SwooshBear wrote:I really enjoy SML1 so I figured I might as well play the sequel. Its Just like any other Mario game, kinda reminded me of SMW because of the layout of the levels on a world map and the overall look/style. It was pretty easy, but Wario's castle at the end was by far a difficulty change for the worst. I died about 20 times before I even made it to Wario. To get in Wario's castle, you have to get each golden coin from the 6 different worlds. If you get a game over, you lose all the golden coins you've collected. Plus there's no halfway points in Wario's castle. That pissed me off. Not a bad game, but I'm glad it's over. I recommend the first one only.
played this a few years ago, and i remember that the last stage is way harder than the rest of the game. i don't remember that thing about having to get the golden coins again every time, but i guess it must've been b/c i never got a game over. there are plenty of 1ups in the game, though, right? but what i really don't understand is how anyone could prefer SML1 over SML2. in any case, i'm looking forward to replaying SML2 at some point.
I only prefer SML1 because it's more like classic Mario and it's more of a challenge. I also grew up with it and I love the soundtrack.
Incognito D wrote:Mere months after buying my original GBA, Nintendo trolled me hard by releasing the SP.
*New*Demon's Souls (PS3) I first borrowed this game from my local Library and played for a few hours and didn't like it at all. The controls felt all wrong, difficulty felt cheap and not much was explained. Then after christmas I spotted it in a boxing day sale for 10 bucks, so I said, sure, I'll give you another chance. So glad I did. One of my favourite RPGs now.
Now, it does have some problems, the camera can be finky in tight spaces, the lock on system doesn't always help you, and as I said, not much is explained in game, forcing you to read about it online. These are the biggest problems, but once you actually get down to it and start figuring the game out, it gets so fun.
Learning from your mistakes actually matters in this game, and it feels so rewarding when you finally pass a section that was troubling you. It can be frustrating, but to me that just pushed me harder. Id quit for the day and then just spend hours thinking up how I could beat a section, and sooner or later my quitting for the day didn't really stick. Overall it took me about 25 hours to complete, including the optional bosses. I have yet to do all the upgrading and such, but I can see myself playing through again, so maybe one day I will get the Platinum trophy. I urge everyone with a PS3 to check this game out, and if at first you don't like it, push through for a while, read online, keep going, because if it does click eventually, my god, its such and experience.
Total: 2
Up next? Oh man, no idea. I've got a stack of sealed games from Walmarts 1 dollar sale in front of me, my charity auction items are starting to come in, I have about 20 odd games from the steam holiday sale and another stack from boxing day deals. And on top of that everything that I still had yet to beat. I think I need to go with a shorter game next though. Both Red Dead and Demons Souls took a while.
They released "Dante's Inferno" for the 360 via their Games on Demand list. Picked it up (for $30), and I'm already deep into the Greed circle and just passed Fulvia (I just Punished her greedy ass) and purchased the Sacred Quake move.
I'm currently playing on easy mode.
Also, in "Dead Rising 2: Case Zero", I'm up to Level 5 and now, I'm just gonna focus on finding the survivors, getting all the weapon combos, and then I'm gonna finish the bike and kill that fat hick fucker with the pitchfork/shotty combo (Damn it all to Hell, I hate that bigoted fucker and wish I had more shit to kill his ass with).
And in "Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX", got to the boss at Level 7, though I don't have the L-2 sword yet or all the hearts and heart pieces.
And speaking of LoZ, I'm taking a break from "Parallel Worlds" (the LttP hack).
I just beat the Campaign mode of Call of Duty Black Ops, which I bought for the online play. Did not expect much from the story mode, and did not get much, very disappointing game- fun, but stupid- awesome voice acting cast though (Gary Oldman and Ed Harris)
Made it to the Boiling River of Blood in the Violence Circle of Hell in "Dante's Inferno". Already unlocked 23 of 54 Achievements, with a Gamerscore of 390. After I beat the game on Easy, aside from going for the other three difficulty levels (possibly), I plan on getting the Trials of St. Lucia expansion.
Serious Sam: The Second Encounter (PC)(FPS) X-Men: Mutant Academy (PS1)(Fighting) Street Fighter Alpha (PS2)(Fighting) Extermination (PS2)(Survival Horror) Spyro the Dragon (PS1)(Platformer) Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage! (PS1)(Platformer) Myst III: Exile (PC)(Graphic Adventure) Shaq Fu (GEN)(Fighting)
TOTAL: 8
Ok, so that's three different releases of this game that I've played now, and I can still say that the Game Boy version impressed me the most. I'd also say that the Genesis version actually felt worse than the SNES version, though admittedly both suffer from the noticeable delay in animation, poor controls, lack of solid control in the air...basically I'd say the controls are really what kills this, though the hit detection would be a close second. The AI isn't the best, but I've seen considerably worse.
I couldn't quite place my finger on why the controls and animation bothered me so much until I read the back of the box today. It turns out the animation was handled by the guys who did Flashback. Flashback worked quite well for a cinematic platformer, but as a fighting game it doesn't work, with the shoddy hit detection and 3-button Genesis controller just compounding the problem (look, I try to play games with the base controller unless a new one comes packaged with the game). I'll admit I was impressed again by the fluidity of movement, but it's not the crisp motion I need in a fighter. To add to the problem, at certain points those poor controls I mentioned seemed to become completely unresponsive, so I would perform an entirely different attack or movement from the one I wanted to perform. It also doesn't help that Shaq's special moves felt largely useless; I relied more on jumping or kicking forward to get into the fight, and then quickly crouching and getting in as many light kicks as I could before sweeping my opponent and then moving back in to repeat the process.
But does Shaq Fu deserve its horrendous reputation? I'd say no, at least not in its current form. Shaq Fu is undoubtedly nowhere near the best fighter of the era or on the consoles it appears on, but I know from experience that there are worse fighters on the SNES. The Flashback-esque animations are at least interesting, character designs are unusual if nothing else, and I liked being able to wander the realm during the storyline to pick where I would be fighting next. I do feel the audio was lacking, and the colors looked washed out, but that could be the shoddy hookups on the Model 1 Genesis I was using (thrift store find, you take what you can get).
I won't criticize the storyline because fighters generally have ridiculous storylines. That may seem like a cop out, but really how much worse is it for a well-known basketball star to wander into a curio shop in Chinatown and end up heading into an alternate dimension to rescue a man's kidnapped son when you have other series involving tournaments to decide whether a four-armed gorilla and a soul sucking sorcerer get to take over the Earth (Mortal Kombat), a criminal terrorist organization led by a crazy dictator-wannabe going head to head with what's apparently just a few random folks who happen to be able to shoot fireballs from their hands (Street Fighter), and....Hell, I don't even know what's going on in The King of Fighters. My favorite character to play in that series is apparently an assassin android programmed to act like a 12-year-old girl. Who am I to judge whether a basketball star can fight an Egyptian mummy for the fate of a small Chinese boy's soul? It's vaguely like The Golden Child, except I get to scream "Shaq Attack!" every time I win a match.
1. Trax (GB) Short but sweet, only being able to rotate the cannon one way adds more depth to the gameplay rather than being a liability. 2. New Adventure Island (TG-16) Faster than Mario, more straightforward than Sonic. My first TG-16 game, I loved how vibrant and colorful everything was. Highly recommended. 3. Super Mario RPG (SNES) *new* Had a blast with this one, felt that the graphics have aged surprisingly well and the charm is undeniable.
"There are two ways to get enough. One way is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." G.K. Chesterton
