$30 Good?

Trine is good. People keep comparing it to The Lost Vikings, but there're some pretty big fundamental differences between the two games... Then again, I understand the need for some kind of touchstone in journalism, adding historical weight to something new. Anyway, yeah, Trine is good. $30 good? Maybe; depends on whether you really like that kind of game or not. $20 good? Definitely. There's nothing wrong with Trine, but the concept does get kind of old before long, and the game is definitely lacking polish. The menus and loading screens, the way the models animate and interact with the environments, and even the character development in terms of narrative... They all just seem decidedly low-budget. Not bad, mind you; they're perfectly passable. It's just that when I play games like World Of Goo, 'splosion Man, and even Penny Arcade Adventures and see just how slick they are, it gets a little bit harder to swallow the price premium for Trine. I still recommend grabbing the demo and deciding for yourself though.

Picked-up Guitar Hero Unplugged and Dissidia: Final Fantasy for PSP. The former is fun, but then I was never a big fan of Frequency or Amplitude... Dissisdia, like Crisis Core, had me thoroughly confused at first; Super Smash Bros. gameplay and these weird boardgame maps between battles... The tutorials didn't really help either. After settling into the actual game though, things started to make more sense. I like the strategy, but I foresee plenty of grinding in this one. I found the grind acceptable in Crisis Core on account of the storyline and other available activities, and while a lot of that is present here, it feels much less cohesive... Let's see if it drags me in.

Heh, why not...

PS3 Slim Size Comparison

Holy Crap!

3D Dot Game Heroes

Also, I picked-up a copy of ToeJam & Earl for Genesis, and I finished Sonic Adavce 2.

Seriously, it's a Sonic game!

I finished Mirror's Edge (without using any guns). It was really good. I'm not sure what everyone was complaining about when it came out though... Yeah, the cutscenes felt rough when juxtaposed with the super slick game engine, and the main campaign is kinda short, but there's a huge amount of replay value in there. Mirror's Edge really is like a Sonic The Hedgehog game; you can finish it in no time, but if you want to get the most out of it, you practice your routes, scour levels for secrets, and strive for achievements that actually mean something... And it becomes a whole new game. I definitely had to repeat a few sections ad nauseam, but it was usually because I was trying to neutralise every enemy without firing a shot when I should've been running like hell. My only real complaints are the out-of-place cutscenes, some trite dialogue, and the odd environment element that didn't turn red when it should've (that's how the game helps you find a route through the level); otherwise, it was well worth my time, and I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

Oh, and I finally tracked-down a copy of Ristar for Genesis!

Summer of...

Everything you've read about XBOX Live's Summer of Arcade titles is true. 'splosion Man is great fun, with its fast-paced mix of platform and puzzle action. Trials HD is gorgeous in its simplicity (and graphics), resulting in an delightfully addictive experience. Turtles In time Re-Shelled is alright, but ultimately disappointing, Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.

Moving on, the final battle in Sonic Advance 2 wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to fight the boss that can randomly kill you with one hit and spends two thirds of the battle off-screen... Again! He was annoying enough the first time at the end of Sky Canyon, and now they're making me fight him again? Fuck.

In other news, I picked-up an Epson R300 complete with ink on the cheap off craigslist in order to print on CDs. Ooh, and then I ran into an issue with a computer I was asked to repair in a rush. First diagnosis was bad RAM after failed tests. I got it running properly the same day, but with only one stick. The guy came back wanting to buy more RAM, and so I took it again and looked into things further before spending any money... It should've hit me as soon as I saw the purple PCB of the motherboard; yup, yet another failing ECS product. I swapped-in a BioStar U8668-D v7.1 (had an extra one lying around that I'd saved from the trash), but he had a 2.4GHz "Prescott" Pentium 4 in that ECS board... v7.1 of the BioStar board doesn't support "Prescott" CPUs. So I've donated my P4 2.8Bto the cause and put an old P4 2.4B in my workhorse. I now have two 2.4GHz "Prescott" CPUs (at least one of which overclocks to a stable 3.6GHz on stock cooling) just lying around.

Wax Nostlagic.

I have a soft spot for SEGA's 32X, probably because it was the first contemporary video game system (not counting PCs) that my parents ever bought for me. I'd rescued a ColecoVision from a garbage can, acquired an Atari 2600 in a trade with a friend, and my grandparents had given me a Game Boy when it was first released, but the 32X was when my parents finally broke down ;) They got me a model 2 Genesis with Sonic 2 and a Menacer, as well as a 32X with Virtua Racing Deluxe... I don't think you understand just what a momentous occasion that was in my family.

As I reflect on fiddling with the electromagnetic shields to fit them into the Genesis' cartridge slot, and then suffering my mother's comment of "Don't games on the computer look better than that?" upon seeing Virtua Racing Deluxe, I can't help but feel that it was somewhat of a bittersweet experience. Then again, I got to play an excellent port of Virtua Fighter at home without shelling-out for a Saturn, and at the time, that was more than enough for me. The fact that I also got to enjoy the entire Genesis library as well as sweet 32X games like After Burner Complete, Knuckles' Chaotix, Kolibri, Mortal Kombat II, Tempo, Shadow Squadron, Space Harrier, Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Racing Deluxe, and Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 ain't so bad either... And I'm sure I learned a lesson in there somewhere, making-do with what I had.

What's with the sudden bout of nostalgia? Well, new developements regarding two particular unreleased 32X games have been brought to my attention:

1. A prototype of Virtua Hamster has been dumped! Yes, Virtua Hamster... Seriously, check it out. I always wondered exactly what this game was gonna be like, and now I have a much better idea. There're videos on YouTube if you don't feel like tracking down the dump and an emulator.
2. Videos have surfaced of the 32X-exclusive X-MEN game!!! I remember drooling over screenshots of this thing back in the day, and I recall the alpha/prototype/promo/whatever copy selling on eBay for like $1000 not too long ago... Videos here, and more info here! The ROM has been dumped, but does not currently run on any emulators.
   

In other news, don't pay me to fix your computer, only to remove all of the anti-virus and ant-spyware measures I installed, install your own shitty anti-virus software, get duped by fake anti-virus software that isn't what you installed, and then ask me to fix it again. Ugh.

Should've made the connection sooner...

Mirror's Edge is Sonic The Hedgehog in 3D. It's easy to muddle your way through each game, but the real experience lies in the challenge of mastering a fluid path through each level without losing momentum.

Speaking of Sonic The Hedgehog, I'm on the final battle of Sonic Advance 2.

Speaking of portables, I picked up a copy of Puzzle Link for Neo Geo Pocket Color today.

Speaking of what I picked up today, I also bought a copy of X-Perts for Genesis today. Yes, it's kind of awful (though the gameplay design is pretty interesting), but I don't think I'd ever actually seen a copy of it before and it was under $10.

Oh, and I've finished On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 2. It was fantastic; a slick mix of adventure gaming and RPGs, less repetitive than its predecessor, and hilariously entertaining. Man, I hope Episode Three gets made. I've since installed Planescape: Torment... Looks like Majora's Mask is gonna hafta wait a little longer.

Might As Well

Used the trade-in value from what I didn't keep of that PC Engine lot toward GunHed for PC Engine, The House Of The Dead: Overkill and MadWorld for Wii, and Ninja Gaiden II for XBOX 360.

Finally got past Sky Canyon in Sonic Advance 2, and Techno Base is proving to be less frustrating. I appreciate the familiarisation required to really master the game, but it does make it far less accessible... I would've preferred fewer ramps that throw the player into bottomless pits during simple playthroughs of the levels ;)

Progress

I finished the single-player campaign of Gears Of War 2. It was great, though the ending did feel a little rushed; still one of the most viscerally entertaining games out there though. So now I've jumped into On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode Two, and it's just as delightfully hilarious and fun as the first one. I think Mirror's Edge will be next.

The Sky Canyon boss fight in Sonic Advance 2 is still frustrating me, as is the final battle in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.

Happy Birthday!

Yes it is my birthday today, and on a potentially cosmically-related note, I purchased something from craigslist last night. I though I was getting a PC Engine, two controllers, Be Ball (Chew-Man-Fu), Berabo Man (Bravo Man), Darius Plus, Obocchama-Kun, and Yokai Dochuki for $80 CDN. What I actually got was a PC Engine CoreGrafx, complete in its original packaging with two matching controllers, a Battle Tap, and all five of those games complete and in immaculate condition!

Realistic average eBay prices are as follows:

• CoreGrafx (boxed): ~$100
• Second controller: ~$40
• Battle Tap: ~$25
• Be Ball: ~$20
• Berabo Man: ~$35
• Darius Plus: ~$40
• Obocchama-Kun: ~$50
• Yokai Dochuki: ~$15

...So a ~$325 lot for $80? Not bad. I'll flip the system, the Battle Tap, and most of the games. I think I'll keep the second controller, Darius Plus, and Be Ball.

My Wishlist

I'd like to get the following Atari Jaguar games:

• I-War
• Iron Solider 2
• Missile Command 3D
• Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
• Power Drive Rally
• Protector SE
• Ruiner Pinball
• Skyhammer
• Zero 5

...And I guess a copy of BattleSphere Gold would be nice ;) Unfortunately, even without BattleSphere, that's all gonna cost more that I've already put into my entire Jaguar collection. Boo to that.

In other news, I got $25 for the ten remaining PSX games from that lot I mentioned in my last post :)