Aussie Ben

I really, really liked Soundvoyager. Played through that one entirely. But I think I'm the only one that did. Although, it is hilarious that a game based solely on stereo sound is made for a system which has only one speaker (PLUG IN THOSE HEADPHONES!).

YES. Goddamn thing that doesn't say what it is until you meet someone in the cave who just says "OH HO HO, IT GETS HARDER FROM HERE! AND IF YOU LEAVE, YOU HAVE TO START AGAIN!"

Oh wow hey, you know what else! You can download MORE Picross puzzles from Nintendo via the Interborg! Including puzzles from the old GB Mario's Picross games! My friend has downloaded this onto a flash cart to check it out, and man, they've really got the interface down pat. Waiting for my copy to arrive is becoming agony. I actually dug out my old GB Mono version of Mario's Picross to dull the ache a little.

This thread got me thinking: there's been some really awesome moments in the Zelda games - whether through storytelling or puzzle revelation. It's probably best if you've played through the Zelda games (as undoubtedly, this thread will be spoilerriffic) but I'll hide my thoughts in spoiler tags to keep you virgins safe and enjoy the moments I'm gushing about for yourself: Link's Awakening: Oracle of Ages: Ocarina of Time: Majora's Mask: Twilight Princess: Those are the moments that truly stick out in my mind, even today. How about you?

Wow, I'd totally forgotten about that moment at the end of Wind Waker. Yeah, that was some really special stuff. Yes, yes, YES! Absolutely. Tetra is awesome, man, what a fantastic character! So glad that SHE is returning in Phantom Hourglass. Although I'm sure that could all change, especially with this extra year dev time.

This is also true. At work, my friend and I were listening to another friend who had bought a copy of Zelda to go with his newly acquired Wii. "Here I am, seeing everyone say "WOW THIS SLINGSHOT IS AWESOME I TOTALLY WANT A SLINGSHOT! SLINGSHOT SLINGSHOT SLINGSHOT!" So off I go to get a slingshot - just sitting there, in the store. But, OF COURSE, I can't actually buy a SLINGSHOT!" And really, it makes logical sense - the first thing you'd want to do after hearing about the desperate pleas for a slingshot is, you know, BUY A SLINGSHOT. But, having being trained in the (perhaps Gabriel Knight III-esque?) ways of Zelda, any gamer who has played a couple of games of Zelda before knows that this doesn't mean "Go buy a slingshot". No! In its cryptic fashion, it means "Oh hey, here's this awesome item but there's no way you'll be able to get it yet! Why don't you go fishing or knock down beehives or something, you loser. Wow, what a loser you are for not knowing that! Loser." Similarly, while a Zelda fan knows that a wall with two torches on it = BOMB THE WALL!!!, your average game player who didn't play Zelda for twelve years will think "Oh a wall, now where's that exit?". Some of the stuff simply doesn't read well to those who haven't played repeated adventures in the series, and looking at it from an outsider's perspective, some of this stuff is really cryptic. Like Karl Pilkington cryptic. Craptic, as it were.

I thought it was going to be one picture of two or three guys, sitting on a park bench, possibly with some Peter Andre midi music of "Mysterious Girl". And perhaps an "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" animated gif. Needless to say, I was sorely disappointed.

Oh man, you too? Yeah, I borrowed Link's Awakening off a friend - it was the first Zelda game I ever played, and just couldn't put it down. (Ho ho ho! You can't hurt me while I'm in my bottle!) A really rich story (let's ignore that bottle quote though), and some incredible graphics for a GB mono title. After playing that first then going to Link to the Past, it still blows me away that people say that LTTP is the better title. It just seems to be a retarded hippo by comparison. I mean, come on - you can't even customise what weapons you want to use with the A and B Buttons! No Bomb Arrows? No kickarse combination of the Boomerang and Shield? I'm completely unstoppable with that! Part of it is probably because it's the first Zelda game I played, but I honestly still believe that Link's Awakening is the superior title. It was funny when I played Ocarina of Time next, thought "Wow, this is great!" And then I played Link to the Past and thought "Wait a minute, I know what happens next here..." Deja vu all over again. And again. And again. Still a fun game though.

Yeah, I know that, which is why I didn't say "Oracle of Seasons and the crossover code that lets you face Ganon in the Oracle of Ages". Maybe. And don't get me wrong - one or two games where you face Ganon is fine. It's when EVERY MAIN GAME IN THE SERIES retreads the exact same story that I start to get a bit annoyed and bored of it all. Wind Waker Spoiler And I suppose my theory is a bit flawed with the whole Zelda II thing - I never could get through it, so I never knew. Didn't like the whole "repeatedly hit a billion enemies to up those stats!" thing. But apparently other games did, so go figure. In summary: I like Link's Awakening the best.

Generally, aim for Zeldas where Ganon isn't the villain. Which can be very hard to do! I prefer my games where they don't retread the same hero/villain every time. Therefore, go for: - Link's Awakening (but you already played that, apparently) - Oracle of Seasons - Oracle of Ages (evil possessing witch monster woman!) - Majora's Mask (Demonic imp child who wants to end the world in three days!) - Minish Cap (Evil wizard of evil that isn't Ganon!) Hooray for originality! It's a relief when I don't see a Zelda game ending with Link killing Ganon and rescuing Zelda. Those ones are my favourites. Also, if you love sailing (and boy do I mean absolutely LOOOOOVE sailing!) then Wind Waker is for you. If you prefer poking through dungeons, not spending ten minutes watching telly while you point the boat in the general direction of the next island and so forth, then you might want to give it a miss. And don't you have a Wii or something? You can play GameCube games on the Wii, you know.

I'll bet it is. Those games in the WarioWare series always seem to be the best ones. The one in Touched! was absolute genius, and really addictive.

Up-crust den.

Oh, just had a look at Hoodlum Havoc GC - after all that, it turns out that I can't help you, sorry. I have two saved games - a regular one, where I'm about halfway through the game, and a cheater's game, where I just maxed my score out to 99999999 using an action replay. I can't see the 2D platformer on either of those, and I seem to have been too lazy to finish any of the bonus games. Sorry. As for Rayman Rabbids DS, I'll definitely be checking that out. Looks like fun - a sort of hybrid between Rabbids Wii and Rabbids GBA. Neat!

Basically, it goes like this: Wario Land: Mario Land 3 Wario as lead character. Main focus of game is cash (ie, payment for bonus game entry, and other things as well I think). Power ups similar system to SMB (ie, hit blocks and they'll pop out from the top). Power ups are Garlic, Bull Helmet, Dragon Helmet and Jet Helmet. Features overworld map similar to Mario World. VB Wario Land Sequel to Mario Land 3. Focus on treasure and cash. Power-up system from Wario Land returns, enhanced. Grab Garlic, Bull Helmet, Dragon Helmet, Jet Helmet for power ups. Grab the Dragon Helmet when you have the Jet Helmet (or vice versa) for all three powerups simultaneously. Focus is on time - you must escape the underground pits before time runs out. New to the game is the concept of depth - Wario can jump between the foreground and background at key points. Wario Land II Total revamp of Wario gameplay. Impossible for Wario to die - instead, any enemies only hinder him. Get touched by skeletons to turn into a zombie - you can fall through floors, which is usually a problem, but sometimes a help. Light or water will revert Wario back to normal. Similar methods for other status conditions (fire, spring, flat, drunk - censored to 'crazy' in English releases, etc.). After completing first run through, a world map opens up showing which worlds have secret exits - it's up to the player to find them. Once completing all sub-paths, final level unlocks. Wario Land 3 Similar gameplay to Wario II - again, impossible for Wario to die. Most status conditions from Wario II return, along as new ones (frozen, Vampire, etc). Wario starts of with no abilities (swimming, butt stomping, etc.), but gains these through treasures as he progresses. Each world has four treasures to find. Most cannot be found on first play through. Game implements a day/night system which alters levels (tide may be in, light may gone, causing problems for Zombie Wario, etc.). Wario Land 4 Revamp of Wario gameplay again. Now possible for Wario to die again. Status conditions do remain though. Level exit locks up upon entry. Must progress through each world, amassing treasure and finding "Keyzer", a floating key to escape. Four quarters of a special gem should be found as well. Upon grabbing Keyzer and pressing the Frog Switch, the exit opens, and a timer begins to count down. World path also changes. Must find exit before time runs out and you die. As you collect treasure, a silver bar fills up. If you grab treasure when the bar is full, your points are worth more than normal. When you get hit, you lose the bar and must refill it before you can get bonus points again. Getting gold ranks in levels requires clever use of silver bar.

I concur. Wario Land 1 is a defining moment in Game Boy game history. Wario's first starring role, and it really shines. You eat garlic (instead of mushrooms) to grow big, and get three different helmets to whack enemies with - the Bull Helmet, the Dragon Helmet (breathe fire!) and the Jet Helmet (which allows you to dash in the air). There's fifty hidden treasures in the game, and alternate paths in the overworld map, similar to Mario World. A sweet little game, I'm still looking for a copy to call my own.

Oh my god oh my god oh my god! It looks like you can make your own Picross puzzles too! Could this get ANY BETTER? Edit: Why yes! Yes it could! I CAN SEND MY CUSTOM PICROSS PUZZLES TO OTHER PEOPLE, APPARENTLY.

PICROSS. A combination of the words "Picture" and "Crossword". You chip away the squares according to the numbers on the sides of the grid. When you're done, you reveal a picture. It's really great.

...you mean you're not? The illusion is shattered forever! I WISH I had an imaginary Wii devkit throne.

I am an absolute nutter - I love creating my own avatars, it means that I don't have the same image as everyone else, like Mario getting 1UPs off of Peach, or an angry looking baby with text in Impact font saying something from World of Warcraft. Wheee!

So, according to GameSpy, there was only GBA game worth playing for the WHOLE OF LAST YEAR, and that game was a port of an archaic SNES game. Die. The Americans actually get a localized version of Drill Dozer, and no-one plays it? Where's the goddamned justice in that? Seriously, if you live in the US or Canada, and like to have fun, please buy Drill Dozer. It's brilliant. And only, what, two bucks in the bargain bin now or something? Bloody depressing, that is.

Oh, I just can't wait for Hotel Dusk! It's by the guys that did Another Code, and although it was a bit odd and obscure in some parts, I totally loved that too.

Has anyone actually watched this? I'm finding it to be astoundingly surreal viewing. Like the episode where one of the pinatas doesn't want to get fired off to a party because he doesn't like the idea of getting beaten to death with baseball bats, so he tries to find a way of getting less candy in him. And the episode where there's a schizophrenic sour pinata that another pinata tries to tame...with HI-larious consequences. Also, (intentionally?) humourous quote: "Feel the wrath of my giant hoe!" I am NOT KIDDING. This is shrieked at the end of an episode by a cow (who is, actually, carrying a hoe), but it struck me as comedy gold. Keep in mind though, that I think Kim Possible is compelling viewing (he tries to shoot the grappling gun like Kim AND HIS PANTS FLY OFF!) and that I've watched the animated movie of Kangaroo Jack, which had loads of godawful fart jokes and a sing-songy dream sequence where the kangaroo is in a boxing ring singing about how he's going to punch out some boxer. So I may not exactly be the best kind of judge for this sort of stuff. (Also I totally understand if you've watched an episode (OR MORE?) of the show and don't want to admit it.)

The other thread, but I did like your take on the comment. Well done, sir!

....you too?

Okay, there are many games that came out this year tha I loved, but I'm not going to mention ones that others already have - I figure it's better to go for stuff that hasn't been mentioned and/or has been forgotten. They're not in any particular order, it's just my random babble. So, here we go... Games What I Liked Much Mega Man Powered Up Wow, I haven't seen a classic remake done so well since Super Mario Bros. Deluxe! What a fantastic game this is. I never really got into the original Mega Man (only six bosses, and no password? What?!), but this new nifty version is wonderful. Adorable midget versions of all the characters, two new bosses added, a retro mode which has the old level layouts and NES resolution, but the spruced up graphics, a level editor, and...a first for Capcom, perhaps? Voice acting that isn't awful! Dr. Wily is JUST AS I IMAGINED HIM. The depressing thing about this game is that it apparently sold like crap, so the opportunities of seeing remakes of the rest of the classic series are in serious jepoardy. Which is a shame, I would have loved to see them at least make it up to Mega Man 3. Oh, did I mention that this game lets you play as the bosses too? Cloning Clyde Like most games on Live Arcade, this one just popped up out of nowhere. And what do you know, it was an awesome puzzle/platformer! Hooray! Playing like a combination of Lemmings and something that wasn't Lemmings, you got to control Clyde (and Clyde, and Clyde, and Clyde, and...) after an accident with a cloning machine. Rescue all the Clydes through whatever means necessary! Create freaks of nature like Frog-Clyde, Chicken-Clyde, er, Exploding-Barrel Clyde? Yes indeed. Juggling the various Clyde to keep 'em safe was the main goal, but you could also collect duplicates of action figures, which had also been cloned. More games like this please Microsoft, stop shovelling out the arcade ports! Daxter A Jak and Daxter game without angst? And without Jak? HAVE YOU GOT THE BRAIN WORMS? No! Daxter is a nifty little 3D platformer (for PSP!!! No, seriously!) where you control the better character of the series, give him his own game, give him a flamethrower, and let him kill bugs and blast around with the flamethrower like a jetpack. It's fun - everything controls quite nicely (even with that dreadful PSP analog nub thing), it looks nice, it has some pretty cool gameplay mechanics, bosses, and the obligatory "collect animals to make them fight" tacked on multiplayer game. But yeah, definitely worth a look, especially as it's now going for platinum price in the states. Densetsu no Stafi 4 A cute platformer (fourth in the series that will never see the light of day outside Japan, which is sad) where you play as a prince starfish called Stafi, and his pink sister, Stapi. Made by Tose (the secret development ninjas who brought you Super Princess Peach and Rocket Slime), the game is wholly in Japanese, but really, really simple to pick up. It's designed to be really easy (it's aimed for ten year old Japanese girls), but it's a nice platforming romp that anyone who likes the genre will enjoy. The pair can swim in water (swimming control is really smooth and easy), or can jump out of the water and navigate on land in a more standard platform style. Each character gets their own specific moves, like a wall jump and so on, meaning that you'll need both characters to access all areas. You'll also get various animal pals to ride, like a pig that squeals and can throw sausages at foes, an angler fish to see through the dark, and bonus levels where you ride on a rose as instructed by a flamboyant lobster. The boss battles will actually give you some grief - they're pretty damn tough in comparison to the rest of the game, but quite satisfying. And after you're done, there's secret treasure rooms that can be unlocked for some more replayability. Tomb Raider Legend Tomb Raider Legend was my first game with Lara Croft, and man is it cool. Accompany Lara through ancient ruins, abandoned Russian research facilities, more ruins, a ghost town, more ruins, and Croft Manor, which is ONE GIGANTIC PUZZLE LEVEL AND IS THE BEST. The game looks really nice, the interface is simple to pick up and slick, and there's some clever gameplay bits and pieces - for example, for any action that Lara performs, if you repeatedly press the action button in time with Lara, she'll perform it more quickly. Shimmying along ledges, climbing ropes, and so on. Inversely, perform it too late, and she'll fumble, and stuff it up, so Lara will be desperately trying to grab onto a ledge with one hand. It seems to be over pretty quickly, but it's a beautiful game, fun to play, with some excellent art direction. Can't wait for the sequel! Pokemon Ranger The latest Pokemon spinoff came out pretty close to the end of the year, but it's actually one of the better ones (kinda like how Pokemon Snap was). Ignore the annoying story about something like "connecting feelings with Pokemon" or some drivel, and focus on the nifty gameplay. Bascially, you have to loop around a Pokemon with the stylus to catch it. Tougher monsters require more loops, and some Pokemon are larger, requiring larger loops again. The Pokemon you capture can be used to remove obstacles in the game world, like bushes, fallen logs, and stuff like that. No screenshot will make you understand, but if you can have a go of the demo or a friend's copy, check it out to see if it's your thing. Oh, and if you're going to get Pokemon Diamond or Pearl in April, you'll probably need this game, as there's one Pokemon that can only be gotten through transfer from Pokemon Ranger. Hooray for cross promotion! Games What I Also Liked Much, But Came Out Too Late In the Year To Be Counted Viva Pinata Do you like horrible puns? Would you like to see cannibalism and inbreeding encouraged in a family friendly game? Are you a graphics whore? Did you like Theme Park or Harvest Moon? If you said yes to any of these questions, then you don't need to read the rest of this, just go buy Viva Pinata. For the rest of you - Viva Pinata is a beautiful looking game from the (now infamous, instead of just famous) Rare. Luckily, it's not just eye candy - there's a sweet game here too, with plenty of stuff for you to discover and encounter as you progress through the game by building your own garden. Depending on how you make your garden, different animals are attracted by it - so, plant a load of buttercups for bees to arrive, dig a pond and you'll attract frogs, and place some chickens to see the fox turn up shortly after and gobble them up. There's over sixty different pinatas to find and tame, including horrible sours, which will ransack your garden unless you get them under control first. Occasionally, nasty characters appear, like Dastardos (a floating terror who beats the crap out of sick pinatas until they're dead), Ruffians (angry masked people who love to hurl poisonous sweets in your garden, fight your pinatas, break your constructions and plants, and will vomit up dirt in your ponds if they can't get home), and Professor Pester, a right bastard who homes in on your most valuable pinata and proceeds to beat it to death. But aside from these occasional pests, Pinata is a really soothing, pleasing game to play, which boils down to some nice casual management, garden tending, and sending a horse to a friend with a moustache and calling it "Moustachio".