Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Had a good couple of hours on this today. It's certainly a bigger game that it appeared to be to begin with!

Finished off Dungeon 5, which, despite being called Unicorn's Cave doesn't have any unicorns in it. The item found there was the "magnetic gloves", which I've not seen in a Zelda game before. Basically, you become alternately attracted to and repelled from other magnety things. Nice. The mid-boss was a pushover, and the end boss (using the gloves) wasn't much harder, although you have to kill in an utterly ace manner.

After that, it was off on a load of fetch quests. Had to get a members card to get in the shop's secret area to buy a treasure map to find four jewels to open the Ancient Ruins to get to Dungeon 6. Well, I did. Ventured in, but haven't done a lot there yet.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Another quick dash into Subrosia (don't they make creamed rice?) to grab the Magical Doofrey of Autumnanulness for my wand, and then it was off to heave mushrooms out of the ground and enter Dungeon 5.

There's a lot of water in there. And minecarts. I've found the map and compass, and a small key, but now I'm not too sure where to go next. Luckily, this dungeon looks pretty small, so I'm hoping it won't take too long.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Another day, another dungeon. Dungeon 4 was pretty long, although there weren't that many puzzle in it. The mid-boss was actually pretty clever - it splits in three and you can only hit the one with a shadow. Except you have to make a light source for there to be a shadow.

The weapon earned here was a slingshot. I can now fire my seeds at things. And guess what? I needed it to kill the dungeon boss - a crab thing. Which I did.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Mid-boss and dungeon boss = KILLED. And yes, I did need Roc's Feather to kill the dungeon boss. What a coincidence that I happened to pick it up just prior to needing it, eh? Oh hang on, no. That's exactly how all Zelda games work, isn't it?

Anyway, with that dungeon out of the way, it was off to The Sunken City, where I got another Zelda mainstay - Zora's Flippers. And yes, I needed them to go swimming. I also have some Gale Seeds that let me warp around the map too. More characters from other Zelda games have also appeared - Syrup the witch, and Biggoron too. The latter has a cold I can't cure (yet).

Off to Subrosa again, and my Feather was stolen and hidden by some people. Found some skeletal pirates too. As you do. Made my way into the Temple again and now have TEH SPRING POWAZ. Just as well, as yes, I needed them to do the next bit - finding Spring Bananas for Moosh, a flying bear. He helps me reach a key, which, after some wandering around, I find fits a lock that opens dungeon 4. And in I go...

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Ribbon bought, strange hooded thing called Rosa taken on a "date" to get the Summer thingie for the wand, and it's off to the third dungeon. This one is actually pretty big, and has a few puzzles in it that require a little thought (such as rearranging statues). Haven't finished it yet, but I did pick up both the map and compass, as well as Roc's Feather (gosh! never seen that in a Zelda game before) which, as expected, is required to progress in this dungeon. Chances of needing it to defeat the boss? 99.9%.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

I appeared to be stuck again, but soon unstuck myself and found a new route. Retrieved some boxing gloves for a kangaroo (of course), who now carries me around and can jump over holes and stuff. Nice.

Opened a floodgate, allowing access to the next dungeon. Except, I can't get in yet as it isn't summer, and I can't make it summer. Off to Subrosia (the volcano place) again, only via a different entrance. Dug up some ore (no rupees in Subrosia) to buy a piece of heart. I need a "star shaped ore" now to buy a ribbon, I think.

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

I'm sure my 1337 gaming skillz are waning. After winning the dance-off and getting the Boomerang and the Winter hoodilly for the Wand of Seasons (or whatever it is) I wandered around for a good half an hour trying to figure out where I was supposed to go. The answer ("down a chimney") was staring me in the face the whole time. Tch.

Off to Dungeon 2 then, and got the Power Bracelet. How silly of Link to lose all these items between quests! A couple of new ideas make it into this dungeon (pushing rolling log things), but sadly the end boss is almost the same as a previous Zelda boss. Only with a slight Power Bracelet twist.

So that's the second essence found, and six more to go. And three more season thingies. Hurrah!

Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

Since I have no completable handheld game on the go at the moment, this is stepping in to provide portable gaming. Or something.

Typical Zelda fare so far, with the same baddies as always, and all that. One big difference so far is the fact I had to go and find my sword before I could fight anything. OK, so the very first Zelda game did the same thing, but in this one you have to travel a fair way and avoid a load of baddies to get there. Not hard, just different.

Completed the first dungeon, killing a dragon who was almost identical to that in the first Zelda. I have bombs (surprise) and some flame seeds (which set fire to things) now too. Then I wandered off to find the next dungeon, playing a game of Tom Clancy's Pro Lurker on the way. Is there a game around these days that doesn't have a stealth section? After that, went to some volcano world place, and took part in Dancing Stage Link. As you do.

Eternal Darkness

Hmm. I'm stuck. Already. I managed to find my way "into" the second chapter easily enough, but no sooner had I begun, I became stuck. I've rearranged the way some candles are lit, killed some baddies, and now have nothing left I can try. A door opened partially, but I can't get through it. None of my items do anything useful, and I can't do anything else with candles as I don't get any options to try anything. Bah.

Eternal Darkness

I bought this game for £5 about two years ago, and it's never seen the inside of my Gamecube. Decided to have a go, and see if I can make it my next game-to-complete.

Wandered around the mansion a little as Alex, and found a key, broke a different key, and opened a secret room. Found a book inside, and it was time to become Pious Augustus in Persia, 2000 years ago. Seems easy enough so far, although I'm not having a great time dealing with three baddies at once. Perhaps things will improve when I get a ranged weapon?

Got to the end of Pious' level, and had the choice of three artifacts. Chose the green one. Not sure what the difference is, but that was the one I picked. Saved and quit for now.

Sonic Heroes: OVERANDOUTED!

Somehow, over the course of today's play, I bumped into another bug. I lost all my rings, and then picked one up. I then had 999 rings. How bizarre.

Killed all of the million baddies Eggman sent at me in wave after boring wave, and then started on the last few levels of the game. Once more, just like almost every other Sonic game, they're set on Eggman's flying fleet of ships. And, like Sonic Adventure 2, there are far too many rails to grind and (unlike SA2) not enough actual platforming. Plenty of falling off the world and into nothingness, however, with even more unavoidable deaths and levels that can only be got through with some luck rather than pure skill. What kind of game mechanic is that? Not a fun one, that's for sure.

And then there was the end boss - Eggman in a big robot suit. With a sword. And he was alarmingly easy. So, game won, credits roll, and I'm NEVER playing that pile of crap ever again.

Sonic Heroes

Had a slightly less irritating time on this today. The levels I worked through had fewer die-for-no-reason moments. That's not to say it was all good - far from it. Hang Castle had a few areas where you are given no clue as to where to go, and Mystic Mansion had stupid mine cart sections and some rubbish Sonic/Tails/Knuckles specific bit near the end.

With them out of the way, and joypad surprisingly intact, it was on to Robot Storm. Hurrah - wave after wave of baddies. Again. Rubbish. Decided to quit after I fell off the edge of the platform due to a non-homing homing attack for the 9876874632th time.

Foolishly went back to Team Rose and worked my way through a few levels. I think that Cream's voice (played by Sarah Wulfeck) might also be Princess Tippi from Ribbit King, although I can't find any evidence. Whatever, she needs here vocal chords ripping out.

'Fought' Team Sonic. Fought as in, beat them without trying at all, in three seconds. Then turned the game off.

Run Baby Run

More playage-and-testage of this game today. I now have three sets of levels for download, and I've also upped the editor. You can see all this, and more, in my new Run Baby Run section of this very site. Hurrah!

Sonic Heroes

Still the irritation factor rises. Athough I've now killed Egg Albatross (who was very easy, it turned out), the following two jungle levels were full of irritating unavoidable deaths and stupid can't-see-where-you're-jumping sections. The whole alligator chase bit was spectacularly joypad-smash inducing, as not only can you not see where you're going, but you can't time your rope-swing jumps properly as you don't have the seconds required going spare. Oh yes - and more falling though platforms and sliding off cliffs made those levels all the more enjoyable.

Then I had to defeat Team Dark, who were easy. So easy in fact, that they were dead before I even realised what I was doing. Glitch-tastic!

Sonic Heroes

I am going to smash something very soon. I know it. The thing is, it should be easy. All Sonic games are easy. It's the law. But this one has so many problems that cause you to die through no fault of your own, that it should be shot. I spent an hour playing the Bullet Station level. Not because I was crap - far from it. EVERY death was unavoidable - I fell through solid floor, jumped through a wall instead of up it. Fell off a rail for no reason. Went to Light Dash only to have Tails grab the first in the line of rings, causing Sonic to roll instead and fall off a cliff. Have Knuckles punch a box, to find he follows though afterwards and falls off a platform to his death. Triangle Jumped through a wall. And don't get me started on the hit-and-miss Pole Spin thing that Sonic does (or rather, doesn't). And the toboggan bit where you can't see what you're supposed to avoid and/or jump as the camera decides you're obviously psychic.

An HOUR of this. Death after unavoidable death. Completing the level was entirely down to luck in the end.

And then, when I thought it couldn't get worse, came Egg Albatross. The boss where Sonic's Homing Attack tends to home in on that completely open space below the Albatross, causing a plummet to death. Then, when you do actually destroy it, you can't control your characters right after dealing the final blow. So you're screwed if you're not above a platform - likely, since most of the level is platform-free. Several hundred lives later, and the off switch was used.

Oh Sonic Team - what on earth have you done?

Sonic Heroes

I don't know why I'm playing this. It's rubbish. In fact, it is so rubbish, that I could class it as one of the worst games ever made. Ever. There is so much wrong with it I daren't even start listing them for fear of never stopping.

I'd finished a couple of levels as Team Sonic previously, so I carried on from there. Oh joy - a pinball level. Oh joy more - rails to grind. Oh joy the most - a camera that fails to work causing death simply because you can't see what is coming. Oh joy - a "boss" level consisting only of ten million baddies one after another.

After dying for the billionth time on the Something Station (or whatever) level due to falling off the edge of platforms for no reason, I quit and started a Team Rose game. Then the impossible happened - I got irritated by a game character more than I do by Tails. Cream's painfully high-pitched voice, coupled with Big's retard-speak made me want to kill. One level was all I could take before my head exploded.

Run Baby Run

Well, less actual playing, and more designing new levels. Expect to see them, and more, and the editor, and other stuff, on my Run Baby Run pages on this very site. Soon. Probably.

Grid Game

503? Rubbish. Why can't I get nearer the 2000-odd I used to score? I'm sure they've made it cheat.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars: TRAMPLED!

After wandering around the Countess' garden looking for a stick, and then a well, it was back to Paris briefly for a catchup with Nico and André. Then, we went to Scotland. As you do.

Some action on the train there resulted in me gaining some plastic explosives, and then I arrived at a church. The Neo-Templars were inside, chanting. Then [spoiler]! And I won the game!

Blimey. Two days play and it's all over. That was quick!

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

Yes, more play this evening. George's globe trotting has taken him to Syria and Spain now, via a few places in Paris. I'm now searching some Spanish Countess' house and grounds for a hidden well.

I have a feeling, I'm nearing the end. Not bad considering I only started playing it this morning!

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

More playage here. I've foiled (well, bungled a foiling) a robbery at a museum, done some juggling, and entered the sewers again. Ah - it seems the bits I recognised earlier were not what I thought. This is where some of the Sleeping Dragon game took place, and not that other bit. Probably.

Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars

I enjoyed the Xbox Broken Sword game, so thought I might as well give this GBA version a go (especially since I've bought it).

And I've spent about two hours on it so far. Fears of not being able to see what I'm supposed to "activate" or "pick up" due to the small screen vanished when I found there was a button to cycle through interactable objects, which helps. No Splinter Cell bits yet either. Or crate puzzles.

I've witnessed the exploding café, gone through some sewers (and I recognised the places from the other game), met Nico (and recognised her apartment), and have been to Ireland and back. Typical point-and-click so far, with some more-than-slightly-filthy jokes too.

Outrun 2

Just a quick blast through this, taking Route 3, and shaving a second or so off my time for it. Also managed two or three of the missions as well, which were much easier than they seemed to be previously. Maybe I was "in the zone" or something.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4

A friend came round this evening, and we played some 20 or so games of this. We were generally evenly matched, with lots of 1-0 and 0-1 scores, when playing as random teams. The last two games were decided in penalties, they were so close (we won one each).

I then played a game on Xbox Live - against some random bod playing as Real Madrid. I played as England (two Beckhams on the pitch!) and lost 4-0. I was a little disappointed, until I found out this guy was ranked 48th in the world. And I'm 13,340th. I was lucky to even see his goal, then.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4

Three more matches in the on-going league I'm playing. The first was a poor 0-0 draw with Middlesborough, who are now bottom of the table. Why I failed to even get a shot on goal is beyond me.

Next, was some London team, but I forget which. I beat them 1-0, due to a stupid own goal they managed within the first five minutes of play.

Finally, for now, was Arsenal. They played much, much better than me (and had a 70% or something possession percentage), but still lost 1-0 due to the fact that they missed some very open goal shots. I beat the team at the top of the league, but draw with those at the bottom. Bizarre.

This leaves me in 7th at the moment. So not too bad.

Nanosaur 2

What? You mean my swanky new Apple Mac mini has games on it? Cripes! You're right!

Nanosaur 2, installed by default on the hard drive and tucked away under Applications, is crap. Yes, free. Yes, a game on the Mac. Yes, it has DINOSAURS with GUNS. Sadly, it's still crap. Flying a pterodactyl around shooting things and collecting spinny things isn't actually as great as it sounds. Tch.

Bubble Bobble: Old & New: POPPED!

HARDEST. BOSS. EVAAR.

Probably. After 8976749836 more goes, I finally killed him! And, with his bubble popped, it was time to watch the credits roll... only... what's this? I only rescued Patty or Tilly or Fluffy or Boris or whatever her name is. "This is not a true ending!" it says. I now need to do it again in two player mode!

Or so I thought. I can actually let the GBA control Bobblen. So off I went to kill Super Drunky Bat Thing again, with "two" players. After a few attempts (Bob's bubbles kept stunning me and getting me killed, so I only pressed Start to let him join in after I'd bubbled the Drunk), and I completed the game properly. Huzzah! Betty and Sweaty are free!

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

I've been playing this all evening, and after some real bitches of levels (73, 95 and 99 stand out), I finally made it to level 100. The boss.

After 8752354523847 goes, I still can't kill him. I know what to do - that bit is easy. I just can't do it without dying. You can't even discern how much "damage" he has left, which is a pain. Stupid game, smash smash smash.

Wario Ware Touched

"Flowered" a few more of the minigames, and also played 9-Volt's and Kat & Ana's levels to unlock a few more minigames.

Also unlocked some more "toys" along the way, including a calculator, a bubble blower, and a snowman maker thing. Bizarre.

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

Level 71. And stuck. I can't figure out how to kill the baddies in the left and right vertical tubey bits. Shouldn't have said it was easy!

I had a go on "Old" mode for a bit then, and got to level 22 on one life, then lost them all. Pah.

Wario Ware Touched

Working my way though all the characters, and, erm, they ran out. The End.

Although, this being Wario Ware, it isn't really "finished" until you've unlocked all the bonus games and collected all the "flowers" for each minigame. I had a go at some of those already unlocked, but didn't do many.

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

Further playing == level 57. Still reasonably easy, though. And still no bosses. Did I imagine them in previous games or something?

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

Gah! After playing to level 28 or so last night, I find when I come to play it today that my game hasn't saved. Rubbish. So, back to level 18. I worked my way through to level 40-ish this time. No bosses yet - I'm sure the original had them at levels 25, 50, 75 and 100.

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

Played single player "New" for a bit, and made it as far as level 28 or so. I then had a go on single-cart two-player with my wife. It's fun for a while, but unfortunately you can only play the first 12 levels over and over again. And, being the first 12 levels, they're not even difficult. Needless to say I racked up some 1,500,000 points before becoming bored rather than dying. It's slightly bizarre that you only get one "bonus fruit" type item too.

Wario Ware Touched

This came today, so I thought I'd have a quick go. It certainly seems a lot easier than the GBA original Wario Ware game so far. Played through the first five characters, and only "missed" three or four times. I'm sure it'll get harder later - and of course, on the Flower collecting wotsit. Assuming this version has one of them, anyway.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4

Spent a while working my way through the league. Teams played against today include Tottenham, Norwich, Manchester City, Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea. I lost to Arsenal, but drew or beat all of the others. Most embarrasing was a 0-0 draw with Norwich. They played crap, their marking was rubbish, and they didn't attempt a shot on goal. And I drew. RUBBISH.

I'm now 9th in the league (Norwich are bottom), with a F/A of -1. Not too bad, I suppose, especially since I've not played many of the worst teams yet, only the best ones. And Norwich.

Trackmania Sunrise Demo

Since everyone on the ugv* groups are talking about this, I decided to download the demo and have a go. There are three game modes, with two levels in each, open in the demo. Race is, obviously, a race. I'm not too sure about the handling, though, and the jumps are pretty blind. Perhaps a Hard Drivin' "speed limit" sign system might help here. But it's "nice".

Platform mode involves jumping, mostly. But, since the jumps are blind still, you just get the feeling that success comes from memorising the course rather than any actual skill.

Puzzle mode is quite clever. You have to build a track from a start point to a finish point with a limited number of pieces, then race on it. If you get your time lower than the target time, you win.

I managed to get at least Silvers on everything, golds on a couple, and played for a couple of hours. It certainly does a lot right, but the few flaws spoil it a bit. I won't be buying the full game.

Bubble Bobble: Old & New

Played a bit of this today, but didn't try very hard. Managed to get up to Level 18 on "New" mode. I was doing well until Level 14 or so, without losing any lives, then it all went to pot. The theme tune is now drummed into my head. Great.

Metroid Fusion: EXPLODED!

Hurrah! The SA-X was killified on my fifth or so go. It seems there's an easy way to kill it, if you jump over it and shoot it in the back.

Then I had to run to my ship, which had vanished - to be replaced with a [spoiler]! Then [spoiler] happened, and it was the end!

Metroid Fusion

After being stuck for a bit unable to figure out where the heck I was supposed to be going, I finally stumbled across the security robot I fought earlier. Only this time, he had rockets and could electrify the water he was wading around in.

For some reason, though, he was easier to kill. I got the Wave Beam from him, so I can now shoot through walls. I then went into the Restricted Area the robot was trying to prevent me from entering, to find a load of Metroids... even though they were supposedly extinct. Obviously not. The SA-X appeared, but thankfully took more interest in the Metroids than in me. I escaped, and worked my way back to Sector 1.

There, I found Ridley. Well, Ridley-X (or something) anyway. He/she/it was easy enough to kill, although I messed up my first attempt. It left behind my Screw Attack, which I'm pretty sure is the last weapon I need before finishing the game. I then worked my way up (as instructed) to the Observation Deck, where I met another (oh yes, there's more than one) SA-X. Whom it seems I now have to kill. And died. Yet again.

Metroid Fusion

It took many, many attempts, and lots of dying very quickly, but I finally figured out the way to dodge Nightmare in his second "phase". Well, I'd figured it out already, it was just because my Space Jump skillz were not ub3r1337 that I couldn't put them into place. Some of it was also down to luck - namely, where he stopped. In certain places it meant I could fire off a million rockets into his face, in others only a couple.

Him down, and Gravity Suit GOT, I moved on a bit further - into an unexplored area of Sector 4 now.

Metroid Fusion

Managed to outrun the SA-X this time. I didn't realise you could shoot it with ice missiles to freeze it. I didn't have a lot of energy left afterwards, so had to limp my way to a save point. The SA-X can kill you in two hits, even if you have some 600 units of health. Nasty.

After that, I found the cause of the vegetation growth - another boss. This one was pretty wasy, but took some 753265 missiles to destroy. A little further on, and there's another boss. Anyone would think this game was written by Treasure, or something. Nightmare was easy to kill to start with, but then it changed form a little, and then I couldn't damage it at all. So I died. Four times.

Metroid Fusion

It took another three attempts, but Mr Spider is teh dead. WIN. Well, WIN for a bit, since there's more of the game left. He did give me the Space Jump, however, which was nice. Not that I can control it properly, of course. Wandered around a bit looking for the "cause of the vegetation" that is blocking up the main power silo of the research lab. Found an entrance to somewhere, but the SA-X was lurking in there too and chased me. And killed me. Stupid thing. Die.

Metroid Fusion

Jumpy shooty killy explodey fun later (including another run-in and escape-from the SA-X Evil Me), and I make it back to my ship. There I'm told that the power is down everywhere, and I need to find the cause. Some maze navigation ensues, and I kill some X-Space Pirate thingies, and run into a giant spider.

Who kills me in about three hits. Boo.

Metroid Fusion

Still plugging my way through this. Started and got through Sector 3, killed a security robot, and then had to move onto Sector 6. Picked up the Varia suit from the boss at the end, which means I can now go in ice and fire areas. One of which was Sector 5, which was next.

"Completed" Sector 5, and an alarm went off - I had to rush back to Sector 3 and run through it all to a room with another boss in. I now have the Wide Beam. The computer told me to go into the habitation deck, where I freed some animals. They'll probably die now I've let them out.

Metroid Fusion

It looks like I spoke to soon about always having your hand held as to what to do next, since I spent a merry half an hour stuck. Finally found a route through Sector 2, and killed the eyeball boss thing. Then moved on to Sector 4, which was somewhat simpler to get around. Killed the boss there too - Sector 3 next, it seems.

I have the super jump, ball jump, and power boost now too.

Metroid Fusion

OK, so it's more linear than Zero Mission. In a way, that's actually a good thing. I did spend a fair amount of Zero wondering where the hell I was supposed to go next, so actually being told this time around is a good thing. Probably.

I've done the bit at the beginning, and found and fixed the five atmospheric controller thingies, and then got into Area 2. I have the Charge Beam, Morph Ball and Power Bomb so far, and have seen the SA-X once too. I suspect I'm about to run into it properly next.

Star Trek: Shattered Universe

Gah! I'm sure there's a bug in this game, which randomly causes your mission to end when you blow up Orion capital ships. The mission I'm on, takes the form of a scouting session round a load of mostly destroyed ISS ships. And the mission is long, like 20 minutes or so. Then, as I'm heading back to the Excelsior, Orion pirates appear again. I blow up the ship, and even though I'm some 260,000, er, "things" away (you need to be over 100,000 away to be safe), the mission ends. This is the third time that has happened now, all with Orion ships. Stupid.

And now I have to do the 20+ minute mission again.

Star Trek: Shattered Universe

The "Field of Hono(u)r" mission was really annoying me for much of today's play. It's a rock-Klingon-rock mission, but then two Orion ships appear and loads of fighters. I managed to kill the Klingons and the rocks, and one of the two Orion capital ships (the other ran away) - but the Orion fighters are so quick that they're hard to kill. Invariably, that left the Excelsior blown up. That wasn't the most irritating thing though - the time it takes to get to that bit of the mission (a good 15-20 minutes) was. After at least 6 attempts, I finally managed it.

The next missions were pretty easy, and thankfully not exactly the same as what had gone before. Most annoying was the "Balok's War" mission. You have to destroy loads of floating cubes in 90 seconds (which I managed) and then kill 27164534732 fighters. OK, so they're easy to kill, but there are so many of them the mission drags on forever.

After more missions, I meet up with some Romulans, who are flying Klingon ships for the only reason that the game designers couldn't be bothered to draw Romulan ships. They kept cloaking too, which was a pain. Killed them all though.

Metroid Fusion

I completed Metroid Zero Mission for the GBA some time before Christmas, and although this is considered to be not as good, I've just had a quick go and it seems to be more of the same. I don't have any weapon power-ups or anything yet though, so things may change then. The graphics and sound are near identical too.

Super Street Fighter II Revival

This arrived today, so I thought I'd give it a go. Chose Ken (since he is best), and set about Aracde Mode. The first thing I noticed, was that trying any fireball-type moves that need the L button on the GBA is pointless as they're not possible. That aside, it plays well enough. The sound is bizarrely tinny and rubbish though.

Beat Ryu with ease, ditto T. Hawk and Fei Long. Guile was harder (I lost a round), and then died at the hands (or rather, teeth) of Blanka.

Pro Evolution Soccer 4

As expected, Brazil beat me. Although they didn't beat me as badly as I thought they might - it was 1-0 to them in the second half of extra time. Bother.

The match for third place was on, against The Netherlands. This too went into extra time, only this time it was I who scored in the dying minutes. Hurrah. Probably.

Decided to start a league then. Chose Liverp^H^H^H^H^H^HMerseyside Red. My first match was against "West Midlands" or something, which was a no score draw. The second match was versus Man Red, who were impossible to get the ball from, let alone even take a shot at goal. 1-0 to them. Rubbish.

Ridge Racer DS

Just the one track today. Technically, I played it more than once, trying out the other control methods. They're rubbish, though, so I quit. Went back to d-pad control, and won the race - just getting first place on the last straight.

I really need to figure out how to play without pinballing my way around the track.