A Gaming Diary
Archive for February, 2007
Kid Icarus (WII)
Feb 25th
I got some more Virtual Console points today, so was intending to buy Super Mario World and Ocarina of Time. However, I couldn’t bring myself to part with the asking price for either, as I have them already, so I ended up trying Kid Icarus again instead.
It’s really not that bad. The core jumping and shooting machanics aren’t anything special, but they work well enough. The screen didn’t start wobbling madly this time, which helped, but some horrific slowdown still remained. I got off the first stage fairly easily, then played the second stage for a while. I had to turn it off when I died about two steps from the end. Just couldn’t face going all the way back to the beginnning of the stage yet again.
I can’t yet see why it’s regarded as a classic, though it kept me away from Crackdown and Excite Truck this morning, so there must be something beyond my curiousity.
Crackdown (360)
Feb 25th
473 agility orbs now.
Blowing up too many civilians.
Can’t get to the top of the oil rig.
Crackdown (360)
Feb 24th
Gosh, no, I didn’t stop playing just because I’d finished killing all the gang leaders. Not even close.
I spent a few hours searching the map for agility orbs – I’ve still got fifty or so to find, no idea where they could be – and then turned gangs back on so I could get the Untouchable Agent achievement, which involves killing 200 enemies without dying. It was pretty easy, but great fun.
Crackdown (360)
Feb 24th
About ten hours of play now.
I’ve got four stars in two stats and between one and three in the others.
I’ve got about fifty hidden orbs and about three hundred and fifty agility orbs.
And I’ve destroyed all three gangs and seen the final cut scene.
Crackdown (360)
Feb 23rd
Brought this home this evening.
Five hours later I’ve forced myself to stop.
It’s just like the demo… only more.
It’s going to be pretty dangerous in the short term, I think.
The Sims 2 (PC)
Feb 22nd
Breaking news!
My wife’s family hasn’t met the Voorhees family yet, but Pamela Voorhees just stole their garden gnome.
I feel strangely guilty.
Kid Icarus (WII)
Feb 22nd
Kid Dickarus, more like.
I swear, if I buy one more NES game out of curiousity to see what it’s like someone should shoot me.
Actually, to be fair, this doesn’t appear too bad. But the screen is all wobbly for some reason and I’ve seen some quite incredible slowdown. And I keep dying.
The Sims 2 (PC)
Feb 22nd
My wife’s playing this, so I created a family to move in near her family. I’m not going to play them, I’m just hoping they might meet up now and again.
There’s Pamela Voorhees, with her young son Jason and her teenage daughter Biscuit. They’ve moved into town with Pamela’s new husband Bob and their two dogs, Machete and Goalie.
New Adventure Island (WII)
Feb 22nd
Got to a boss.
Boss killed me.
Started again from the beginning of the stage.
Repeat a few times.
Strangely, still fun.
Excite Truck (WII)
Feb 22nd
Look, this game is incredible. It just is.
I’ve now completed the Bronze and Silver cups (levels, whatever) with S ranks and I’ve dipped into Challenge mode. I’ve tried a level where you have to drive through lot of gates without your time running out. It’s incredibly hard, but very addictive and it’s just a very nice cherry on the Excite Truck cake.
And a word about the graphics. Yes, the trees are just hexagonal structures painted with low-res textures. Yes, there is a distinct lack of anti-aliasing. Yes, some of the objects are semingly two-dimensional. BUT! You can see for miles, everything’s very clear and it all runs incredibly quickly and smoothly. Which is good enough for me, thanks.
