A Gaming Diary
GBA
Chu Chu Rocket
May 3rd
GBA version.
Been so long since I played that I reset the records and then started puzzle mode from the beginning. Got twenty-seven done before Telewest turned up to tell me that they couldn’t fix my TV Drive and I have to wait for a software update some time this month.
Sonic Pinball Party
Apr 10th
Was bored at lunchtime, so pulled my Micro out of my pocket and this was the game in it. Played the NiGHTS table for ages and ages and ages and scored a massive 42,000,000 points, which I thought must be a good score until it showed me the high score, the lowest score on which is 56,000,000. Oh.
Final Fantasy IV
Jan 19th
Hmm, this is tricky. Tricky, tricky, tricky.
You see, there are these Yellow Jelly monsters that appear in groups of four. They don’t do much damage, but they can only be hurt by magical attacks. There’s only one person in my party who can do that sort of magic and she’s only got a limited number of magic points to spend.
Normally in a Final Fantasy I’d stock up on Ether, which recovers magic points, and we’d be all set. But there’s only one town I can get to this early in the game and it doesn’t sell Ether.
So I’m getting so far into the dungeon and these slimes appear and I’m all out of magic and there’s nothing I can see to do but turn off the Micro and try again. There doesn’t even seem to be any way to run away from a battle. That might be possible with a long button press, or something, but I’ll have to wait until this evening and check the manual to find that out.
Still, makes the bus journey fly by. Nearly missed my stop because of some pesky goblins this morning.
Final Fantasy IV
Jan 15th
It was in my Gameboy Micro waiting to be started.
I couldn’t resist.
It’s excellent, but it’s too late to explain why.
Bed time now, most definitely.
Christmas Gaming
Dec 26th
Well, my brother brought his PS2 home for Christmas, so I watched him play Need for Speed: Most Wanted. Looked much nastier than the 360 version, but it did seem smoother, oddly. It seemed to have a lower framerate, but not as weird-looking. Maybe. So I’ve no idea what’s wrong with the 360 version. Maybe it’s frame-skipping or something. I just know it looks odd. I’m just very confused.
Other than that, I just played the Gameboy Micro and DS. On the DS it was Animal Crossing all the way. Got the next house upgrade, but didn’t buy any turnips this week.
On the Micro I played Final Fantasy… and completed it! Yes! My first ever completed Final Fantasy. A little over twenty hours in total, I think. I missed out a whole optional dungeon and some optional bosses and there was at least one side quest I didn’t complete. But it’s finished. World saved and all that.
Then I moved on to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. I tried it before and got about three and a half hours in, but the distance between save points and controls annoyed me too much. It’s got such a good reputation that I thought I’d try again… and I’m only a couple of hours in, but I don’t like the controls and the save points are annoying me again. So I might not stick with it this time, either.
Game Boy Micro
Dec 23rd
I bought a silver one.
Came with a free copy of Banjo Pilot which, er, might not be completely awful. You never know.
Does it look nice? Well, yeah. I think it looks about 54% as nice as the Famicom one.
It’s funny. When I bought the Famicom one I was basically buying a fetish item. I was unconvinced of the actual utility, but in love with the look of thing. Since it arrived, though, it’s become an essential item. Even if I don’t play it on a certain day, I’m glad it’s in my pocket. It’s just something that’s there if you need it.
It’s like a mobile phone.
Or maybe a torch.
Or deodorant.
You know.
Game Boy Micro
Dec 23rd
I stepped on it.
It broke.
I am… unhappy.
It needs replacing. Now. However, all the UK colours are rubbish. Oh well, I guess I’ll have to suck it up and get one from Game this afternoon, even if it won’t look as nice as the Famicom one there. Assuming I can afford it. This is a bad time of year for things to break.
Dr Mario & Puzzle League
Nov 29th
A new GBA game that does what it says on the tin. Nintendo seem to have snuck this one out. It doesn’t seem to be widely available and I wouldn’t have known it existed if it hadn’t been for a “Happy Birthday Mario” promo card that fell out of MCV the other week.
But it’s a version of Puzzle League that I can play on my Micro, so how I could refuse?
(For anyone in the dark, Puzzle League – also known as Tetris Attack and Panel de Pon, or something – is a Tetris-a-like that involves swapping blocks to form lines of three or more as they rise towards the ceiling. It’s probably my favourite of these types of puzzle game.)
It must be said, it reeks of a “will this do?” mentality. The interface is just a dodgy black font on a white background and while it does save high scores it only saves one for each game mode and not the variations in those modes. So Marathon has one high score, no matter which level and speed you started on. Which is fair enough, I guess, but not great. It does pack in a sleep mode, mind, which is nice.
The real “what the hell?” moment comes at the end of Marathon games. It plays the credits at the end. In full. And they’re unskippable. I think it’s only if you’ve got a new high score, but still, what were they thinking?
So, yes, if you want Puzzle League (or Dr Mario, I suppose, but I’ve not tried that yet) to play on your Micro, then this is what you need. But, really, compared to lavish attention that was paid to the old GBC Pokemon Puzzle League title this is just very lazy.
Gunstar Super Heroes
Nov 11th
Moon 2.
There’s a vertically scrolling shooter section.
Normally, that’s my favourite style of game IN THE WORLD EVER.
But I just can’t get past this bit. Grr.
