A Gaming Diary
DS
Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
Nov 24th
Hooray!
A combo of 56,540!
I’m great!
Well, no, I’m rubbish, but I’m great by my own low standards.
This is one of those rare games that makes me want to write a thank you letter to the developers, because they’ve really done so much more than they needed to. It’s such a nice package.
Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
Nov 23rd
Hmm, I’m getting better, but I can’t seem to download a custom board. I’m sure I’d selected one on the web site, but when I go to the download art menu it says it has, but I can’t find it anywhere. I’ll have to check the web site. (EDIT: Yes, as soon as I checked I worked it out, no worries.)
Anyway, custom boards aren’t very important. What is important is that classic mode is excellent and knowing that every run will add to the stats on the web site make even rubbish runs seem like they have a point. Even though goals got in classic mode don’t seem to count as far as the web site’s concerned.
I’ve done a 12 trick combo now. And a combo that got me over 30,000 points.
I know, I know, lots of people can do combos in the millions, but 30,000 is good for me, okay?
Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land
Nov 23rd
I know, I know, worst title in the history of gaming.
But it’s the first online DS game out in the UK, so how was I meant to resist?
Setting it up to go online was incredibly easy. I typed in my SSID and WEP password and it got on the network without a single problem. In the world of wireless networking that’s incredible. I even had a chicken here ready to sacrifice. I guess I’ll have to keep him as a pet. I’ll call him Alamo.
Didn’t do much apart from test it out, mind. I did a couple of classic runs in the wireless section and was awful. I guess I need to play offline to work things out and upgrade stats and stuff. Seems to be a decent Tony Hawk game at first glance. I’ve had a few years away from them after getting incredibly tired of the whole thing around the time of the fourth game, so it should feel at least vaguely fresh.
Sonic Rush
Nov 20th
Zone four finished.
I still have no idea if the game’s any bloody good or not.
I just can’t tell.
Sonic Rush
Nov 20th
Not only do I die because I miss jumps, but it’s so colourful and it moves so fast that I can’t even tell what I actually failed to jump on. I’m just running and the game keeps making me go faster and faster and faster and faster and I can’t see what’s happpening and then I’m falling off the bottom of the level. Again.
I’m getting to old for this shit.
Yes, okay, so you can make a very, very fast Sonic game. Well done. Now how about one that’s actually playable for those of us who haven’t got the reflexes of a bluebottle on speed?
Sonic Rush
Nov 19th
::whimpers::
It does what it says on the tin.
It zooms by at an incredible speed – except when it locks you in a room and tells you to kill a certain number of enemies or when it inexplicably turns into Streets of Rage – and it’s on two screens and sometimes you stay on the same screen and some time you don’t and Sonic dances to the funky new music and does ‘rad’ tricks in mid-air and there are THREE buttons to worry about instead of one and and and and…
This is not your father’s Sonic.
Except, in other ways, it’s absolutely identical to every 2D Sonic game ever. Run left to right and straight into enemies and lose your rings and then kill the enemies and then miss the one annoying jump per level that makes you fall off the bottom and die and the voice of Tails is still extremely irritating and and and…
Well, it’s Sonic to the EXTREME and also to the MAX. Dudes.
I expect a new character called Poochie in the sequel.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Nov 19th
Hooray!
Episode three has finally been finished.
I got a bit stuck for a while, having missed an obvious contradiction in the witness testimony, but I got there in the end.
Now, do I move on to episode four or give Sonic Rush a go…?
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Nov 15th
Another day of twisty, turny investigation.
It’s really impossible to talk about, because just about anything I say would ruin it, but it is damn good stuff.
It’s a great time to be a gamer.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Nov 15th
I’m back!
Even though it’s been a few weeks since I last played I could remember where I was, more or less.
It’s just so good. It’s laugh-out-loud funny and just generally one of the best things to ever be shoved into a cartridge.
I’m up to the end of the first day of the third episode now. It’s not a small game.
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Oct 23rd
Was going to install Football Manager 2006, but somehow ended up switching the DS on instead. Started episode three, but almost as soon as I did the DS’s battery light went red. Played for a while, but got too worried about the thing dying and losing all my progress, so I saved the game and plugged it into the charger.
Damn battery-powered consoles.
