A Gaming Diary
Archive for March, 2010
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 15th
Played with Blanka for most of the weekend. I seem to be getting pretty good. Well, good enough not to be troubled by Normal AI, anyway. I haven’t dared put it up to Hard yet.
Always, always satisfying.
I tried Abel for a bit last night, just a couple of fights, and got smashed in the face. He uses Ryu-like motions for his special moves, but I haven’t yet worked out how to actually use them properly. Might be worth trying to learn to play as him properly, though Blanka keeps calling me back.
Orbital (iPhone)
Mar 15th
Pretty, but I want more points.
Going for the record for the most time played without getting a new high score.
Biodefense: Zombie Outbreak (iPhone)
Mar 12th
No! Wait! Come back!
I know it’s another bloody zombie game, but this is different!
Build guns, kill zombies.
It’s basically an RTS, with only base-building and no moving units. So, um, a bit of a tower defense, but it doesn’t feel much like one.
You build lights – because you only build and guns can only shoot in lit areas – and weapons and resource collectors and wait for zombies to shuffle in from the sides of the map. Hopefully, your weapons will kill them all dead, but they… just… keep… coming…
It’s really very good indeed and there’s a nice Lite version to try before you buy. Well worth investigating.
Tilt To Live (iPhone)
Mar 12th
I lost an entire hour this lunchtime playing this. Not sure how that happened, but I just couldn’t stop playing.
I don't often lose my ship any more, but every now and again all the explosions make me forget where I am.
I unlocked a new weapon (Lightning) and got a new high score that’s just a little below a million points. That was quite annoying, but as it more or less doubled my previous score, I don’t think I should complain too much.
You need this game, you know. It’s another one of those iPhone necessities. Sorry, but it is.
Oh, no. I’m seeing red dots when I shut my eyes. It’s one of those games.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 12th
Managed to do the Dojo mission I was stuck on last night. Turned out that after building my super bar up I had to perform a super-duper roll thing. Yes, I know all the Street Fighter technical terms, me.
Great success!
Also completed the tournament with Blanka without using a continue. I was hoping for a different Super Street Fighter IV preview movie than the one I’d got when I’d won the tournament with Ryu, but I was disappointed.
Utterly fantastic game, this. I really hope they build it up more over time, with more fighters and modes.
Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
Mar 11th
This is my holiday game, but I’ve started it early. Sue me.
I’d forgotten how fantastic the opening section is – it’s been over ten years, after all – but it really throws you into the game and generates a real sense of urgency.
It’s a shame that the game’s very much of its time in other areas. The reliance on save points is pretty horrible by modern standards – though the PSP’s standby helps alleviate some of the problems that causes – but it’s the time it takes to get back into the game once you die that’s the real problem, and it’s not helped by having to go through cut scenes and dialogue again.
It’s also a mark of the game’s age that I’ve had to restart – enemies fifteen minutes in don’t often kill you in modern RPGs.
Street Fighter IV (iPhone)
Mar 11th
Giving Ryu a rest, I’ve taken to using Blanka. Haven’t managed to complete Tournament mode without using a continue yet and I’m stuck on a Special Move mission in the Dojo. I’m meant to use my rolling attack to fly through the air and kill Ryu, but as soon as his health gets low he just throws infinite ultras at me and I can’t hit him. No idea what I’m doing wrong. All a bit frustrating.
Take that, you lanky bastard!
Main problem with the game, though, is that there’s no way to save tournament progress. Hit the Home button or get a call and you lose everything. Please update, Capcom.
Tilt To Live (iPhone)
Mar 11th
No less fantastic than the last time I blogged about it, when sitting up in the correct position, this is pretty much perfect.
I'm too busy to take screenshots when things get more interesting.
I really like the way achievements are used to unlock new power ups. That gives the achievements a real point and makes me want to get more of them. Even the one for dying within five seconds. I felt bad about it, but I did it.
Raging Thunder 2 Lite (iPhone)
Mar 11th
You build boost by drafting... I think.
Fun arcade racer, judging by this one-track demo. Very hard, though I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing. I did manage to scrape first place after some practice. The fact that I wanted to keep playing until I’d managed that is a good sign.
N.O.V.A. – Near Orbital Vanguard Alliance FREE (iPhone)
Mar 11th
A green-tinged, seeping wound on the arse of a man too scared to go and see his doctor.
A dead one-eyed dog floating through a sewer.
A rat-infested hovel where a man lies dying, wheezing out his last breaths, staring at piles of mildewed newspapers and the beady, hungry eyes of rodents that surround him.
A pox-ridden, gin-soaked, toothless Victorian prostitute remembering her childhood in the country as yet another drunkard rogers her against the damp bricks of Whitechapel.
A baby struggles to cry out in hunger, but her starving mother is too weak to lift herself up to her crib.
A man clutching a bailiff’s letter stands calmly on a railway station platform, waiting for the express train so he can throw himself in front of it.
Horrible, horrible things, for sure, but none really compare to releasing an FPS that doesn’t include the option to invert the y-axis, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Staring at the floor. Again.
Gameloft, I hate you and your Halo-stealing, uncontrollable game.
