Jack McSetback & the Spiky Stone of Doom is the first LittleBigPlanet level I’ve played that was wonderful without being a fanservice, tribute, or parody. It’s a classic adventure in which you play the role of Jack McSetback, a treasure hunter. You travel to a temple to retrieve the Sun Idol, but when you do (which is early on), it sets off a trap! You drop the idol and must make it out of the temple alive!
The level is mostly platforming with no real bosses or puzzles. However, the aesthetics are great, and the platforming feels correct. I think this level is better than most of the story levels that shipped with LittleBigPlanet. The game engine doesn’t have the response that feels right for tight controlled platformers like Mario, yet most levels aspire to feel similarly. Luckily the engine feels just right for little(big) adventuring!
Category Archives: Gaming
Three Weeks of Games
Whoops. Three weeks. A few weeks ago I was playing Hellgate London pretty heavily in an attempt to finish before the servers went down. I stopped when they announced they were keeping the game running. Sadly, they meant that they’d bring the game back, not that it would stay up; I didn’t finish, and my character’s gone. Oh well. I also played World of Warcraft a bit! I got to 58, so I’ll be able to check out Outland next time I quest. I’ve spent some time finding the Elders, managing to talk to all the ones in Kalimdor, including the one in Darnassus. It was a little tricky going through an Alliance capital but easier than I expected.
I tried Guilty Gear 2 Overture on 360 and was heavily disappointed. Luckily, I moved on to Naruto Clash of the Ninja Revolution and Guilty Gear XX ^ Core, both for the Wii. While they’re very different from each other, they were both very enjoyable fighting games.
I tried a little Platypus on PSP but grew bored of it pretty quickly. I also pushed forward a bit in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Justice for All as well as Professor Layton and the Curious Village. I put a little bit of time in Super Magnetic Neo for Dreamcast in my small gaps of free time. I beat my highscore in Pacman Championship Edition, and completed a few missions in Grand Theft Auto IV. Also, I’m one achievement away from unlocked the second Heavy weapon upgrade in Team Fortress 2. Just today I found a new game to play, TrackMania Nations Forever, which is very entertaining.
What’s been occupying the majority of my time is Dr. Mario! I’ve been playing it on an emulator on my PSP. It’s very addicting, and I’m starting to see falling pills when I space out. I guess it’s like the Tetris Effect, from which I’ve definitely suffered.
It sounds like I’ve been playing a lot, but it doesn’t really feel that way. I played a lot of different games but none for very long. A lot of these games were played three weeks ago, because I’ve been pretty busy with school these last two weeks. Most of the games I’ve played have been in very small time chunks while doing something else or while lying in bed.
TrackMania Nations Forever
I found TrackMania Nations Forever on Steam when searching for free games. Expecting it not to be very good, I didn’t play it for months. Today I finally tried it and was very impressed! As soon as I played the first course, I was reminded of the PC game Stunts. If you’re not familiar with that game, don’t worry. I’ll explain the game. There are four difficulties, each with fifteen tracks. Only the first five tracks of each difficulty are unlocked by default. Finishing a set of five unlocks the next set. There’s also an additional difficulty with only five tracks; these are locked and have high requirements.
You race alone or against ghosts. There is online races, but even then, you’re basically racing ghosts. You can’t physically interact with other cars. While you’re driving, you can respawn at anytime in case you get stuck as well as restart with the press of a button. Some tracks require you to complete multiple laps, but most are one lap in length. In addition, a lot of courses involve tricks such as driving off ramps and aiming to fly through holes. There’s also a level editor in it, which I haven’t tried yet.
TMNF looks great. The textures aren’t very amazing, but the models are very nice, and the lighting is also great. It’s not going to drop anyone’s jaw, but it does look very slick. There’s even a mode for 3D if you have the red and blue 3D glasses.
The game is very enjoyable. You can play in short intervals, and it’s very fun. With many tracks, online leaderboards, and a pricetag of zero dollars, there’s no reason to not try this game out! You’ll be in for a treat.
And if anyone does try it out, add me to your TrackMania friends list! It uses a separate list than Steam. I’m MrUser!
I Cry Red Ringed Tears
I blame Collin! He played Dead Rising on it last year!
Ace Attorney Opera
Griffin McElroy just posted on Joystiq that Takarazuka Revue, a theater troupe in Japan, is performing an Ace Attorney Opera! They’re currently rehearsing, and the show will open at the end of February! Normally I would just share items in Google Reader, but I think this deserves a little more attention!
Super Magnetic Neo (DC)
Super Magnetic Neo is a 3D platforming game for the Sega Dreamcast. It’s a classic platformer in the same vein of games such as Super Mario 64 and Gex: Enter the Gecko. The game is definitely focused on jumping as well as collecting assorted small, spinning things. What makes this game a little different than other 3D platformers is the magnetic gameplay element. Your character can run, jump, produce a positive magnetic field, and produce a negative magnetic field. Enemies are all (at least so far) polarized, so you can either make enemies fly off or attract them, sucking them into a cube on your head and then turning them into small pellets that you can throw at things. The magnetic mechanic is not only for fighting but also for the platforming element. Throughout the stages are pads that are also polarized. Producing the same polarity field than a pad you’re standing on will shoot you into the air perpendicular to the pad. This allows your character to reach great heights and also to propel through the air. Similarly, you can produce the opposite polarity magnetic field than a pad to be attracted to it, useful for attempting to land on pads when you’re moving past them. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played of it. Super Magnetic Neo isn’t amazing, but the magnetism mechanic does give it a little something extra to warrant some attention.
GOTY Revisions
I updated my Game of the Year post because I couldn’t decide between Professor Layton and the Curious Village and No More Heroes. I’m just leaving it a tie between the two!
Top 10 Games of 2008
Here are my top ten games from 2008. I listed twelve games because I’m including Ubeat, which was only location tested in America, and Rhythm Tengoku Gold, which is only available in Japan. If I’m considering those two games, my list should stop at entry ten; If I’m not, then disregard them but consider the last two entries.
1. No More Heroes
1. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
3. Ubeat
4. The World Ends With You
5. Castle Crashers
6. Braid
7. Wrath of the Lich King
8. Rhythm Tengoku Gold
9. LittleBigPlanet
10. Grand Theft Auto IV
11. Left 4 Dead
12. Mario Kart Wii
Guilty Gear XX ^ Core (Wii)
Finally I was able to try the game at which I’ve been aiming! Guilty Gear XX ^ Core great graphics and character design, cool music, and challenging fighting. The aesthetic is great. Characters are varied and extremely interesting with quite beautiful sprites. Heavy metal music plays most of the time, and the levels have pretty interesting also. The whole thing has a futuristic, industrial, fantasy vibe to it. There isn’t a story mode, only arcade, versus, and survival. I haven’t really got a good feel for the tension gauge and special moves; I’m pretty new to fighting games actually, so I’m not sure I’m going to get the hang of it! I’m enjoying it so far though and plan to put more time into it.
Hellgate: London to Stay Alive
Massively reported today at 10:00 AM Pacific that Hellgate: London will not go down at the end of January! Flagship Studios, the developer, was only going to continue to run servers until January 31, 2009; however, HanbitSoft, the current IP owner, has decided to keep the game online using the free-to-play model.
This is great news! I do feel bad for all the people who have been giving away items and palladium. Luckily I was not one of those people! I suppose the free-to-play model implies that HanbitSoft will be offering microtransactions to make money off the game. That’s fine with me! The article also mentions the possibility of an expansion. According to Wikipedia, Flagship Studios was working on an expansion called The Second Invasion that would take place in Korea. Of course, HanbitSoft now owns the rights to that too, but there hasn’t been any confirmation of them releasing it. In the novels, which take place before HG:L the game, there were rumors of Hellgates opening all over the world. Assuming this expansion takes place after Hellgate: London and that it is indeed about the second invasion, those rumors the characters heard must have been false.

