Get a grip (grapple?): Umihara Kawase

(tags game, Dual Screen, Umihara Kawase, PlayStation Portable)

My right thumb hurts from pressing buttons too hard. It's a death grip on my grapple button, since one miscalculated release will have my avatar plummeting to a watery doom.

Umihara Kawase (海腹川背). I've only recently discovered this old gaming franchise. The demo game station showing the PS1 version at a retro game store captured me for about 20 minutes. I saw the PSP version at my price threshold of 2000 yens and decided to jump in.

UK is a Bionic Commando with no forgiveness. Basically a fantasy platform game, UK asks me to traverse ledges with nothing more than my fine-tuned swinging control. Yes, abilities are not unlocked. It all depends on my skill. The heroine, Umihara Kawase, has this strong yet elastic grappling hook made of red-white twine and fish hook. It is a source of constant frustration and delight. It feels so... analog. It feels like there's a physics engine in there.

The fishing cuisine theme pervades the levels and the enemies. The title of the game is a play on a Japanese cuisine preparatory phrase, "Ocean fish are fatty in stomach while river fish are fatty (tallow) in the back." (海の魚は腹に、川の魚は背に脂がのっている) Or so the manual claims. My well-read Japanese tutor never heard of that phrase though.

Enemies are these strange walking fish. Most of them are one touch, one kill. But the worst ones aren't the ones that kill me right away. They will hit me into an uncontrollable stun for a few seconds. This game plays with my mind. Will I fall off the ledge or not?

But the best enemy is the environment itself. UK doesn't give me any help or hold my hand. There is a technique to swing up to a higher ledge. At first I thought it was impossible. But after dropping the broken PSP version and coming to terms with the game physics on the higher quality DS port, I am executing the technique with a high success rate. When I can hit this technique on the first try, in a fluid motion, I feel like I'm in control. However, when I mistime the release, I have to wait and re-fine-tune my swinging motion to propel me in the right direction.

This reminds me about the difference in forgiveness. I was playing Bionic Commando on my Xbox 360 and one of the regular techniques to propel myself forward is to jump off a platform from behind and grapple. It's a sweet maneuver full of kick-ass, right? BC makes this feel totally safe and dependable. I try this move in UK and I sweat bullets. I never seem to get it to work. Despite the millisecond-timed reflexes this game requires, I feel like it is fair. Well at least the early levels.

Which brings me to my pained thumb. Some of the stunts sequences require me to reenact Tarzan with no safety net. I am deathly afraid of falling, or even more so of repeating the same ground over and over again. I hope my DS can take the strain.

The DS version (海腹川背・旬 セカンドエディション 完全版) was released at the end of last month, which might explain why that game shop was demoing the older versions. Though I picked up the PSP version and tried to deal with the pain, I heard through the Internet that it was a broken port. I wasn't convinced until I played the DS version though. Another reason I picked up the DS version was that it came with a telephone card (at Sofmap Saurus). Silly me. Still this latest release sacrifices none of the difficulty, while at the same time modernizes the rewards with illustration gallery and soundtrack unlocks. The demo recording feature is also intact but not UI enhanced like the PSP version. The game comes with a port of the original Super Famicom version, the PlayStation 1 version, and a new DS path mode based on the PS1 version. The PS1 ports have the 3d like scrolling effects and more environmental art (like giant soy sauce bottles?!), but the SF ports's grappling hook physics feel crispier. Also the PS1 based modes seemed to have all the minor enhancements like practice mode with success/miss counts and continues (!?) while the SF port doesn't even let me assign diagonal grappling to the top buttons. None of the gameplay seems itself seems to be affected or cheapened, but I don't really know since I haven't played the 90s versions.

I really want to keep playing this game despite the difficulty. I do wish though there was more easy levels. The difficulty just ramps up too fast.

Let me put my two cents about the heroine, Umihara Kawase. She appears in gameplay as some school aged girl (because her backpack looks like a randoseru) with no fear of heights (no fall damage). However the insert graphics make her out to be some 20 year old with sex-sells breast size and anime girly eyes. There's basically no story and no dialogue so I don't really understand why she has to become Indiana Jones/Pitfall Harry/The Last Starfighter/Ikaruga. Finally at the game over screen I see her in pajamas watching TV relaxing after a hot shower or something. Well?

Finally, the music is soothing and relaxing. I mistimed my grapple and fell in the water but the music just keeps me calm. It's all my fault.

Games like this remind me that the DS still has credible action games.

More Heart: ToHeart2, and other game pickups

(tags ToHeart, game, PlayStation Portable, Wipeout, Xbox 360, XBLA, Kimi no Yuusha, Dual Screen, PlayStation 3)

Just wanna say that I'm starting ToHeart 2 now, PSP version. I'm kinda annoyed it has the same music (but remixed) from ToHeart 1. 40 minutes.

Also I finished ToHeart 1, completely. Every picture unlocked, music mode, massage mode (Hocchan giving massages! well at least verbally). I think the best part was the unlocking of the shooting game. The last hidden scenario was not very interesting at all. Probably 25 hours.

I picked up Wipeout Pulse (asia version!) at Sofmap Nipponbashi South, after waiting for A-Too to drop the game's price (playing chicken with a shop just doesn't work). I felt like it was impossible for the first level, then I passed it and now I'm just sailing. 2 hours.

I even tried to get into my DS. I still have Kimi no Yuusha stuck in there. The last extra boss is really hard though. I cannot beat him, so I give up. 55+ hours.

I want to start playing Final Fantasy Tactics A for DS that I picked up a couple of weeks back during that Play-Asia and Visa card sale. 0 hours.

Man, this is starting to be a potpourri post.

Yeah, I also got some Xbox games like Ace Combat 6 and Bionic Commando for under 2500 yen, each. Nice (but used). I was playing the latter and I really like it the swing thing. It feels like Crackdown and you know I love games like Crackdown. It's the open environment jump-to-collect-them-all feeling. 7 hours.

Did I mention I picked up my first PS3 game? Motor Storm for like 1000 yen. I also saw the Atelier no Rorona limited edition (with laser etched crystal "objet") dropping in used priced down to 7500 yen, but that's still steep. The well-regarded Demon's Souls (US English edition) almost made it into my virtual shopping cart but well, I don't have a PS3 yet.

Um what else. I am not playing any PC games. Still waiting for StarCraft II to come out then I will make my last ever game PC. Oh I bought a ton of DRM free PC games from GoG's first anniversary sale including Duke Nukem 3d, but get this, I have not downloaded the bulk of them yet. WTF. I am still hoping they pick up Sinistar: Unleashed.

Uh, I am still scoping the Xbox Live Deal of the Week, and I recently bought yet another clear-3-colors game and the Sudoku clone. Hey, only 400 XBL points, each. You say the next deal is a cartoony golf game? 400 points? I'm there dood.

Kimi no Yuusha: polished 90s-like JRPG

(tags Dual Screen, Kimi no Yuusha, RPG, game)

I finally finished the story mode of Kimi no Yuusha (キミの勇者, lit. "your hero") after about 50 hours of play. This 2008 single-player CERO A-rated game was train ride entertainment, 30 minutes at a time JRPG. The main reasons I stuck through it were the forgiving, casual difficulty, the easy controls, and the moé-like character graphics (by the same artist as Doki-Majo).

As a JRPG, my basic comparisons always start with my Final Fantasy experiences. Immediately, KnY can be compared to early FF 1-6 with the battle field showing enemies on the left and my 4 characters on the right. KnY does follow the pattern of young blood up and coming, but the story is much more immediate and slice of life. The main story is epic, but only because there only seems to be one hero party doing great things for the world. That's just fine for me. The side quests remind me of after-school cartoon episodes with bite sized moral lessons, with a bit of otaku-ism added.

Ryunette reserves 6 book copies for 2 people, the typical otaku argument, while Tio looks on. From side quest 39.

I really like how easy it is to get into the game. Starting the cart up is a breeze with no company logos in the way. The familiar DS feature of closing the lid works well and saving works at the over world map and before major points. The chapters are organized in 30 minute anime-like segments. Dialogue can be forcefully skipped with the B button. Chapter summaries can be reviewed in the Diary mode complete with unlocked graphics.

There are up to 10 controllable characters, but I only bothered with the female avatars. Ha. Actually the ratio is 4 guys and 6 girls. My party consisted of the hot-headed blonde hair "Magic Driver" magic user named Tio, the male hero named "Wanda" that carries an oversized key as a sword weapon (no I have not played Kingdom Hearts), a sexy onee-chan cat girl named Aroma, and a battle tough sexy mermaid named Silk. Sexy yeah because that's the way they are drawn. CERO A, though. I was hoping Tio and Wanda would get it on, but they don't even ... oh spoilers, sorry. Time to write a fan-fic.

Wanda. Hahah. Why is this male lead lacking so much masculinity? Tights, a one-piece cloth which is more dress than smock, and wears a cap with cat-like ears. I guess you could input your own personality into him? Tio is cute but too hot-headed for her own good. Still she smiles a lot and doesn't stop trying. Aroma is accompanied by her sarcastic younger sister, Sera (girl #7), who speaks through her acid-tougue puppet, Tom. Tom and Tio get into verbal sparring while other characters question Tio's sanity. Silk is supposed to be a princess of the merfolk but she just like to battle like girls do. But this girl speaks in old-man Japanese, moé me up.

The other characters are supposed to be charming, right? There's this tough guy that doesn't say a thing but he doesn't look tough. He's a rotund cat that always thumbs up with a smile. He's accompanied by his dainty wife (girl #8) who communicates for him. Huh. Then there's this elven archer type that is the closest to the recent fan-homage stereotype, the shut-in otaku. How about the wind magic user that just happens to be a petite girl even though she says "boku" ("I" but usually reserved for males and tomboys) all the time?

Though this is a casual game, there was an attempt to complicate the game system. For example, there's an additional menu-based (not reaction based) combo system that one can uncover, which gives bonus attack damage. This advanced level game play is not necessary and merely serves as another checklist to uncover.

I can't believe I played another menu fighter, but at least there was an auto battle mode. Just press Select and they always "Fight". Sometimes my 4-person party will tag-team, and the baddies go flying across the screen. Perhaps there's a tag-team attack bonus but it was hard to discern and I can't control when they tag-team. The previously mentioned menu-based combo system was hard to uncover and also required me to dig through and equip spell books. The pay off is something like 5 to 10% attack damage, which probably adds up but unfortunately it depends on the tag-team system, which isn't dependable. So why bother.

At least I didn't have to grind for levels so much. I was just doing side quests all the time. I think I was over-leveled for the last boss.

The music is totally forgettable, owing to the limitations of DS presentation but also because there's no comparison between listening to music on my iPod or listening to these bleeps and bloops. The same battle music hits me over and over again. The per-town music always cuts off because the store music cuts in. And there are voice samples but only for attacks and battle wrap up and they become pretty repetitive.

Unfortunately, I don't feel motivated to go through it again even though there is stuff I haven't yet unlocked. There's no "New Game+" and it is necessary to restart from the beginning with no carryover. Infuriating. It's not going to take another 50 hours but I will probably have to gamefaq it to keep myself from doing things over again. The premiere gamefaq for this game is the unofficial Kimi no Yuusha kouyraku wiki (キミの勇者　攻略wiki).

There is one after-story dungeon. Although the final boss was somewhat nerve-wracking perhaps this will make me notch my game up.

Well this wasn't a totally unique gaming experience, but for 2200 yen at used it was a pretty fun ride.

DLC procrastination, averted for Jirachi

(tags Pokemon, DLC, Dual Screen)

Even at 9 PM at night, it was refreshing to sit in the outdoor patio at the local McDonalds. Though outside, I downloaded the free Jirachi Pokemon. (よぞらのジラーチ プレゼント).

The Pokemon Pearl cartridge was my second Pokemon soft. I tried my Pokemon Platinum and failed to download. I did pick up one more Pokemon soft, this time the Pokemon Diamond, but unfortunately there was no save data. So, let's start it up:

"Piyokun da ne?" Yes.

I'm currently try to progress enough to the point where I can download my second Jirachi. Luckily I have two DS consoles so I can move my higher level Pokemon over. But I can't control the high level ones because I have no badges. This is going to be slow.

I was not playing Dragon Quest IX

(tags game, Dual Screen, RPG, Kimi no Yuusha)

I did a rare thing today and played my DS during my lunch break at work. My immediate boss came up behind me to look at the game. I go "Huh?" because he never checks out my gaming during the other rare times.

Then today I finally catch up on my feeds and see the Dragon Quest IX release fury, including this whimsical tale. Huh, did not know.

Just now I put the two and two together. He probably thinks that I am playing DQ IX. I am going to tell him tomorrow that I ain't that Japanese.

How could I miss a Dragon Quest launch? Easy, I was meeting real gamers traveling thousands of kilometers just to meet me in person (ya right), and (more likely) to enjoy the Kansai area, especially Osaka Nipponbashi Den-Den Town. At least I learned something about PC Engines and the rarity of Bomberman '94. It was fun to share the passion of crusin' the area to track down old games, even stopping into Retro Gaming Revival multiple times. Greetz and howdy, gentlemen, thanks for stopping by.

It's not enough just to be in the right spot: Pokemon DLC Jirachi

(tags food, Pokemon, DLC, Dual Screen, failure)

Actually I'm not playing Pokemon Platinum ever since I got Sudoku DS "The Final Version We Really Mean It This Time by Hudson". But I read at the Pokemon fan blog "ピカのお気楽ポケモン日記" had details on the free DLC available from McDonald's, of all places.

マックでDS Nintendo Zone （ニンテンドーゾーン）で「ジラーチ」を受け取る方法

You can download "Jirachi", which is a rare Pokemon that you can only get through connection to the old Pokemon Advance games.

On my way home from work I gave it a try at two seperate locations. The free pamphlet had the instructions, even explaining how to unlock the "Mystery Gift" menu entry. The first location didn't seem to have its "Nintendo Zone" turned on. The second place was really flaky, dropping my connection at times. Plus, as I figured out from actually reading the fine print, the DLC download requires Japanese versions of the DS software. Looks like I'm going to pick up another Pokemon DS game pretty soon.

At least before 7/17. Heh.

Pokemon: the first 60 hours

(tags Pokemon, Pikachu, Dual Screen)

Well my tryst with Ikaruga ended. Haha.

I got my Pikachu. I named the female Pikachu as Pika, and though she's become my tank and highest level soldier, she's pretty weak at defense. I can't assign most Hidden Moves to her either, which means I have to keep the ugly Bibarel for moving around the map. I do find the Pikachu's warm up before battling to be oh so cute. She waves towards the trainer, too bad she doesn't say "pika".

I also got a male Pichu through Global Trading System (GTS) the wireless world trading forum, making matching pair. At least I can raise and rename the Pichus, Pikachus and Raichus I want.

60 hours (almost). I think I'm almost done with the story.

I'm finding that this RPG is pretty boring at times. It really doesn't matter what Pokemon I raise, just as long as I land a hit that doesn't give the enemy a chance to retaliate. But if I invest time in the wrong Pokemon, I get hit hard at the trainer sessions. I also get frustrated with not having a clue sizing up the boss attacks. Finally the game tosses me a bone and gives me a hint application that tells what kinda attacks give the best counters, but it requires some homework.

I want to catch them all, but I get the feeling that it will take 200 hours to capture all the off-line ones. I do play this during the commute but it just feel like Kawaii Progress Quest infused with slot machines. I hate slot machines and anything that reminds me of money gambling.

Pokemon, it's an RPG that will suck the vitality out of me. So repetitive.

I choose you... Pokemon Platinum

(tags game, Dual Screen, Pokemon, Pikachu)

I finally bought a canonical Pokemon game, Pokemon Platinum. Well actually I had Pokemon Pikachu but I don't want to play black and white games anymore. I bought this version because I believed that this second iteration on the DS would be refined and fixed. Also I opted for the English version because I'm tired of reading katakana.

My first impressions were that this was going to be a grind... and a slow grind because of all the Pokemon creatures I can readily swap out. OMG, this is gamer lock-in, isn't it. Plus it's the kind of menu fighting that I wanted to quit. Finally, there's nothing to test my reflexes in this game. Luckily I'm still playing my Xbox and Rubik's Cube.

My goals are to:

• Get a Pikachu, a Pichu and other cute characters.
• Finish the story mode.
• Fill out my off-line game roster.

I've already spent 10 hours but the slow leveling up and the slow screen animations still irritates me. I am overwhelmed with all the things you can level up. I did take a peek at a GameFAQ but I will stop looking at it until after I finish the story mode. Also the GameSpot Guide was informative and spoiler-free.

I'm impressed with the promise of the online component. I don't know if I'll have anything valuable to trade, though.

The main thing that made me reconsider getting a canonical Pokemon game now was the limited chance to catch Shaymin from a Download Station in retail stores this last Golden Week. Unfortunately, it requires unlocking the "global roster" and probably the Japanese version of this game. Shaymin is one of the cuter characters that had a movie promotion last year, I think. I want one of those, too, but I doubt I can clear all of the required conditions before this promotion is over.

Leveling up while searching for some nostalgia

(tags Chrono Trigger, Dual Screen, NES)

I'm walking around with my DS open. You see I'm leveling up my Chrono Trigger, and it's totally brainless. I've been leveling up eating junk food, playing the Cube, walking up a hill to my house. According to my save points, it has taken me 3 or 4 hours to go up 10 experience levels. I am now within striking distance of "lvl 99".

And today I went to Nipponbashi Osaka Den Den Town. I had in mind to get a copy of the original Famicom release of Megaman 2, if it was findable and cheap. Actually for me, looking for old console games in Nipponbashi feels nostalgic, because I've been going there for more modern games, and also anime and manga stuffs. So today I finally stepped into Retro Game Revival and Super Potato and Big Tiger for 90s and 80s games after a long while. W00t.

As an aside, RGR had a game demo of Warashi's 90's shmup Shienryu, which I think was the PS1 version because it had lots of slowdown. Warashi's back in limelight with the moe-madness that is Trigger Heart Excelica. Anyway, I got to the third stage, just playing on reflex and really slow bullets. It was fun! I gotta dig this game out of my stash, I think I have it for the PS2 (or maybe not).

So yes, I did not see a copy of Megaman 2 anywhere, either for the Famicom or the Playstation 1. I know it's call Rockman (ロックマン) in Japanese, because I was finding copies of MM5 and MM3 going for mid-tier pricing at 1300 yen. I also saw a copy of Megaman 1 for 3500 yen, ohkay. A-Too has some selection, but that's because the prices are higher than even auction rates. 14800 yen for Dancing Sword for the GBA?!

So, to de-motivate myself from paying many monies for an old game, I kept saying to myself, when I get home, I will pull out the emulator and ROM and play it on my PC.

Then again, I bought some more used games, like Izuna (in English for 1980 yen!) and Kirby (needs no translation) for the Dual Screen. So, emulation evil averted! Also I was going to buy Pokemon Platnum, but the only Pocket Monster I want is Pikachu.

Feeling a little JRPG

(tags Chrono Trigger, Dual Screen, Trusty Bell, Xbox 360, RPG)

Acutally I haven't been playing much of Trusty Bell (Eternal Sonata). It's not that it's not fun, only that I rather not sit in front of my computer/Xbox 360 monitors. And, I have been playing some DS, just a little bit. I finally opened Rhythm Tengoku Gold, and it was kinda novel but I only finished the first two sets. I rather press buttons than flick the variable friction screen. Also I tried out Nanostray in English which I bought for 1800 yen a couple of weeks back, and I find it hard to get into. It's as if danmaku never existed.

Speaking of which, Zun's Shanghai Alice "Touhou" CDs are slowly disappearing from the shelves at Tora no Ana. I need to pick some of the soundtrack only releases. Lucky me I have all the games. At Melon Books they bundled the whole stack of Zun audio CDs and games and the total came out to 23500 yen. Nice.

So yes, Chrono Trigger. I decided to FAQ it. Well I did beat the game and got two endings. I was just wondering if I should go do the New Game+ or just continue levelling up? Right now I'm just levelling up doing the cheapest method possible that doesn't take much brain power. It requires the berserker rings, so that the AI takes over.

I read the GameFaqs forum, and there are some pretty hardcore acronyms there: LLG (Low Level Game) In other words, play the game intentionally at a low experience level for extra challenge. Ugh? Naw, I'm just going to have fun my normal way, complete all the items, endings and let the game go.

Actually it's funny, there was an guest essay in Weekly Famitsu this week by some pro-wrestler writing about Chrono Trigger. He didn't say much at all, just that CT was one of his favorites and he played it back in the day and now he's reliving it on the DS, just before jumping into the ring. I wonder why the editors chose to run that essay now, since the game came out four months ago.

Finally, (this is just thoughts scrambled) I did a rare combing through the DS used softs for the Final Fantasy JRPGs. On the DS, I found III and IV. There were no GBA stuffs. Actually I wanna try my hand at Final Fantasy VI (3US) again. That stupid software glitch back in the day killed my save data and my FF fandom. Then again maybe I should just pick up Pokemon Platnum somewhere, since I still haven't experienced it.

I should just get back to Trusty Bell. Really, it's cheaper that way.

I wanna watch Spider-Man 2

(tags game, UMD, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Dual Screen)

Just another random "I got more content" post.

I decided to skip getting Hitsuji-kun nara Kiss shite ageru (羊くんならキスしてあげる) the PC turned PSP game which has an outrageous price of 7000 yen plus. The main draw for me was the illustrator Naoto Tenhiro's work. As always, the drawings are cute and kawaii. I'm hoping to get the telephone cards through the auction.

I went out today to Yodobashi Camera. I was in the mood to get the MadCatz Xbox 360 controller, but of course they don't have it. The alternative was the Hori one, but it only comes in Blue. I decided to get a small portable foldable game controller for the PC called the Buffalo BBT-GC01. I decided on that because I wanted a one-handed PC controller, like for viewing web pages and playing visual novels. Using the freeware JoyToKey for Windows, it should be a snap to remap Space, Enter, Page Up, Page Down, Control, etc. The D-Pad isn't so bad. I gave it a whirl on Parsec47 and it was very fun.

I then went down to A-Too Nipponbashi. No Xbox Mad Catz Street Fighter IV controller pads, not even the PS3 ones. So I looked around in the bins for things cheep and picked up Too Human and Alone in the Dark for the Xbox 360, each for about 1500 yen. I wanna play Too Human because I liked the demo, but balked at the price. Alone in the Dark was just a whim, I'm actually scared to play it. (Wussy!) I also picked up the PSP-UMD versions of Spider-Man 2 and 3 and Pirates of the Carribean (2003). There's no PSP firmware restriction on the movies, which is nice. I haven't watched these movies yet, but they were more desirable than the Aliens vs Predator laying alongside.

Last thing I want to mention is that I went to Sofmap Zaurus and the Treasure Box floor is a shadow of its former self. Still there was this one box where I picked up other PSP-UMD movie Hitch, Crazy Taxi for the PSP, Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360, and NanoStray for the DS. The prices were below my cutoff for purchasing, so...

I forgot to mention that I purchased a lot of telephone cards, but no pictures so it didn't happen.

Too much stuff to do.

It's not Final Fight, and it's not deep: Tokyo Beat Down

(tags game, Dual Screen, side scroll, beat-em-up)

Just because there was some coverage about the localization for Tokyo Beat Down (originally 野獣刑事) for the DS (and plus I was in the mood for fighting because of Final Fight One and Double Dragon Advance), I purchased the game and gave it a whirl. This was about two weeks ago.

Its a "my first" Final Fight. I am disappointed.

The first 30 minutes did not draw me in, since the fighting combos are so weak. There is a promise of longer combos if you progress in the game. The best thing is hitting the X button (punch) for 8 times, and you can interrupt that with the Y button (kick) and vice versa. There are three characters, but it's hard to discern the difference between them, when talking about combos.

The whole atmosphere is juvenile. The story is not compelling and the actual action is just not fun. I'm on the second day now, and it has taken me 1.5 hours of interrupted playing just to get there. Today is probably the last time I'll play it. Hopefully I'll get a power up to extend my combo and finally get something that feels new.

Kumatan drama with complete sentences

(tags game, Dual Screen, Kumatanchi, Comic Market 75)

One of the first auctions I won this year was for the Kumatanchi (くまたんち) goods set sold at Comic Market 75.

The drama CD has a new story called "Kumatan no Sagashimono" (くまたんの探し物). It's cliched and a little dirty (will the monkey's panty fetish ever end?) but I like the voices all the same. Ryoki Ryuou (留桜良姫) voices the cute Kumatan, the lively Neko-kun, and the Kansai-accent Tora no Oneesan, all at the same time. They all sound different, which is good. The DS game doesn't have any voiced dialogue other than simple words, so I was surprised at hearing full sentences. Of course, if it was just "kuma, kuma, kuma" for dialogue I would be pissed. (However it worked for Yumeria.)

Also the CD comes with the exclusive drama I missed from the CM74 goods set. I had the pleasure of hearing more dialogue from the zoo shop idoru, Sumomo. Except again the story was totally forgetable. Except that zookeeper's laugh. Haha ha.

Finally, the CD had a data track which included all the wallpapers that were exclusively timed downloads. I missed most of these wallpapers and I was kicking myself for that. Finally I got them in my hot little wallpaper rotation. As an aside, I was not able to read the data track on my computer which had some DVD ripping software like DVD43. On another pristine Windows computer, I had no trouble.

As for the book, it is a revision of the book that was originally released with the game. It has some nice glossy illustrations of concept art and some tips on how to reveal all the events. Having not read the original version (to keep from spoiling the game), I can't say if its improved, but I like the quality of the paper and the colorful layout. It's a keeper.

Punch this: Side scrolling fighting games

(tags game, Dual Screen, PlayStation Portable, side scroll, fighting, Final Fight, Double Dragon, The Warriors)

I found my purple GBA Micro under a mound of dust. Along side it was Final Fight One and Double Dragon, so I took both for a spin again, but this time, on my DS.

Final Fight One is pretty good. I practiced the "3 punch, rest, 3 punch, rest" move with Guy. Turbo attack is fun. I beat the game on Super Hard with minimal effort. 

I turned my attention to Double Dragon. That was pretty hard, until I remembered how to stick and move. Oh, and kicking enemies into the water or spikes is just refreshing. I can't do survival mode though. It takes all my effort to get to 18.

I then remembered I had The Warriors on the PSP so I took that out. Hm, I find it hard to stay interested in this one. It's dark, visibly and morally. I mean I gotta mug NPCs for money so I buy spray to tag up the walls.

Kicking virtual 3D people while they're down is so abhorrent, but I can't stop doing it! If it's 2D, I don't have any qualms. Is there some kind of uncanny valley for fighting?

I don't grok Mario Kart

(tags game, Mario Kart, Dual Screen, Gameboy Advance)

I finally finished the Cups in Mario Kart DS. On the last track my first power up was a Mushroom Boost, and after clearing the first shortcut it was an eeriely uneventful hair-raising ride. Not even a blue turtle shell broke my concentration. The fear of one, well that's the story.

Kart fever struck. I then dug out my old copy of Mario Kart Advance, because hey that has even more maps. I was not impressed. The 2d is so flat, so hard to see. Drifting seems to be blind, requiring rote memorization. I can't believe I played this game and like it. And of course, it's too difficult. I have not yet unlocked the 100cc Retro tracks. Give me Mario Kart DS any day, I need my 3D.

And on a slighty off-topic but still relating to Mario Kart, Steve Yegge on my blogroll wrote about dealing with programming unknowns, and he used Mario Kart as an analogy for a system. I still don't understand the "One-Way Wall". Perhaps I was totally stuck thinking about how to drift through the next turn. But I understood it when he mentioned meta-programming and reflection.

I want to fold spindle mutilate Mario Kart

(tags game, Dual Screen, Mario Kart)

I made some progress. I completed the 150cc class after some midnight game binging. I thought I was done, but no. Mirror mode. Well that's all fine and good but the last bunch of retro tracks are proving to be a horrendous loss of time. Stupid AI, rubberband position, and the slap in the face dumb weapons. I think I retried a cup 10 times.

One last class and I'm done, I hope.

What do I do with my DS now?!?

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger, Kumatanchi, Mario Kart)

It's old news to me, so this will sound like a diary entry.

I finished Chrono Trigger's DS extras about a week ago. Now I need to tackle the different endings and the crazy extra boss for the full unlock. It feels like work though, so I'm not actively playing this. I keep wondering why I felt this game was so good. After playing it for 40 hours, I am convinced that its lack of difficulty is what keeps this game ranked so high. I do like the music though.

Kumatanchi is almost totally complete. I unlocked and collected everything. Time travelling felt kinda sad though. Now there is just one more drama bit to be unlocked and I am totally finished. Then we can pull the battery out of this Tamagocchi forever. 2008-12-23 08:00. Never forget this date because I need to set my DS to this in order to keep Kumatan alive.

So I'm playing Mario Kart on my DS now. Copyright 2005, but I am still trying to unlock stuff because I rarely put any time into this game. 150cc is pretty hard for me, though. I never did clear 150cc on the SNES or GBA versions. On the DS version though, 150cc isn't too much of a death march. I hate how unfair the game is. Oh and I still don't understand how to power-slide. Right. Oh I totally forgot about the missions. Stuff to do.

All this racing is making me think about my PSP again, and how I wanted to get Wipeout Pulse and a new PSP-2000 series hardware. Hm, maybe over break I'll think about it.

I got Guitar Hero DS for cheep because the store is getting rid of non-DSi softs. Music games. Which reminds me of the Rhythm Tengoku Gold I haven't started yet. The original soundtrack for this game and the GBA version comes in one package but is about 5000 yen. Gotta play the game before buying the CD, right?

Can't figure what to do in Chrono Trigger

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger)

One last post that is text only to push down the picture-laden ones. :-]

I beat Chrono Trigger and I got two endings out of lots. Now do I start the New Game+ mode or do I keep on poking around? I'm at a standstill with the latter. I figure out the two dungeons are totally unrelated to the main game, so it's like two seperate worlds in one cart. Just being aware of that is jarring. *shrug* What else can you do, man. Don't mess with genius working code.

And yes it still feels like work. 40 hours of work. I hate menus. I hate scrolling. There has got to be a menu for experts. This UI sucks. :-/

Chrono Trigger satisfying plateau?

(tags game, Dual Screen, Chrono Trigger)

Uh oh, I don't remember the magic of Chrono Trigger. :-( wut?

I think I'm at the end of the game now, just before I beat the story boss. But other than that, if I go anywhere else on the map, I encounter really hard monsters that kill me 1000 HP in one shot. Trouble is that I don't know if this is the added content or the regular content but meant for after completing the story mode. Thus I get wacked for strolling into a seemingly benign cave.

Menu grind woes. Actually the game isn't that repetative as far as the menu fighting is concerned. I have the menu speed set to one faster than normal, but I bet I'm going to set it to slowest on those killer "new game+" content.

Time Travelling Kumatanchi

(tags game, Dual Screen, Kumatanchi, Animal Crossing)

In Animal Crossing, I can Time Travel for fun and profit, like skipping forward to a certain event, and then letting real time catch up. Time Travel is just resetting the DS's real-time clock to a desired time before starting a game. It resembles a hurry up and wait cycle.

I just realized I can do the same thing in Kumatanchi. In the early part of the game, I would be missing a lot, but now that almost all the stuff is unlocked, Time Travel lets me play this game in batch without having to play it real-time like a Tamaggochi. Now I keep track of my next batch gaming using a calendar and email reminders. Sorry Kumatan, but there are other games I should be concentrating on (Chrono Trigger never ends...)