Tag Archives: Game Journal

Chuck’s Challenge 3D


The beta of Chuck’s Challenge 3D was released for some Kickstarter supporters recently, and I had the chance to try it out. It’s a port of the iOS game, Chuck’s Challenge, which is itself similar to the amazing Chip’s Challenge from the Lynx and PC. The video is short because it’s just a quick look at the game. You’ll have to excuse a couple times where nothing seems to be happening; I was trying various inputs just to see how it worked.

Portal 2, Hoard, Sequence, and Shatter

I’ve been playing a handful of Steam games lately.
Portal 2
gem and I began working on the co-op chambers last week. By the time she had finished the single-player game, my computer die, leaving us unable to play co-op. We just not got back around to trying it. I’m really enjoying it. Like all the other mechanics in the series, there’s that initial figuring-it-out phase, and then things just start clicking. I also like that sometimes I don’t even know what’s happening; I’m just doing what gem tells me and finding myself who-knows-where.
Hoard
Hoard is a fun game I reviewed for Game Boyz but never beat. There’s no story mode or anything like it. Rather, there’s a large number of independent maps. The game looks sort of like an RTS, but you control only a single dragon and are tasked with burning towns, kidnapping princesses, and increasing your gold hoard. While there’s a lot of replayability, I did manage to complete every map.
Sequence
This seems fun so far. It’s a little corny and lacks some polish in the graphics and voice-acting, but it’s still enjoyable. It’s sort of an RPG or dungeon crawler in which combat is done through keyboard or controller DDR. It’s a neat concept, but it’s grindy. I’m going to keep playing it for now, but I doubt I’ll finish it.
Shatter
OMG EXTREME BREAKOUT!!1!one! At least, that’s what it seems like. It’s fun but not groundbreaking.

Sometimes I play video games

The last time I made a large Game Journal post, I was playing Sonic Generations, Ocarina of Time 3D, inFamous 2, and World of Warcraft. I was also thinking about starting Gears of War 3, Ivy the Kiwi?, Sonic Colors, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland.

* * * Playing * * *

World of Warcraft
Of course, I’m still playing World of Warcraft. I have a separate blog to talk about that, but we’re now 5/8 in Dragon Soul.
Mario Kart 7
Mario Kart’s always been one of my favorite series, and 7 is no let down. As usual, there’s a Mirror mode unlocked after 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc. I’m working on it now.
inFamous 2
I’m so close to that damn platinum trophy! I really need to put some more time in it!
LittleBigPlanet 2
I actually just started playing this today, but I bought it for gem for Christmas. We’re playing through the game in co-op! Unfortunately, after every play session, we have to login as the other person and start the game again to sync trophies to both accounts. So much work. Fun game though, and I’m glad she’s enjoying it!
Plants vs. Zomibes
More content was added to the iOS version, so I’m playing that off and on a bit as well as the PC version ocassionally.
Super Mario 3D Land
I stopped playing this because of Pilotwings and Mario Kart, but I’ll hopefully get back to it soon. It’s amazingly excellent. Great level design. Every element is there for a reason, and when I die, it’s my fault. Perfect. Wonderful use of 3D as well.
Game Dev Story
I started playing this again just a little bit. I’d like to get a perfectly reviewed game.

* * * Finished * * *

Pilotwings Resort
I played this a lot of while! Alex let me borrow it, and it’s pretty fun. I didn’t manage to get perfects on everything, which keeps me from unlocking some bonus missions, but I did beat the main game!
Sonic Generations
I finished this and loved it. Thankfully Sonic Team didn’t make it super long by adding too much worthless content.

* * * Gave Up * * *

Zeno Clash
Zeno Clash is a weird first-person fighting game with a really bizarre story. I got stuck for a little bit, put it down, and never came back. I might be done with it. Maybe I’ll just switch it to easy mode and plow through it.

* * * Thinking About Playing* * *

Grand Theft Auto
I don’t even know which one I’d like to play. I suppose I’d like to finish the first one, but it crashes when I alt-tab. I have the third on Android that I could play, but I’m not sure how much time I’d want to devote to an Android port. What if I get stuck later because I lack good controls? Of course, I have all the pre-4 games on Steam as well.
Co-op Platformers
Lots to choose from after we finsh LBP2. Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Kirby’s Return to Dreamland come to mind.
More
Gears of War 3
Ivy the Kiwi?
Sonic Colors
Epic Mickey
The Binding of Isaac
Sequence
Cthulhu Saves the World
Psychonauts
The Old Republic…?

Top 10 Video Games on My Mind

Sonic Generations
I just started playing this, and I’m enjoying it. It’s definitely some fan service, which is fine by me. I’m a big fan, so it works.
Ocarina of Time 3D
One dungeon down!
Infamous 2
I beat the game in hard mode with good, but I’d like to go back and do it with evil karma. I also wanted to max my good character, but grinding XP is taking far too long.
World of Warcraft
Of course, there’s always more to do in WoW. We finished normal mode Firelands, but there’s still more gearing, PVPing, questing, and other stuff to do.
More
And then there are a bunch of games I need to start still!
Gears of War 3
Ivy the Kiwi?
Sonic Colors
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Epic Mickey
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland

Games in June

I haven’t made a Game Journal update in a while!
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
I finished The Ballad of Gay Tony. It had been a while since I played the original campaign or the Lost and Damned, but I think I liked the original best followed by The Ballad of Gay Tony. The characters were all very entertaining. The relationship between Tony and Luis was cool, Yusuf was a fun character, and the ending mission was a lot of fun.
Portal 2
gem finished this, but with my computer down, there’s no chance at playing co-op anytime soon.
Worms 2: Armageddon
I picked this up for the iPhone a few weeks ago. It’s pretty full-featured, but I suck a lot so I stopped playing it.
Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting
Fun but short. It didn’t have any RPG elements besides being able to upgrade weapons and armor. There isn’t even any exploration. It reminds me of the Arena in Armored Core.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
I was playing this regularly for a while, but now I haven’t touched it in a few weeks. With my room off-limits, I haven’t moved it downstairs. I was enjoying it though!
Save Toshi
This iPhone puzzle game tasks you with throwing balls at platforms so that the girl standing on top falls onto the goal platform. If you hit her, you lose. It’s surprisingly fun if you turn off the terrible voice-acting. I beat this, but it was shorter than I expected. It turns out I was playing a version that was basically a demo for a longer version.
Cell Bound
Another iPhone game! It’s kind of like Puzzle Bobble except the bubbles come from all sides towards the center, and you can rotate the center. It was fun, but I stopped playing it as soon as I posted the review.
Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing
More iPhone gaming! This just came out, and as I loved the console version, I had to pick it up. It’s a little difficult because it uses tilt to steer, but it’s better than I would have expected. I haven’t put too much time into it, but I plan to play it more.
Plants vs. Zombies
I’ve been playing this more than anything else lately. With the newest update, the iPhone version finally received some mini-games. One game comes immediately, and then there are two packs of three that can be purchased with the in-game currency. I bought the first pack but haven’t made enough money for the second. The update also brought the Zen Garden that allows you to raise plants. It’s fun!
A Slice of Life
The last iPhone game, I promise! The goal is to have your character succeed in the various parts of life – job, education, social, etc. It’s like the Sims but only menu and button-driven with no direct control. It kind of sucked.
Sonic Generations Demo
The demo only features one level of the classic gameplay, but I enjoyed it. It almost seemed a little too fast, making it hard to focus, but I didn’t run into any traps, making the speed okay. The graphics seemed odd because it was clearly inspired by the classic graphics but still 3D. I liked it a lot more than the photo-realistic background of Sonic 4. I’m looking forward to playing more of this for sure!
A.R.E.S.
I’ve been playing this a bit the last couple days. It looks a lot like Mega Man X, but in A.R.E.S. you can control the direction in which you shoot as well as spend recyclables dropped by dead robots on grenades, repair kits, or upgrading weapons.
Metal Drift
I wanted to play this because I enjoy vehicular combat games, but it seems odd from the tutorial. You can shoot in any direction, including shooting directly behind you while driving forward. It seems difficult to be able to do that.
Nimbus
Okay, last game. Nimbus is a flying, side-view racing game in which you can’t directly accelerate. You reach the goal by attempting to keep your momentum, flying into cannon-things (think barrels from Donkey Kong Country), colliding with bouncy pads, etc. I’m enjoying it so far.
Besides playing PvZ regularly, nothing is really pulling me in a lot right now. Right now I’m mostly playing A.R.E.S. and Nimbus at home, but I have to kind of push myself to do it. We’ll see. Maybe I should hook my Wii back up again.
I also signed up for a second 365 Project, the photo-a-day site. While the first I’m using for photos as intended, my second account is now for screenshots. We’ll see how it goes. It’s here

End of May Update

It’s been over three weeks last my last Game Journal update. While I haven’t played a ton, I have made progress on a few games.
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony
I’m still putting decent progress into this. gem likes to watch me play this, so I can’t play it that often, but I’m enjoying it. I loved the original GTA4 more than the expansions, but I think I’m liking the Ballad of Gay Tony more than the Lost and Damned.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game
Last time I updated, I had just started playing Scott Pilgrim again. Last night Collin, Duncan, gem, and I finished the game on Average Joe, the normal, easiest setting. I had a blast and would definitely love to jump back into it and try on the harder difficulties.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Well, this is kind of funny. I couldn’t play this for months because I lost it, and as it turns out, I had just reached the last level when I misplaced the game. Check, another game completed.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
My desktop died, so progress here is pretty much dead as well.
Portal 2
I didn’t make any progress here myself, but gem has almost finished the single player campaign. This relates to MY game progress because it means we can almost start playing the co-op campaign together.
Hoard
My Hoard review is finally up, and I have played a bit more of it. It’s nice because it doesn’t have a campaign mode. It simply has a variety of short skirmishes available.
Up next…
I’m not sure what to play next. With my computer down, a lot of those options are out. I’m still going to be working on the Ballad of Gay Tony, and I might pick up Pokemon White again. I think Gish would be fun to play as well as Samorost and Samorost 2 on my laptop. As for consoles when gem’s not around, I think I’ll put more time into Super Mario Galaxy 2!

May Update

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
I’ve been much more active now that I’m back in Carpe just because there are so many more people around. Also, with the 4.1 changes to heroics, I can do multiple heroics on my off days and still get valor points for all of them. I did four tonight with guildies, and it’s very nice to be able to do this! I should be able to buy a new piece of valor gear soon, and I only have a neck piece and two rings to buy as far as honor gear. Of course, I need honor enchants as well. I’m at ilvl 350 in PVE, but I haven’t done the new dungeons because I’m waiting for gem. In PVP gear I’m currently at 2.8k resilience. Also, I finished Children’s Week, and I love the new lore in the quests!
Portal 2
I managed to play through the single player campaign in Portal 2, and it was fantastic. It wasn’t as good as the original, but it was still amazingly great. I’m looking forward to playing co-op with gem as soon as she finishes the single-player campaign. Alex has also played it a few times at my house, and it’s even wonderful just to watch him play.
Hoard
I don’t really want to talk about this too much since I’m reviewing it for Game-Boyz, but I’ve been playing it too. It’s very fun, especially since each round is only about ten minutes.
Plants vs. Zombies
I finally got all the achievements in PvZ on iOS! The one I was missing was the achievement for getting all the plants. Of course, that was just a grind for money away! I kind of wish there was more to do in the game though. I know I could just play it for fun, but it’s more difficult to play when there isn’t a goal in mind. Even games that can’t be completed usually have a high score mode or something. Now this one is all done.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game
After all this time, I finally got to play Scott Pilgrim! I played with gem, Justina, and Collin. God, it is so much fun. It feels like such a great throw back to River City Ransom while containing modern gameplay mechanics and beautiful aesthetics. I can’t wait to finish it.
Rush
Rush is basically Chu Chu Rocket with more panels and a third dimension. I picked it up on Steam when it was on sale and have been having a lot of fun with it. I still have a lot of puzzles left to do, but it’s pretty interesting. There doesn’t seem to be any stages comparable to the arcade stages in CCR, but that’s okay, because the puzzles are fun.
Chu Chu Rocket
Speaking of Chu Chu Rocket, I started playing the iOS version of it again in an attempt to get more achievements. It has a lot of puzzles!
Capsized
Capsized is a new, indie platformer on Steam. I downloaded the demo and enjoyed it but haven’t yet purchased the full game. You move your character with WASD, aim with the mouse, and can shoot, jump, and interact with the environment in a few other ways. The game is gorgeous. Check out the screenshots here.
Mass Effect
I didn’t play this at all, but I did pick it up when it was on sale on Steam. I’m sure I’ll get to it eventually!
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
I found it! This had been lost for a couple months now I think, but I finally found the game today. Now I can get back to it.

April Game Update

Playing
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm for PC
I’ve been doing a heroic and BG most days now. I’ve received a lot of new gear, which is cool. After a lot of thought, I rejoined Carpe Flux Capacitor recently. It sucks to see Playground Brigade fall apart, but it’s nice to be back in Carpe. A couple weeks ago, BFF took me on their guild run of BWD, although I didn’t make any new progress. I have managed to break 80,000 HKs, get Cataclysmically Superior, and finish Hyjal though. Boy, Hyjal was a badass zone at the end there! And lots of cute quests involving animals too.
Surviving High School for iOS
While I haven’t been playing this as much, I’ve been playing through the weekly episode every week.
Anomaly: Warzone Earth for Steam
This is a game I’m reviewing for Game-Boyz, so I don’t want to talk about it too much here until after I post the review. I will say that it’s a reverse tower defense in which you control a line of units going on the offensive against stationary turrets. I beat it this morning, and I really enjoyed it. There’s a few bonus modes that I’d like to play more of before I call it quits on this game.
Hoard for Steam
Another Game-Boyz game that I can’t talk about too much. Even if I could though, I just started it. It’s a strategy game in which you play as a dragon attempting to hoard gold by destroying cities, scaring peasants into giving gold tributes, and kidnapping and ransoming princesses. Seems fun!
Plants vs. Zombies for iOS
I finally managed to finish the New Game+ mode in this and am working on the last achievement – unlock every plant. I still have a few more to unlock, but I’m sure I’ll get it soon since I’ve been playing it a lot in my down time.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 for WiiWare
I beat and reviewed this recently. It was a solid entry I think, and I enjoyed it. While I didn’t gather all the chaos emeralds, going after them really wasn’t that fun. I think I’m done with this one.
Stopped Playing
Mirror’s Edge for iOS
I’ve just grown bored of this. The levels are pretty repetitive and sometimes annoying. I’ll probably end up finishing it after a while through playing it in small chunks.
YumYumBoy for iOS
I’m still trying to post the review on this one, but Game-Boyz has been having some problems. I might pick it up from time to time, but I think I’m pretty much done with it.
Considerations
I picked up Portal 2, so obviously I want to play that more. I’d also really like to figure out where I put Force Unleashed 2 so I get back to it. I should probably get back to Ballad of Gay Tony and Johnny Platform’s Biscuit Romp as well. Further down the line, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Rush all sound appealing. I purchased Unbound Saga, a brawler for XBLA recently and should probably check that out. I’ve also been wanting to play Scott Pilgrim and Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime when I get the chance.