What are you playing?

[Luke]

Until the last few hours, Shenmue is all about wasting time.

Reggie Jackson Baseball on the Sega Master System. One of my top three favorite Baseball games. It's also the first game I felt that captured the feeling of a baseball arcade game. It is fast paced, has great graphics, and the umpire even calls out balls and strikes. The first Ken Griffey Jr. game on the snes seems to take a page from Reggie and roid it up, and I love Jr.'s game, but usually I prefer Reggie's.

edit* And now, the weekend really begins...

[Kidpanda]

Been playing MFBL and beat Super Thunder Blade earlier today, been trying to 1cc it for a couple of months. I ended up beating it on my PSTV using the analog controller which I guess kinda helped with its horrid/floaty controls.

[Luke]

Super Thunder Blade earlier today, been trying to 1cc it for a couple of months.

Holy Toledo. That would be incredible.

Beat the three Ninja Gaiden games on the NES, skipped NG on the xbox, and started NG2 on the 360. Loving every minute of it.

[Exhuminator]

I've got 13 hours in King's Field II. I think I'm getting close to the end. Going to hit the Elf Shrine and Necro's Coliseum tonight. Not sure what's after that though because I'm not using a walkthrough to beat this game.

I've also got about 5 hours in Trauma Center 2 on DS. I just started chapter 5 in it. I think there's 7 chapters, so I'm likely over halfway done now. It improves on the first DS game in some tangible ways, but the story this time really seems haphazard (though still entertaining). There's more variety to the surgical operations than the first game had though. It's alright, but it's no Trauma Team.

Lastly I'm nearing 6 hours in Professor Layton & The Diabolical Box on DS. I'm having a hard time staying interested in this one. The story's mystique and plot pacing really fell apart compared to the first game. The puzzles aren't as good either. I'm just trying to push myself through in hopes of better games in the series. I'm glad Level-5 changed directors permanently after the first two games in this franchise. You can tell the seeds of greatness are there, they just need a better master gardener to fully grow.

[Snatch1414]

Until the last few hours, Shenmue is all about wasting time.

Reggie Jackson Baseball on the Sega Master System. One of my top three favorite Baseball games. It's also the first game I felt that captured the feeling of a baseball arcade game. It is fast paced, has great graphics, and the umpire even calls out balls and strikes. The first Ken Griffey Jr. game on the snes seems to take a page from Reggie and roid it up, and I love Jr.'s game, but usually I prefer Reggie's.

edit* And now, the weekend really begins...

Never played Reggie Jackson, but I think Great Baseball is pretty decent for the time. I actually have a sealed copy of Reggie Jackson that I got for like $10 haha. Maybe I can find a cheap cart.

[retrosportsgamer]

Reggie Jackson put a good whooping on me every time I played (and this was in the last 4 years).

[Luke]

Reggie Jackson put a good whooping on me every time I played (and this was in the last 4 years).

It's one of the few games that I enjoy even when the AI kicks my tail. And after all these years I have no clue what teams are "good" or "bad" as I usually get stomped no matter who I choose.

A few select Summer games:

[Exhuminator]

I think it's awesome that Luke understand some games are really better played at certain times of year. Endless Ocean is absolutely a summer time game, and so is its sequel Endless Ocean: Blue World. I'm looking forward to seeing your thoughts on the first one Luke. Personally I'm a huge fan of both the Endless Summer games on Wii. They are wonderful underwater exploratory simulations and each game has its own idiosyncrasies versus the other that make both plays a distinct experience. I do not prefer either to the other because of that. AWESOME EXPERIENCES both.

---------

Personally I've been playing Trauma Center: Under The Knife 2 on DS. I'm trying to get to the point where I've beat all five games in this series. I've already beaten Trauma Center: Under The Knife, Trauma Center: New Blood, and Trauma Team. I just need to finish Trauma Center: Under The Knife 2 and Trauma Center: Second Opinion. Anyway, I'm on chapter 6 now in TC:UTK 2, and there's supposedly only 7 chapters in the game. So I'm likely close to finishing it. Here's some screenshots because pixels:

[Luke]

I think it's awesome that Luke understand some games are really better played at certain times of year.

I think most of us here are like that. Ya know, horror games in October, games like Shenmue and Batman Returns during the Christmas season...It adds to the fun of the game.

I have a few hours logged in on Endless Ocean and have loved every second of it. Love the fact that someone was able to go to a production company and say "Scuba simulator" and have it approved. That had to be a pretty difficult sell. Also crazy how a game where you really don't do much and have no fear of death turned out to be so much fun.

Totally have a tendency to play sports games during their post-seasons. I'll still play PGA Tour '96 during The Masters. It's also a fun way to revisit games that may have been on the shelf for too long.

[Exhuminator]

Love the fact that someone was able to go to a production company and say "Scuba simulator" and have it approved.

There's actually a lot of history to how these games made it to the Wii. I will refrain from going into that amount of detail though. I will offer a bit of trivia though. Endless Ocean and Endless Ocean: Blue World are actually part of a series of games Arika has produced for a while. Before that, Arika produced Everblue and Everblue 2 on PS2. (Both had English releases.) The Wii games are basically Everblue 3 and Everblue 4 all things considered.

But even before those games, Artdink was producing the Aquanaut's Holidy games on PS1. Arika obviously pulled a lot of influence from Artdink's earlier works. So if you enjoy Endless Ocean a whole lot, be sure and check out the Everblue and Aquanaut series.

Here's some cover art because I love cover art: