GameSetPlaying: Week Of April 8th Edition
Starting up a new little thing on (each or alternate) Sundays here, whereby I talk about some of the games I've been playing this week and what I thought of them - and then I encourage erstwhile GSW readers to do the same. Here we go:
- Jetpac Refueled (Rare/Microsoft, Xbox 360 Live Arcade)
Now, this one may be because I'm British, was born in 1975, and my first computer was a Sinclair ZX Spectrum - therefore making Rare's early Ultimate Play The Game output some of the key games I played growing up. But at 400 points ($5), and with an accurate retro mode and fun, extremely challenging 'Refueled' mode, this cross between Defender and Joust is an incredibly fun short-term blaster. Definitely in my Top 3 XBLA titles so far (though some co-workers just can't stand it).
- Puzzle Quest (Infinite Interactive/D3, PSP)
There's obviously been a lot of buzz for this title - though Infinite Interactive's webpage misreads a Gamasutra chart citing Amazon.com a bit, I still think it's going to be a notable sleeper hit - and I've only just got started with the game. But... what an awesome idea! I can't decide whether a 'match 3' puzzler mashed up with a hardcore fantasy RPG is an accidental perversion or a genius breakthrough. But adding RPG progression and leveling to the puzzle genre - in a much more meaningful way than Popcap's Bookworm Adventures - makes the game fiendishly addictive.
- Sonic & The Secret Rings (Sonic Team/Sega, Wii)
Just rented this one, but yes, echoing some of the reviewers - this is definitely the first Sonic game I've enjoyed in quite a long time. The Wii-specific controls are fun, though they do suffer from a lot of the issues motion controllers have when expecting extreme precision (you have to break acceleration/tilt thresholds to trigger movements, I think, which is just subtly different from direct button-pressing actions.) The biggest issue with the game is that Sonic moves so damn fast, and the base levels are pretty long, so you can sorta tell (at least in my mind) that they ran out of content quite quickly, and mixed things up with lots of 'challenge' levels, some of which can be contrived and a bit obnoxious.
Other things at I least touched this week - Konami/Hudson's Honeycomb Beat for DS (clever, slightly brain-hurting puzzler), Konami's Arcade Hits for DS (completely bizarre, super-detailed emulation specifics and options, some decent emulation of obscure titles), Ubisoft Montreal's TMNT for Xbox 360 (Prince of Turtle! I kinda like this, though I shouldn't - mainly it's for the easy Achievement Points, I fear.) What have you guys been playing, and (optional!) how did you like them?
Comments
Neat. Never thought our gaming paths would cross quite the same way. I'm about halfway through Honeycomb Beat and I can't understand why some people think it counts as a music game. I mean, it has music and it does say beat in the title but otherwise I'm not feeling the melodic groove. TMNT is awaiting it's first play in my 360.
Other than that I recently jumped back and forth between WoW and FFXI and a lot of DDR Universe. I actually don't like this version of DDR (I think Konamix on the PS1 has better graphics and style) but since it cost an arm and a leg I'm going to get every point I can out of it. Pokemon Ranger and the new .hack are just about to be crossed off my list as I have one mission/battle left in each. Ranger was cute at first but now it’s just tedious and I hope against hope there won’t be a sequel. I enjoyed the first game in the original .hack and then I felt it went downhill. Hopefully this series will correct past mistakes since I’m loving it thus far. MMO-style without the endless timesink to suck away my life and a decent enough story and voice acting to boot. Then I'll jump right into Puzzle Quest and Chocobo Tales.
Sorry for the novel. I read this site all the time but I rarely, if ever, comment. Man, I love vacation time :)
Posted by: Jenn | April 8, 2007 4:06 PM
Still working my way through Rogue Galaxy. 47 1/2 hours in and it looks like the story is starting to wind down quite a bit. The dungeon designs were pretty weak early on, but in Chapter 8 (an absolutely mammoth chapter comprised of like 5 dungeons) they took a sharp upward turn before nosediving once again in chapter 9. Oh well, can't have everything.
Pocket Kingdom on NGage has been getting some decent play during my lunch breaks at work and I tried out the Armored Core 4 demo on PS3 the other day as well. Can't say that I enjoyed AC4 that much, though the graphics were quite sex. I'll always prefer the PS1 Armored Core series, I guess.
Posted by: RoushiMSX | April 8, 2007 8:17 PM
Recently finished Crackdown (360), which is superb. Also playing God of War 2 (PS2), which is also superb. :)
Other than that, I'm still loving Massive Assault Network 2 (PC), and have just begun playing Penumbra: Overture (PC), which seems to be quite good so far.
Posted by: fluffy bunny | April 9, 2007 4:29 AM
WiiPlay - got it from a friend for the weekend, think I'll happily pick it up on eBay > my kids can play it :)
WiiSports - Family in town? Break out WiiSports!
Gunstorm 2 - Was supposed to play multiple indie games this weekend, but after a couple hours on this title I started to really dig it!
Posted by: Russell Carroll | April 9, 2007 8:43 AM