefully Sumo Digital will have tightened up on what was supposedly wrong with the first game and made a cracking sequel.

WiiU be buying one?

Yesterday Nintendo released a presentation* which finally announced the details that people had been waiting for regarding the WiiU, namely the release date, the price and the titles.

Was it a hit? For me, yes in many respects and no in an important one, the price.

I'll start with the price to get that out of the way before moving onto the positives.

The first point about the price is that it's too high, the second point is the reason and that reason is that despite the giant mess with the price of the 3DS, Nintendo does not seem to have learnt anything from that debacle and have allowed retailers again to set the price. Even more annoyingly, America and Japan had their prices set by Nintendo, why the UK and Europe didn't I don't know. Due to this in my opinion (and by a lot of other peoples by the looks of it) retailers have yet again priced to high and many people are expecting a price cut sooner rather then later.

So onto the positives.

Despite there not being any particularly 'blockbuster' games being announced for immediate launch from Nintendo themselves (bar Super Mario Bros.U) there was still some interesting games that I would consider picking up, the top one possibly being Bayonetta 2. I really enjoyed the first game and so for Nintendo to be releasing this and exclusive to the WiiU is great news. Nintendo Land, Rayman Legends and The Wonderful 101 look like wonderful games that I would be interested in playing. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 looks interesting with the Nintendo stuff added and add in ZombiU, Pikmin 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition and there is already ten games that I would be willing to pick up, and that is just from the possible launch window.

Add in the new pad with the ability to play the games on it whilst other people use the TV, 3DS and WiiU compatibility, the Miiverse, backwards compatibility and it looks like it's shaping up to be a fairly good console. There are still reservations regarding the online (the Wii was unfortunately sometimes severely lacking in that department) and the size of the memory but it they sort those properly and keep the third party developers on board then it could shape up to be a cracking console.

Will I be buying one? In the long run yes but only once the inevitable price drop has happened or when retailers offer bundles with extra games. If Nintendo and developers release even half as many great games as they did on the Wii then in my book it will be worth purchasing a WiiU.

What are your thoughts? Will you be buying one at launch, later or not at all. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.


*You can view Nintendo's presentation here.

Nintendo Gamer - The final issue

The final issue of Nintendo Gamer (Issue 80) hit the shops yesterday and what a memory filled issue it is.

It starts of as a normal issue with news, an article about the WiiU and the usual stuff like art and cosplay. Alongside that is the regular stuff such as the previews, reviews (of which there are two), the top 25 list (this time round it's the top 25 sidekicks) and the retro stuff (including an article on Second Sight for the Cube).

After that is all of the stuff that makes you feel all nostalgic and brings back the memories such as the interview with Wil Overton (who drew the cover bringing it all full circle), the snippets of memories from previous writers and editors on the old magazines such as from Super Play until now and the twenty page feature showing the cover of every single issue of Super Play, N64 Magazine, NGC, NGamer and the re-launched Nintendo Gamer. The feature certainly brings back memories for this writer.

It's always a shame when something long running ends but the real annoying thing about Nintendo Gamer ending, apart from it being a good magazine, is that in November Super Play celebrates it's 20th anniversary of issue one being released so it would have been that little bit special if the last issue had been twenty years to the month of the first issue being released. Also, the WiiU, according to all of the rumours, should be being released in November so sales may have picked up again. Unfortunately we will now never know but here's to twenty years of the magazine being released in various incarnations.

Classic Corner One

Welcome to the second new feature of the blog this week, Classic Corner.

To balance the equilibrium after crap corner I thought I would take a look at those games that fill me with pleasure and joy and remind me just why I like gaming so much. So for classic corner number one I present to you...

Crazy Taxi

There are two reasons why I chose Crazy Taxi as the first game of the feature, the first being that It's a damn fine game, the second being that it was the sole reason for me buying a Dreamcast.

I first played Crazy Taxi on the original arcade where due to having to use a steering wheel and pedals I didn't do very well at all, but I still had a couple of tries before admitting defeat. A little while later I found out that the game was being ported to the Dreamcast and despite only playing the arcade for roughly six minutes I had played enough to really want the game.

So what particularly makes it stand out as a classic game? Well quite a few things, the game play being the obvious thing. It's just generally a fun game, you can just stick it on drive around picking up customers for a bit and then turn it off again and sometimes you need games like that.

A big plus for me personally is the music especially with it featuring one of my favourite bands Bad Religion, it's just a shame that between them and The Offspring there are only four song in the main game (seven in total including credits and menus). Top marks must also go for naming characters across the series after members of Gun's 'n' Roses, another favourite band of mine.

The game does look a little dated now, especially with the pop-up for the backgrounds, but it is still a really good and fun game to play and despite being looking like a simple game on the surface there is quite a bit of depth to the game. There is a choice of four characters to take control of (Gena being my personal favourite due to the lightness of the car) all with different attributes to them. A mini-game section is included that can take some skill to complete and which upon completion can offer up new cars/bikes to drive and there are two cities to drive around, the first being the original city in the arcade and the second being a new bigger city created for the game.

Though the game can be easily picked up and played it takes skill and dedication to fully realise the maps and how to perfect routes, customers and tricks to be able to maximise the tips and score. For me, that's what raises Crazy Taxi from a good game to a great game and who can forget desperately trying to drive through a car park to get to Pizza Hut.

Let's make some crazy money.

Crap Corner One

Welcome to a new feature of the blog, a feature that I like to call Crap Corner. I imagine that you can guess what these posts will entail so without further delay I present to you the first game entered into Crap Corner...

Fighting Force 2

Even the cover looks crap.

Somehow I still remember the conversation like it was yesterday, standing in a shop looking for a game to buy, how it all went wrong went something like this.

Me: I've just bought a Dreamcast and now I need to buy some games for it. This Fighting Force 2 looks like it might be quite good.

Friend: Don't buy it, it's crap.

Me: Are you sure? The screen shots on the box look pretty cool (which at that age to be fair they did).

Friend: Seriously, it's crap.

Me: Hmmmmm

Friend: Don't do it, it's a terrible game.

Me: It does look pretty cool, I think I'll give it a shot.

Skip to a couple of days later.

Me to friend: Man, that Fighting Force 2 is crap.

I still to this day don't know what possessed me to ignore what my friend was saying and buy Fighting Force 2 as it honestly is one of the worst games that I've ever had the misfortune of playing and owning. There is not one redeeming feature about it.

The shots on the back of the box make it look pretty cool with explosions, going on about 'fierce hand-to-hand combat', 'over 20 lethal weapons' and 'over 50 unique enemy types that use the terrain to their tactical advantage'. What you instead get is very dull game play, clunky movement, awful controls, repetitive and generic level (notice that I say level and not levels as I've never bothered myself to get past the first one. As for the 20 lethal weapons, well god knows when that is as you only start with a crappy knife.

I could go on even more about how bad it is but I think you may be getting the gist now. I'll sum it up by saying that when writing this I had a look for some review scores and GameSpot gave the game 3.5 out of 10 whilst IGN gave it a slightly better 3.6 out of 10. All I can say is that even that is very generous.

August Purchases

Not that much bought in the month of July but a couple of games I've been after for a while so still a pleasing month.

X-Men Legends II is the first game that I've been after for a while as It's another step to finishing of my Cube collection and also because I enjoyed playing the first game. Mario & Luigi is the second game that I've been after for a while now and though you may not be able to see it in the picture, it is still sealed. It won't stay that way though as I intend to play it.

Polarium and Rhythm Paradise were two games that I picked up on a whim for very cheap prices, both complete and both games that I didn't really know much about before I bought them. Finally, the Smash Bros soundtrack was a freebie alongside X-Men Legends II as I bought the game from a member of the Retro Gamer forum and they very kindly put in the CD for free.