I have had this one sitting at the ready for nearly six months and just finally fired up the Dreamcast this weekend. Shenmue is one of those games where if I talk about it, I feel like I am just constantly complaining--the controls are pretty much terrible and the whole game feels like those town sections of JRPGs where you just walk around and try to find the magic character that you talk to to unlock the next part of your quest--but deep down there is something really sepecial and wonderful about it. To me, it just feels like it is trying to so hard to be more. It aspires to break the mold of "just a video game" and to be a video game as a work of art on par w/ film or music. Maybe it doesn't quite get there but I feel like its intent shows through and I find it remarkable for that reason. I am enjoying it a lot.

In other news, I have been playing the heck out of Pushmo on my 3DS. It's just a blast. The puzzles are tough but fun and you can spend all day making your own. It's a well done game top to bottom and pretty much a must have. Another one I just finisehd up is Sakura Samurai. My feelings on this are a bit more mixed. It got repetitive to me and I sort of stumbled on a cheap way to make money and load up on items which enabled me to beat the very tough end boss w/o much difficulty. I kind of wish I had not now that I did but I don't know if it's worth it to go back and replay. In any case, between these two games, it makes the 3DS eShop a much more viable source of good games.

Being in the middle of Golden Sun: Lost Age makes me somewhat less excited about this than I would be otherwise. The problem I had, which is scratches on the top screen from the bottom screen, was fixable so I didn't wind up w/ a refurbished unit, which I'm glad of. I am worried that it will scratch again though. I suppose I will just keep a bit of cloth in there but that is more of a pain than I would have thought.

The next retail game I'm going to play on it is Heroes of Ruin which I already have on pre-order. I am debating now though if I shouldn't download something else to play in the meantime. I am thinking either Pushmo or Sakura Samurai. I am not sure if I can finish either so I might just play another one of the GBA ambassador games I haven't got to yet. I already played throught the first world of Yoshi's Island so it might be worthwhile just to pick that up again. It's much better than the sequel on the DS.

Well, not initial since I'd imagine I'm halfway trhough but still preliminary, I suppose. So far I feel it is a pretty signifigant improvement over the first as far as gameplay. The puzzle sections are tougher but there are less places where you just feel mystified as to what to do next because you are missing some path or doorway. Part of this is I know what all the spells do but part of it is the dungeons are just better designed. There are also way less point-of-no-return situations and you can get back to any place on the map at pretty much any point provided you are willing to walk. I am finding myself peeking at FAQs less (Sue me; I have limited time for gaming.) and getting more satisfaction by figuring out things myself. I still recomend people go through the first game first but even if that got annoying for you, you might like the second.

You guessed Golden Sun: The Lost Age and you are right. The original is quite short to be honest but I was pleased to not have to deal w/ all manner of level grinding and BS to get through it. That it only tells half the story, well, that I am not so sure if I like. I thought ahead and made sure to have The Lost Age on deck but some might not be so lucky.

First off, anyone w/ any nostalgia towards 16-bit era RPGs pretty much has to check this out. It really scratches the same itch as all those old games (though it is a pretty old game itself by now). I have played pretty much every minute I've got since I've started, mostly on my DS as it so happens. My only complaints is, for some reason, I've had particular difficulty w/ missing pathways that I don't think are supposed to be hidden. Actually, there are a lot of places where it's not really clear at all what you are supposed to do but this is right in line w/ pretty much any 16-bit era RPG so I guess you can take it or leave it depending what you like.

So, like many, my launch 3DS developed scratches on the top screen from how it rubbed on the bottom. It was getting late into the warranty period so I called into Nintendo support and they are fixing it for me for free. It is unfortunate you can't take care of everything on their website (if you try, they will change you $50-80) but I have to commend their phone personel for being quite helpful. In any case, my 3DS is in the mail. Apparently, you can get a bunch of spot passes if you leave the system on so I'm trying that. We'll see if the battery lasts through shipping. I am glad to get it fixed and I'm even a little glad not to have since it gives me a chance to play some other systems.

I am playing Metroid II on Game Boy but it's kind of not the best for pick-up-and-play since you really need to memorize big secitons of the map. I wound up reaching into my big bag of GBA and Game Boy games and I randomly picked out Golden Sun. This is one I'd been excited to play for quite a while--and rightfully so; it's excellent. I am playing on my GBA player and GBA SP-101 at home but have been taking it w/ me in my white DS because, unlike my regular GBA, it has a backlit screen and, unlike my GBA SP, it has a headphone jack. I like the DS fro playing GBA games overall but I miss the big screen of my SP-101. It gets the job done though and it is actually really nice to have the sound in stereo. Depending how lazy I am, the game might just stay permenantly in my DS.

I got kind of sick of playing through Raid mode in Resident Evil: Revelations so I popped this little guy into my Neo-Geo Pocket color. I can say I highly recommend it. There are a lot of problems w/ it to be honest but it's one of those rare games where flaws become quirks and it's still a lot of fun. I am also glad to be getting some playing time in w/ my NGPC finally. It is a cool little system, it's biggest flaws being a non-backlit screen and only having two buttons for some reason. It has a lot of great 2D fighter games on it too from when there weren't many good fighters on handhelds. Check it out sometime.

First off, it is a great game and if you are thinking about buying, buy it. Second, it is one of those games where the fact that it's so good makes you notice everything you don't like about it. My most major complain is that the combat doesn't really suit the tense atmosphere. This is a game all about the starts you get when you see a strong enemy come out of nowhere. It works but the surprise is somewhat lessened by the fact that the enemies can start chewing on your face and you can kick them off and back away slowly (but slightly more faster than they move) while reloading your gun. You then have to unload a whole clip into them. Part of this is to compensate for the control system where it's a little hard to walk and shoot at the same time but why not just make the game more about evasion and sneaking around then? Also, I am finding the story a bit hard to follow. It is not so much because the narrative is poorly done it's just that it never really made me care. I almost think this would have been better had they just dropped you off on the abandoned ship and left you to figure it out for yourself, Metroid-style.It still works but it could work better.

I played a few levels before I started getting into it and I thought Yoshi's Island DS was going to be a quick, fun laught. The graphics and the fact that I had about thirty lives before the end of world one had me thinking it was a kid's game that was just good enough to be fun for adults too. I was wrong though. Oh holy crap, I was wrong. This game is harder than Metroid: Fusion, which is something I never would have believed if you told me before playing it. Not only does it have tough, tricky bosses it has some really difficult platforming too. I am still not going to be running out lives any time soon but I am sure to lose quite a few before I'm done with this one. I am really impressed by this game overall so far.

Metroid: Fusion is a great game. I have a review coming but it is sufficient to say it is both thoroughly addicting and thoroughly frustrating at times. My game back-log is such that it is hard to justify replaying right away but I hope to get to it in the next year or so.

For my next game, I auditioned Metroid II for Game Boy (actually played on my GBA) and Yoshi's Island DS on my new DS which I've barely played. I ultimately went w/ Yoshi's Island DS mostly because, as mentioned, I have barely played my DS.(Metroid II seems to be pretty intense in its own right and I am still looking forward to it.)

Of course, Yoshi's Islandis also going to see considerable time in my 3DS because I need to get it finished by February 7th so as to free up my schedule to play Resident Evil: Revelations on its release date. It looks better on the DS but the problems w/ the quality of DS games played on the 3DS is way overstated in my opinion. I will take slightly reduced visual quality in exchange for having this game done in time.