What Did You Play? I’m a Lazy Jerk Edition (April-May 2015)
HELLO WORLD
Sorry about the hiatus, part of my biannual Nintendorks Writers’ Guild licensure. Do try and look backwards through the fog of time as best you’re able, and recall what amusements engaged you in the middle and late spring.
Spelunky, Pinball Arcade, chess, etc.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – I will forever be bad at fighting games but as fanservice goes THIS is how you do it. With a cast size comparable to that of MVC2 but without reliance on several games’ worth of ripped sprites, it’s clear how much care and work went into this one. So much character and so many unique details in intro and end quotes. The fighting is crazy and I pretty much just do basic launch combos, but it’s fun all the same.
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies – I’ve not plaid Apollo Justice yet, but have played the rest of the main series (that got translated), and this is certainly on par with them. Not the best nor the worst entry, but I was so happy to dive into that world again for the first time in a while. The 3D models are wonderfully expressive. Downsides are what feels like a slightly neutered investigation segment (given that you can only investigate specific places now) and a story that doesn’t *quite* match the crazy intensity of the original trilogy, but some really great moments all the same. Still haven’t picked up the bonus case; we’ll see when the urge hits again.
Mighty Switch Force! (2!) – Fantastic little puzzle/action games. I waver on whether WayForward pretty much did all they could with the level designs, or if they should have included a stage editor. Still, going for par times and such kept me fairly busy, and most of the levels were clever and satisfying. A great buy on sale
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U – At the library, of all places. It’s Smash. I’m bad at it because I haven’t played in forever, and don’t own the new one, and, as mentioned, am bad at fighting games.
A bunch of arcade games, and Attack from Mars pinball – At the spring meeting of SC3, held in a private arcade. Among all the classics I’ve had fleeting opportunities to play before, one big surprise was a game from Atari called Peter Packrat that I’d never heard of before. The animation is great and very charming for a mid-80s arcade game.
3D Thunder Blade – The hardest to recommend of the Sega 3D Classics next to Altered Beast. It does play a bit funky and is rather short and shallow. HOWEVER, it isn’t awful, and the graphics are fantastic, scrolling very smoothly and looking great in 3D. Galaxy Force II remains the king of the “into the screen”-style Sega arcade rail shooters. As a loving rendition of a somewhat historic but underplayed game, this is an important and interesting release. Even if you don’t like the game itself, the $5.99 is almost justified once again by the credits alone.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon – All of the hype over a certain Kickstarter campaign got me back in the mood for this one. I forgot how hard it can be, especially without the right combination of cards! Currently stuck at Dracula.
Uniracers – I need to replace the battery in the cart I picked up, but it’s nice to play this again after so many years. I forgot how fast it was!
Yoshi’s Safari – Cute bosses, but a big *yawn* otherwise for the most part. I forgot how heavy the Super Scope feels after a while. Also played a little Super Scope 6 as long as I had the damn thing out.
More if I can think of them and anything special to say, but those are probably the highlights! WHAT DID YOU PLAY?????????????