Week: End Game: On 08.13.11

Another week has come to an end and with the weekend upon us, let us look at what type of games the Nintendojo Staffers will be partaking in this weekend. So folks, what are you playing this weekend?

Mel Turnquist

With real world work killing away at my soul recent, I’ve been a little behind in the gaming front. However, that hasn’t stopped me from playing any newer games. Not for a long shot.

Lately, I’ve been playing Sakura Wars: Farewell My Love which I had bought for the Wii after months of curiosity. I’m enjoying it a lot. It has the combinations of a mecha anime, an RPG, and combines steampunk version of 1920s American culture fused with Japanese culture. It’s a very fascinating game and I have to say that I really have enjoyed it so far. I’m looking to finish up that game by the beginning of next week.

I have also been playing some Brain Age: Arts and Letters recently along with buying Mario Picross from the Virtual Console on the 3DS. I’m a sucker of a pretty good puzzle game, even if they may be deemed casual to some fans. They at least help me get through the days ahead. I’m also looking to play through Super Mario Galaxy 2 again soon.

Kevin Knezevic

This week I concluded my most recent playthrough of Star Fox Adventures. Despite having a few more rough edges than I remember, my opinion of the title is largely unchanged– I still found it to be a stunningly beautiful and enjoyable experience, certainly among the more competent Zelda clones. With it finally out of the way, I can now devote my attention to Shenmue, which had been set aside until the sufficient time presented itself.

I also played the odd session of Mario Kart Wii this past week. My friend had recently purchased the console (with the game bundled alongside it), and his eagerness to race has rekindled my interest in it. The game is much more fun than I generally give it credit for (though not quite up to par with Mario Kart DS) and especially so when you can shout obscenities at your opponent over Skype. I’m a pirate at heart, and the asphalt is my open sea.

Nicolas Vestre

Finally, after many hours of fun, I completed Mega Man Network Transmission for GameCube. That means collecting every Battle Chip, HP and memory power-up and S ranking every Navi (lots of times). I even managed to have nine lives at the end of it all.

I don’t think I have so vehemently disagreed with professional reviewers’ scores on a game as much as I have with Network Transmission. Metacritic gives the game an average score of 65; I feel that it deserves a far higher number than that. One recurring complaint is that the bosses are simply too hard. Let me tell you that not once did I find the bosses cheap or unbeatable. Almost every attack (with the exception of some of ProtoMan’s) can be completely avoided by learning the patterns of a boss– just like every classic Mega Man game. Most bosses will relent to anything from the Cannon chip family, all of which can be easily preset for any fight; that means no waiting for the right chip to randomly show up when you get to the boss. Another complaint is that level design is too tough, but I found several classic Mega Man levels much more difficult to master than Network Transmission‘s. Finally, getting everything in the game (especially the Battle Chips) was very satisfying. I recommend this game to anyone who wants a tough but fair challenge.

After a very trying final boss battle, I was able to finish Mega Man Legends 2. Even with the best equipment, this behemoth of a boss took a lot of effort to shut down. I admit that I used Roll’s Picnic Lunch that she always keeps in the fridge, as well as some Fried Chicken I found during my exploits. After expending those, I had a drink or two from my Energy Canteen (something which is a big no-no for me in classic Mega Man games). All in all, this game impressed me quite a bit. I found it to have significantly more depth over the first. Also, the ending does leave some questions, which don’t look like they will be answered any time soon. If you get a decent deal on eBay, this is a classic deserving a play.

Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero for DS has proven to be a charming little adventure. It keeps the collection aspect from the Wii iteration in that there are Elebits hiding in and under pretty much everything, and the watts are used to upgrade your friends, the Omegas, as well as open doors and such. Each level’s puzzles can be conquered by using the right Omega for the job– for example, marked spots on the ground (think Animal Crossing) can be dug up by an Earth Omega, which could reveal a secret passageway. Figuring out which Omega is needed for each situation is half the battle.

After completing Network Transmission, I moved on to Beyond Good & Evil for GameCube, a title I never got to experience back in the day due to limited funds. It’s still early days, but the game has so far been charming with great voice acting and unique characters. Taking pictures is awesome, too.

Lastly, I dove into The Sly Collection for PlayStation 3. My little cousins who live a few hours away absolutely love Sly Cooper, so I was ecstatic to find this game on sale at Best Buy for $20 a few months back! I haven’t gotten much chance to play it, but it looks very promising.

Andrew Hsieh

(I– what? I must have totally missed out on Brain Age: Arts and Letters, otherwise I would be arting and lettering all over the place. Though a quick Google tells me it’s a DSi game, so … well, there’s nothing doin’ on that part. Alas.)

I’m playing a bit of Ocarina of Time! Unfortunately, not having a 3DS yet kind of puts a damper on things, so I’m just playing Master Quest for the GameCube … on my Wii. It’s really a joy to return to Hyrule on the big screen, so I can only imagine how nice it is to see OoT on 3DS. That said, I’ve never beaten Master Quest, so I’ll probably spend less time wondering how great OoT really is and more time wondering about how to solve those darn puzzles. It’ll be fun, I think. Maybe.

I guess this isn’t the best place to talk about how I’ve also been playing Patapon 2 on PSP, but I’ve totally engaged myself in rhythm gaming lately too! I picked up a bargain bin copy of Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 3 and combined with my Mario Mix gamepad, it’s making losing those calories both fun and … well, not exactly easy, but at least it’s exercise. I get the feeling I’m playing it at least a little bit more than I’ve ever played Wii Fit, at least. Now if only I could find another dance mat and some friends to humiliate themselves with me …

Smith Stuart

Unsatisfied with the numerical ordering of my Pokémon, I recently decided to rearrange my boxes to evolutionary order. That means, to put it plainly, I inserted Gen.4’s Happiny and Gen.2’s Blissey before and after Gen.1’s Chansey. It’s pretty nifty, and it gives me a new appreciation for the different stages of inter-generational Pokémon. As you can imagine, the amount of work this feat demands is kind of a big deal.

And in a follow-up to last week’s exogaming (that means “real life stuff”), my neighbor received a Wii for his birthday – so that’s certainly good news for him. He’s only eight years old after all, so he isn’t quite old enough to be aware of the slow tide of decent games, the nonstop avalanche of shovelware, and the all-in-all general Great Tribulation period we are currently in. Yes, my friends – childhood is something to be treasured while it lasts!

Now don’t quote me on this, but I intend to get myself a 3DS very soon, what with the price slashing and several sure-fire titles on the horizon (like Level-5’s amazing Girl’s RPG Cinderelife Professor Layton series). Layton and I have become like peanut butter and jam, and I am eager for our readers to see how we first met face-to-face this coming week.

Now it’s your turn to share, what are you playing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!