Monday, August 25, 2008

Gently Wiiping

Yo. So, I haven't posted in a while. The fact is, for a period of about three months, my life got pretty wackadoo, and as such I didn't touch my Wii that entire time (except for a handful of Mario Kart games with friends). Pretty much all my leisure time was devoted to whiskey, cocaine and weeping, so there wasn't a lot of time for Nintendo. I was almost afraid to even hook the Wii up, to tell the truth. The fact is, I see video games as something to put the cherry on top of good times. A nice supplement to a fun and comfortable life. During bad times, the mere thought of losing myself in a crazy fantasy world is kind of depressing and offputting. I know that's probably the exact opposite of how most normal people think, but hey, I'm a fucking weirdo.

Anyway, times have been a bit better lately, so I've recently put the Wii back on active duty. The first thing I tried to do was pick up where I left off in my game of Okami, which was the last thing I'd been playing. Unfortunately, when I turned on the game, I had no idea where the fuck I was, or what I was supposed to do, or even what the game's basic controls were. So I turned it off. Since then, I've kind of gone on a nutty WiiWare shopping spree, and the results of that have taken up the lion's share of my Wii time. Here's what I've been playing:

Dr. Mario - I know I'm in the minority here, but I've always thought of Dr. Mario as kind of meh as far as falling-block puzzle games go. I don't think it's anywhere near as good as Tetris, Wario's Woods (the best puzzle game of all time), Puzzle League/Tetris Attack or even Yoshi's Cookie. I find it frustrating, and slightly counter-intuitive. I also think the game makes it really difficult to bounce back from fuck-ups, which is a huge puzzle game no-no in my book. Hey, I dunno, maybe I just totally suck at it. Still, it's a pretty good game, and the WiiWare version is just about as awesome as it can get. I especially like seeing my little Mii all dressed up like a doctor. The motion-control version included here is totally silly and pointless, but I find it pretty fun. It makes an old, stale game feel somewhat new and fresh.

Magnetica Twist - People will rip my throat out for this, but I find this a much more satisfying puzzle game experience than Dr. Mario. It's basically Bust-a-Move except you're in the middle of a loop and the bubbles slowly twist around you towards a black hole of death. Spin around and eliminate bubbles before they reach the hole. Pretty simple. The two-player co-op mode is super fun, and Mii support adds a lot of charm. I love this shit!

Strong Bad Episode 1- I am not at all familiar with these Homestar Runner characters, and quite frankly, I don't find them really funny at all. But, I liked this game. Point-and-click adventure might be my absolute favorite genre of video games, and it thrills my little heart to see the Wii become a platform for them! This game, from Telltale, is a simple but fun adventure. Not a whole lot of real head-scratchers here, but enough going on to make it engaging. I'm sure that if you're a fan of the characters, it's way, way better. My only gripe is that these episodes are gonna be $10 each, and I beat this one in like 2 hours, so I'm torn as to whether or not I wanna stick around for the whole run of them. We shall see!

LostWinds - Shit is really good. Pretty-looking Metroidvania-esque platforming, with a fun motion-controlled wind mechanic. My only real beef with this game is that there is no map screen included, which makes it pretty easy to get lost, if you're a doofus like me. Besides that though, this is pretty satisfying so far. I like making the wind blow random shit in the background

Defend Your Castle - I was at Jonnie Whoa Oh's house when I downloaded most of these WiiWare games, and I figured Jonnie and I would spend the evening playing LostWinds together. As it turns out, we ended up playing this nonsense for like two and a half hours straight. By the end of it, my wrist felt like it was going to fall off of my fucking body. This game is super shallow, and ridiculous, and you'll feel stupid for wasting your time with it, but mark my words: you will waste your time with it. Especially if you've got a buddy to join you. And hey, it's only $5.

So that's what I've been up to. As far as "real" games go, I dunno. I'm probably either going to give Okami another try, or wait for September when Sam & Max comes out. I'll keep you posted!! It's nice to have the Wii back in my life!!

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