Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

As an aside, I really should get round to scanning the covers for some of these games...

I thought I'd have a quick go through as Richiter Belmont. And it was quick. I mean, he's fast. Badly animated, but fast. I killed the boss at the end of City of Haze, who was really easy, and due to the way the map is open from the start I found my way to the Clock Tower and killed Stella (or Loretta? I don't know which...).

Then I did a bit more on Sisters Mode, killing the boss in City of Haze again (and again, he was really easy), and then saved the game before working my way over towards the Clock Tower with them.

Do I have to do all the paintings with Richiter and the Sisters? I mean, I don't get any power-ups after doing so, and everywhere on the map seems to be open anyway. Surely I can't just find Dracula and kill him? Hmm.

Excite Truck (Wii)

To hell with the 8917286 not-yet-completed games I have currently on the go, and hurrah for New Games Day! Excite Truck and Kororinpa both arrived from Choices today (cost me less than £50 for the two, which was nice).

Excite Truck then. It's, erm, fast, yes? And a bit bloody hard to control. But ooooooo is it fun. I've done all the Bronze races, getting three A ranks and a B rank without much difficulty, but then the Silver races are a huge step up in terms of difficulty, netting me two Cs. I really need to suss the controls, I think...

Military Madness (Wii)

In your face, Tim Miller! So you're stuck on Level 4, eh? YOU ARE RUBBISH. It was EASY. I did WIN IT.

I took over both un-owned factories to start with, and took out a Kilroy and a tank from the right of the map. The enemy sent in some more foot soldiers to try and regain the factories, but I stood firm and they didn't come close. Until the helichopper thing came and started wiping out all my units. Eventually, I killed it, but had no infantry left with which to take over the enemy factory or HQ, or regain the factory I'd lost in the meantime. Thankfully, I still had les tankage plenty, and killed off all, bar one Charlie unit. Who I couldn't attack as it was in the middle of a lake and was too scared to leave it.

So I hid all my units in my factory, and waited for it to move. And it did, so POUNCE SHOOT DEAD! Win!

Kororinpa (Wii)

It's Super Monkey Ball, only more tilty! Sort of. It's technically easier than Super Monkey Ball as there isn't really a time limit. You do have to collect crystals, however, but if you die then any already collected are kept, making the next attempt a bit easier.

What I mean by "more tilty" is, well, exactly that. In The Game With Monkeys In, you only tilt the controller a small way in any direction, and there's a limit to how far you can tilt the playfield. Not so with Kororinpa! You can turn the controller as far as you like, even flipping the maze upside-down, and further than that. The controller strap becomes a bit of a hindrance actually, so I threw caution to the wind and with no thought given to the safety of small animals, children or (especially) my TV set, I took the wrist strap off. Don't try this at home, kids!

Anyway. Progress! I've done the first 12 mazes, unlocked loads of balls (the pig oinks!) and music tracks, and unlocked and completed Secret Level 1. Aces.

I can't help but feel that the graphics aren't that great though. I mean, I'm not a graphics-whore (just look at the age of some of the games I've been playing, and enjoying, recently), but the GC version of Super Monkey Ball looks quite a lot better. Not that it detracts at all, it's just slightly disappointing.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS): COMPLETED!

TA-DAAAH! Completed!

I gave up on the Nest of Evil thing, and went back to the game proper. Decided it was time to actually learn to use the Vampire Killer, so set about killing Richiter Belmont. Yes, really. Well, a "memory" of him anyway. Bizarrely, the weapon I killed him with, was the Cream Pie. It dealt a fair amount of damage, and could be thrown at such an angle so as to be just out of reach of his whip.

So he was killed, I had the Vampire Killer, and it was off to kill Dracula and Death. And then Dracula again. One attempt and I died, and then the next attempt - kill0red!

After the credits and all, I found I'd unlocked two more modes - Richiter Mode and Sisters Mode. The former is just Richiter (and Maria) with a cut-down weapon set and no items. Played that for a bit. Sisters Mode is Loretta and Stella, controlled with the d-pad, and they attack using the stylus. It's totally bizarre. Played that for a bit too.

Then I played online in co-op mode, which is basically Boss Rush (of a sort). The guy I was randomly paired up with was crap though.

Then I went through Boss Rush course 1 in just under two minutes. Go me!

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

Again, the stats: 8 hours 34 minutes in, Level 39 reached, 895.5% explored. Good lord. Who's betting it'll be 1000% when all is done?

So I completed the final four paintings. Or at least, what I thought were the final four. The bosses today included Medusa (who was VERY easy, once I realised there was a place you could stand, from where you could slap her about, but not get hit by any of her attacks (well, you had to duck for one, but still). I also had Frankenstein's Monster, and a Werewolf to kill, neither of which were especially difficult. Oh, and a mummy, who was easy too.

I've ditched the Nebula whip in favour of the Royal Sword I got for completing one of Wind's quests. It's a little slow, but does waaaaaay more damage than anything else I had at the time of getting it, and even now it's still my most powerful weapon.

Anyway. After all the paintings were done, the big one they were "sealing" opened, and I went inside to kill Brauner. He was pretty simple once I realised his pattern, and also I found that I'd picked up a Meteor spell somewhere along the way which really helped too. With him dead, the doorway to Dracula was open. So you do have to kill Dracula in this game - it didn't look like that was going to happen...

But I failed to do so. The reason? You don't fight Dracula. You fight Dracula and Death. At the same time. Gah!

So I stopped all that and decided to go and do some more quests. Collected loads more items and spells and things along the way, and when I reached 888% explored I opened up a new area and a new painting - Nest of Evil. It's Boss Rush mode, more or less! I gave it a go, and got through all the rooms of "normal" baddies, only to come across a baddie from Dawn of Sorrow who promptly killed me.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

I will start by pointing out my "stats" at the end of today's play: 6-ish hours in, Level 30-ish ranked, and (wait for it...) 455% explored. Why bother with a percentage if you're going to go over 100%? Eh? Anyway.

I finished my fourth painting, and then explored more of the castle. This involved back-tracking into other paintings for power-ups I may have missed (like the Toad Morph one), and then I made it up into the Clock Tower. Every Castlevania needs a Clock Tower!

There, as is usual, I met Death. And, as is also usual, he killed me. A lot.

Then I figured out his weakness (he has two forms - one is weak to magic, the other weak to physical attacks) and pattern, and so defeated him with relative ease. A short jaunt around a bit more of the top of the castle (returning to Vincent and Wind, and finding Vincent was turning into a vampire...), and I found Loretta and Stella. And I (after a couple of attempts) killed them. Oops.

It seems you're not supposed to kill them. You're supposed to cure them. With the "Sanctuary" spell that I didn't have.

I decided to do some more quests for Wind instead, and in doing so, I found Sanctuary! This not only cured Vincent, but saved the twins too. Aces. They then opened up a new room, with five new paintings in. Apparently, I have to close the four smaller ones to open the last one.

Off I went into the "Dark Academy" painting, where I found an Owl Morph spell, and lots of big, difficult baddies. I think I may have to move past my Nebula whip (which has been great), as it just isn't powerful enough any more.

Castlevania (PS2)

Hmm. Not really enjoying this a great deal any more. Well, I was never enjoying it loads as it is, but there are just too many things I don't like about it - the camera, the controls, the lack of platforming, the bits where there is platforming being difficult due to the camera or controls, etc. It's all a bit rubbish, really.

So I found the "e" stone to put in the "meth" stone in the Lab level, which brought a golum to life. And then I killed it. Which kind of defies the point, really, doesn't it?

I then moved on to the garden level, and opened up loads of the map, found a power-up to protect me from fire (or something), and couldn't find a door in a room to the right of the map that is marked on the floor plan, but isn't actually in the room. Gah!

So I left, and then went back to the House of Thingie (the churchy level) and tried to reach a high platform in a room near the start. But I can't. Not even double-jumping and whip-grabbing can do it. I gave up for the day.

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

Sand painting boss found! It was some woman who, who had a strange attack - she throws hearts at you, and if you're Jonathan, and they hit you, then she takes control of you and you control Charlotte. Jonathan then attacks you. Erk.

Luckily, I killed her without too many attempts, and then it was back to the Castle to rest up, and move onwards (and upwards). I found the next painting - Nations of Fools - which was set in a circus, although some of it was upside-down and sideways and all sorts.

The boss there was Legion, the giant ball of people with tentacles inside. He wasn't too hard, but wasn't anywhere near as easy as the kill-without-being-hit version in Harmony of Dissonance.

After that, I explored more of the castle and bumped into Stella, one of the twin vampire girls. She attacked me, but was pretty easy to defeat. I got a locket from her, which revealed the true identity of Wind - linking the game further to Castlevania: Bloodlines, which I haven't completed yet. Confronting Wind explained some more backstory to what happened between Bloodlines and Portrait of Ruin, how the Morris family ended up with the Belmont's Vampire Killer whip, and foreshadows an event due to happen in 1999. The same event Julius mentions in Aria of Sorrow that Konami haven't turned into a game yet. I wish they would!

Finally (for now) I spent a while doing quests for Eri^H^H^HWind, gained a few new moves, and figured out how to mince the meat - you need to punch the animal corpses - Rocky style!

I'm just over two and a half hours in, on Level 21, and have uncovered uh, 344.5% of the map. And you thought the 198.8% of Harmony was extreme...

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

And into the next painting I went! One nice thing about the paintings is that it allows Castlevania-ing in locations not normally included in Castlevania. So there's a bit less castle, and more, well - this painting is in Egypt, so it's got sand. And sandworms! It adds a bit of variety to the proceedings, anyway.

So I've gone though loads of this Egyptian level, and not found a boss yet. I've found a few places I can't yet reach (even though I now have the double-jump power-up), and I have a better whip, which means I've ditched the slow sword I was using. I bumped into Brauner and his twin daughters, but they don't want to fight me, instead wanting to dispatch Death who I'd previously seen poking around.

Military Madness (Wii)

I downloaded this for the Virtual Console last weekend, but then didn't actually play it. Well, I loaded it, got confused, and turned it off again.

Today, however, I found it has an in-game tutorial! I had a quick scan of that, and then started playing. And it's lovely.

Comparing it to Advance Wars is unfair (Military Madness is years older - if anything, it's a clone of Famicom Wars, Advance Wars' great-grandad) but unavoidable. The premise is the same - move your units to destroy the enemy or take over its base. Use terrain factors to improve your chances. That sort of thing.

Where it differs (besides the lack of COs and CO powers, and the hex-vs-grid map) is with some additional "features" that aid or hinder your units. For example, if you have a unit next to an enemy unit, and then move a second unit in for attack, you have a greater offence bonus due to "assistance". Also, bases don't need to actually be captured (in AW this typically took two turns) - you just need to move an infantry unit onto it to win, meaning protecting your base (and/or wiping out foot soldiers) is more important than it was in the Nintendo title.

Anyway. I played the first three missions, walking the first two but failed to protect my base on the third and so had to play again. Managed it that time though!

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

Wow. Just wow.

Yeah, so it doesn't have the soul collecting of Dawn of Sorrow, and the tag-team system ranges from pointless to annoying, but how any reviewer can say this is anything less than fantastic is beyond me. It ticks all the boxes: save points and warps in sensible places, a shop to buy potions, a great (if confusing, currently) story, and excellent graphics and controls.

Today's play took me back to the City painting, as Wind told me to "find the butcher in town and mince some meat". So off I went, found the meat, slapped it about a bit, and erm, nothing happened. Tried all sorts of powers and skills and magic and weapons on it, and... nothing. Hmm.

Then I left the painting and went off exploring the castle. I found another painting (which I haven't entered yet) and another boss (some green goo in a big pot) who was pretty easy to kill. Level 12 and 130% explored now!

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS)

Just in the nick of time! With my handheld versions of Castlevania having run out yesterday, Play Asia delivered Portrait of Ruin today. Phew, eh?

And... is it any good? Of course it is! It's ACES!

The first thing to hit me was the graphics. Not the character graphics, as although they're good - they're nothing special, but the backgrounds. Several layers deep with detailed parallax. 3D objects in the distance (like a big abbey thing which you see 'around' as you walk past). Of course, Dawn of Sorrow had much of this, but having spent the last few weeks with the GB and GBA Castlevania titles, it's enough to blow you away. There's also some nice use of 3D on some of the enemies - the Peeping Eye, for example, is fully 3D and swoops and rotates and flicks its tail at you. Lovely.

So progress, then. I've found Wind, entered my first painting, found the boss therein (a headless suit of armour and a flying separate head) which was really very hard until I discovered (a) the pattern, and (b) a tag-team giant lightning cross "smart-bomb" type move. Yes, I said tag-team: you control two characters - Jonathan Morris and, um, a girl whose name I've forgotten. You switch between them by pressing a button, and can operate both characters at one for pushing things and pulling levers and using each other as a boost up. Anyway, I'm digressing.

I killed the armour boss, and "finished" the painting. I then moved on through the main castle itself, and found another boss (who is a creature that chased me at the start of the game). It was pretty easy, actually. I'm now in a new part of the castle, and I'm looking for another painting. I'm about one hour 20 minutes in, and have explored 112%-ish of the castle. Yes. 112% and I've only done two bosses. Hmm.

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (GB): COMPLETED!

Another day, another completed Castlevania! So this was a fair bit easier than the last one, although there was a tricky bit near the end with ropes that move up and down and then change direction, with the cogs on either end killing you.

The end-of-Dracula's-castle boss wasn't Dracula, but Solieyu Belmont, the son of the main character (Christopher Belmont). He was under Dracula's power, or something, and was actually bloody hard to kill, what with his whip and stuff.

But kill him I did, and then it was the shortest of short levels before I had Dracula himself to kill. He was pretty easy, once I'd figured out you had to whip him in the face.

Game Over, then!

Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (GB)

No sooner was the first GB Castlevania over and done with, I moved straight onto the sequel. And guess what? It's ace. Not Aria of Sorrow ace, or even Super Castlevania IV ace, but it's certainly waaaaay better than The Castlevania Adventure. Yeah, so it's still slow (although not quite as slow), but it's easier (so far), not jerky, has more detailed graphics and there aren't any pixel-perfect jumps! BEST.

You have four castles to tackle, before moving on to a fifth, housing (I assume) Dracula. I've already completed the first four, finding them fun to play and not console-smashingly impossible, and the bosses are much better too.

And the game has a password system, so I can stop and continue later. Which I will do!

The Castlevania Adventure (GB): COMPLETED!

Oh my! Only four levels? Just as well as if there were any more, things may have been broken on purpose.

Level 3 is the real killer. The spikes are really rather hard to get past. Once you do, however, the rest of the game is pretty easy in comparison. The boss at the end of Level 3 was some sort of Harpy, who was easy to dodge, and then it was on to Level 4. It looked like there was going to be a SuckySuck(TM) bit, with all the previous bosses one after another, but thankfully it was just the first one. Again. And again. And again. I must have killed him about ten times on this level alone.

After some more spikey bits (which were actually pretty easy), I finally made it to Dracula. And killed him on my second attempt. He turns into a bat after you die, but thankfully he's not too difficult.

So that's the first Game Boy game I've completed in years, and the 9th game this year so far. And the 5th Castlevania title this year too. I've got the second Game Boy Castlevania lined up now too!

The Castlevania Adventure (GB)

What? In? Hell?

This has to be the slowest, hardest, most irritating game ever made. Ever. Your character (Simon? It doesn't tell you) moves as a snails pace. You have no subweapons. You can't jump very far (and the game is full of pixel-perfect jumps), you only have three lives, often when you die you go back miles, and the whole game jerks and judders all over the place.

Ace!

So I spent AGES trying to get past the Stepping Stones of Doom (pixel-perfect jumps) near the end of Level 1, and finally made it. Then Level 2 threw up some heads that spit balls which aren't nice, and boomerang men, before finally making me kill a load of moles. Which I eventually managed. But since when did Dracula have moles?! Bats and zombies and rabid dogs, yes. Moles?

Now I've just got past an awful forced-scrolling vertical run-from-the-spikes bit, only to think "Phew!", and then have another forced-scrolling horizontal run-from-the-spikes bit. With pixel-perfect jumps! Hurrah!

I'm this close to smashing the game into a billion pieces.

Castlevania (PS2)

I worked my way through the House of Whatsit (I can't remember it's real name) and found three buttons which seem to activate locks. Or parts of them, anyway. I then got to a door that I need a Yellow Dragon Key to open, and generally ran out of places to go. I warped back to the shop, and bought some stuff, before going back into the castle and trying the Anti-Soul Mysteries "level". No, really. That's what it's called.

It seems a lot easier than the other bit, so perhaps you're supposed to do this first? I made it up to the third floor, but I'm stuck needing a key again. I did, however, find the Yellow Dragon Key, so all wasn't lost. I've found what I think is the boss too, albeit shattered into bits. There's a giant Polo on the wall with a word on it, that I need to find an 'E' for, I think.

Anyway, I warped out, bought stuff, and found a save point.

Kirby's Adventure (Wii): COMPLETED!

Well, it was actually several sessions play today, rather than just one long go, but I reached the end, defeated Dedede, and then beat Nightmare. Hurrah!

I noticed that the last level (the one in black and white) was actually some sort of medley of the levels from the original Game Boy Kirby game. I'd never realised that before. I just thought it was black and white for some sort of arty reason. It explains why you don't get any power-ups from sucking in baddies, anyway.

So I'm 81% done. Most of the secrets I know how to get (I failed to reach them, or went past the entrance to them before realising what I'd done), so I should be able to get 100% if I want.

Oh, and a Bad Thing: Rainbow Resort (world 7) has a level with a SuckySuck(TM) bit in it. They're not a load of end-of-world bosses, but there is a run of about 8 mid-level bosses one after another. Rubbish.

Kirby's Adventure (Wii)

Ran through all of Ice Cream Island and Butter Building, and I'm now onto the third level of Grape Garden. There's been nothing too taxing so far, and I've found all of the hidden areas (all two of them) so far as well. I'm 35% complete, according to my save game file.

Contact (DS)

I found an archaeologist, and led him through the pyramid I could get further through than the other one (if you see what I mean). I then found a secret room, and in it, some panels on the floor - one for each attack type. I walked over them all, and the Striking one disappeared and boosted my stats, but I don't know what to do with the other two.

I then left, and bumped up my cooking skills to level 23, and I can now cook Rotten Meat, and make Potions. Aces. Problem is, it's actually easier to buy potions, and you're hardly saving any money at all from making them yourself.

Then I bought some better weapons, and found a woman in a broken car, which I fixed by buying a spare part. To thank me, she took off her clothes and gave them to me. Then I went for a bath in an oasis with another semi naked woman. This game is wrong.

Eventually, I realised I couldn't find anywhere else to go, and it seems I need a Monk Outfit from the Ruins to dig a hole somewhere. So off I sailed back to there, killed some of the people (to see what happens), and found a miner who took off his clothes. I then stole them. After that, I gave a girl some flowers, killed a child and an old woman (more wrongness), and set sail back to Aegis. Which takes Aegis. Oho.

Kirby's Adventure (Wii)

Friday, as always, is New Wii Virtual Console day. But the games actually appear at 11pm on Thursday. One of this weeks games, was Kirby's Adventure, originally for the NES. And, it is of course, Most Ace.

Played through all of the first world (which was only actually 4 levels and a boss), but then it was getting late.

Contact (DS)

Hmm. I seem to be a bit stuck. I've explored a load of Aegis, found two pyramids (one of which I can't do anything in, and the other appears to finish as a dead end), and talked to lots of people, but I don't know what to do now.

I bought some herbs, filled my bottles with water and tried using my recipe for potions. But it doesn't work. So I thought I'd use my recipe for Thai curry instead (coconut and spices), but that also failed to work. Bah.

Castlevania (PS2)

A new Castlevania game for me to play! And my first 3D Castlevania too. Well, aside from about ten minutes with the abortion that is Castlevania 64. I didn't really know what to expect. Incidently, in the UK this game is just called "Castlevania", which kind of makes sense as it's chronologically the very first "episode" in the series, but elsewhere it has the subtitle "Lament of Innocence".

I've not spent long with it yet, having only watched the opening film, explored what I can to start, completed the "training" section, and then moved on to some House of Somethings. I'm not at all sure about Leon Belmont's double jump, nor his blocking. Or his whip-grab-jump move. But it's early days yet.

The camera is already annoying though...

Super Mario World (Wii)

Eh? I went back to have a go at getting closer to the full 96 exits completed, only to find that it hadn't saved my game after completing it last time. Meaning I have to do all of Star Road again. Rubbish!

Contact (DS)

I thought the next boss was going to be Mint, and I certainly met her, but no. It turned out to be a big machine (controlled by a lab technician on the top screen) and a load of soldiers (which kept being "beamed in" by another lab technician). Both were overseen by a man in a hat.

And it was the most amazing boss fight ever. You have to kill all the soldiers before you can attack the machine, but they keep being beamed in by the bloke on the right. If you kill them, then the machine attacks you. Luckily, there are big channel + and - buttons, which control the giant TV set behind everyone on the top screen, and different channels distract different people. Like, the cute animal channel stops one of the technicians from doing his job.

This was fantastic, until I found a channel called (and I kid thee not) "The Pink", which was full of semi-naked women wrestling, kickboxing, and posing. This distracted everyone, making the boss a complete walkover. Ace!

After that I worked my way back out of the complex, killed the pilots (and got a "Flyboy" suit), impressed a woman with my dragonfly, and then set sail for Aegis and the next Cell. Hurrahz.

Contact (DS)

Off I went to Ft. Eagle, where there was some sort of military base and loads of soldiers. And some Metal Gear references, not least with the killing of a snake.

And there's a great bit where you overhear some pilots saying they spent the budget on a new runway and they don't have any money left for planes, so they practise by running round pretending to be planes!

Killed lots of evil sheep, some snakes, some slime things, loads of soldiers, a clone snake, and then Lester (a boss of sorts, who I'd fought in the caves too), and now I have a load of cubes to get past and kill something else to get the cell. I think.

Contact (DS)

Finally managed to drag myself back to this game. I don't know why it's been so hard to do so, as it's a great game, if a little hard. Having said that, the baddie that I thought was a boss due to his difficulty last time I fought him, fell to my club with ease this time. Sadly, the real boss (a huge crystal monster) was waaaay harder.

I had to level up my stats (you don't level up yourself, as such) to do it, and arm myself with a bone rather than my club, but after about 6 tries, I managed it. Then I did a few side quests (finding a lost kid in the caves, and rescuing a man from his own store cupboard), and then did a bit of cooking. Now the route to the next island is open, so I should be off there next!

Mario Kart 64 (Wii)

Only a relatively quick go today, playing through the second cup on 50cc. Naturally, I won, coming first in every race. Hurrah!

Super Mario World (Wii): COMPLETED!

Amazing scenes. I found a warp to Star World (yeah, I've played SMW a few times before...) and worked my way around that, finding all the secret exits and ending up at Bowser's front door. Chose route 4 and route 5 through his castle, and reached him without getting hit.

Then it was time to kill Bowser himself, who was the easiest thing ever, ever, and I didn't get hit there either. Game over, win!

Super Mario World (Wii)

Tore through all of Donut (Doughnut, dammit!) Plains, finding most of the hidden exits, before moving on to Vanilla Dome. No secret exits here, yet, but I am on Lemmy's Castle. 35 lives already too! I don't remember it being so easy...

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA): COMPLETED!

So I went rummaging around for three books that Mina suggested I might need. I actually had one already, and the other two were found pretty easily once I'd taken a good look at the map. I found another boss (Legion) who was alarmingly easy to kill, and then got another soul or three.

After all that, I had the books required, and the three souls it was suggested I equip (Flame Armour, Succabus, and Giant Bat - all traits of Dracula, if you think about it...), so I set them all up and went after Graham again. He was even easier to kill than last time! Not least because the Succabus soul gives you HP each time you get a hit in. Oh, and I was on Level 39 instead of 32 or something too.

Then a thing happened that I won't say as it's a spoiler, and then instead of the game being over, I could carry on playing. Got another soul and some better armour from the room just past Graham, then set off to the black mist door (with the floating garden baddies now complete walkovers - even the huge Devil which previously took a billion hits), where I had to fight Julius. He wasn't easy at all, as it turned out, and I used just about all my potions on him. Managed it though, then retreated back to Hammer to get more supplies, saved my game, then stepped into the Quantum Leap acceleratorwarp to Chaos and vanished.

Soma awoke to find himself trapped in the pastin a twisted version of the castle, where going from one room to another seemed to warp him around the various areas I'd previously been through. It almost became a SuckySuck(TM) bit, as there were loads of previous bosses, but since they're all really weak now, or I could just skip them (flying bat powaz FTW), I won't complain.

Then Chaos came. And he was easy. Like, realy easy. OK - not as easy as Dracula at the end of Harmony of Dissonance, but still pretty simple to beat. And the game was over - properly this time, with the happy ending and everything!

Super Mario World (Wii)

New Virtual Console Game Day! Yaay! Mind you, I haven't really played Mario Kart 64 much after buying that last week, but that's mainly because The Castlevania has stolen my brains.

So I downloaded Super Mario World, and tried very hard to get used to the "proper" way of holding the pad (I have this freaky way of doing it with the SNES pad and the classic controller for the Wii isn't quite right). I think I may have it sussed though.

I've found the yellow and green switch palaces, killed Iggy, and am about to embark on the Donut Plains Ghost House. It's aces, is this.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Bossaroo! Did the third boss-room-that-isn't-a-boss first of all today, and then moved on to the actual next boss. At first, it seemed like it was going to be a giant bat, but then a huge hand came out of nowhere and squashed the bat, killing it.

Instead, I had to kill the two hands and two eyes of a, uh, thing. Balgone? Something like that anyway. It was actually pretty easy once I'd sussed the fact you could jump on the hands as long as they weren't swiping.

Then I got a soul to turn me into a bat, opening up more areas of the map. Went and got all the small areas I'd previously been unable to get to done first, before moving on to a new area with some really hard baddies in (flying things with pitchforks, succabuses, harder versions of previous bosses, etc.) and found a save point in a tower. Then, found another boss - Graham.

He did Dracula's classic "warp then shoot fireballs" attack at first, and then morphed into a huge thing with grabby hands and a storm cloud thing. He seemed impossible, until I realised you could tell which hand was going to grab at you, so you got a chance to dodge. So I killed him, and then the credits came up and the game was complete!

So why no "COMPLETED!" in the title of this post? Because I think the game is lying. The end boss seemed too easy (although, that was also the case with Harmony of Dissonace), but also I'm only at 86% of the castle complete, there's that swirly black door thing to get past yet, and the ending didn't seem quite "right". Also, it didn't unlock any other modes, unlike every other recent Castlevania game does. So there's more, kiddies!

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Death = DEAD! Well, sort of. He got sucked into some sort of whirlpool thing. I'd got the lightning doll soul, which really helps, and gone up a couple of levels. In the room just past Death was a soul giving me the power to swim (I guess Soma never got his bronze swimming certificate), so off I went into the waterways in the bottom of the map.

Found lots of new baddies, souls, weapons (I now have an ice sword which is way more powerful than the hrunting), and a ring. Did get a bit stuck though, but eventually found my way into a new area with loads of beam skeletons and stuff.

And then, I found not one, but two boss doors. Neither of which had a boss behind them, instead having a difficult room each and a weapon and armour at the end of each. Did those, and levelled up a bit more. I'm now on Level 28.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Well. It looks like Death is the next boss after all. I spent ages exploring every single part of the map that I could get to, and found some more weapons, potions and armour (and collected a few souls along the way), but found no other bosses.

Now I have to traipse half-way around the castle again to get back to him! Bah.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

I'm lost. I think. I killed another boss, and got a power-up to do the Jesus thing and walk on water, which let me access a couple of new areas. However, I then stumbled into some kind of garden filled with giant chickens, and then into some strange castles in the sky that are linked together in a strange way with really difficult wear-jaguars (or something) and devils in.

Then I appeared to be in a clock tower, and it was difficult with loads of Medusa heads and dragons and Disc Armours in. And then, I found Death. Surely I shouldn't be up to Death yet? I mean, he's usually at the end of the game? I tried to kill him, and it took ages to defeat his first form and then his second form killed me. So I don't think I should be there...

I backtracked a bit, but the castles in the sky warped me around again and I ended up in a place with a black cloud blocking a door, and I don't know what to do there. Eventually, I managed to make it back to known territory and saved the game. An upside of my wanderings is that I now have over 50% of the map open.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

I'm 35% through this already! Lawks. Killed the Manticore easily this time, as I found that if you stand in the doorway, you can't be hit. Grenade-tastic!

After that, it was STOP! Hammertime! As in, I met Hammer. And he told me he was going to set up a shop by the castle entrance. As you do. I then collected a soul that gave me a double-jump (finally!) and had a bit of an explore some more, heading vaguely to Hammer's shop, and finding a few new routes and a warp point along the way.

Killed some more bosses, including a huge suit of armour and a thing which kept swapping heads, and have the group slide power-up too.

I've also got a nifty broadsword now, which is a bit slower than my previous weapon of choice, but does waaaaay more damage and has a wider killing arc, meaning I can swipe it at things above and below me. I've improved my armour as well, buying War Fatigues from Hammer, and have a soul which boosts my strength. However, I'm now in an area with some witches and persephones and it's a bit hard.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

Squeezed a bit more of this game into my day, exploring an area I'd have found far more easily if I'd actually looked at the map I'd found.

Worked my way up into some sort of bell tower, but couldn't find anything to do up there, so came back down again. I then found another save point, followed by a Manticore boss, that killed me. So it's harder than Harmony if nothing else...

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)

So, no sooner had I finished Harmony, I was on to Aria. They're even on the same cartridge (hence the same box art on the left there), so I didn't have to swap games or anything. Ace.

Only played for about half an hour so far, and Soma's sword (rather than Juste/Nathan's whip) is taking a bit of getting used to. I've already found a few things about Harmony that I prefer to this (yes, I know - and I didn't like that as much as Circle), such as the ability to save anywhere, and the ability to equip more concurrent items. However, since Aria has a primitive version of Dawn of Sorrow's soul system, you get to use several magical items at once. Graphically, it's very lovely, and the silly blue glow of Juste is no more, which is good.

I've killed a huge skeleton-with-no-legs boss, gone up abut 4 levels already, upgraded my weapon and armour, got a soul to let me jump further, have assorted other souls, and have run out of places to go already. Hurrah!

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA): COMPLETED!

Well. After getting a couple of keys, I was able to get around pretty much the entire map. Picked up the Griffin's Wing and Crush Boots too, so I then could get round the entire map, and killed a few more bosses on the way and collected fahsands more power-ups and some well ace armour. I reached Level 48 or so, and my DEF stat was so high that almost no enemy could deal out more than a couple of damage to me. Even some of the bosses that were left barely scratched me. Excellent.

Then I found, right at the very top of the map, part of Dracula's body. This opened a passageway - and I knew it was the blocked hole in the floor near the middle of the map. So, I set off down there, bought loads of Potions and High Potions, and saved next to the hole before jumping in to kill...

Maxim? What, no Dracula? Well, I was expecting Maxim then Dracula, but no - just Maxim. Who was easy. And then it was game over and I'd won. Sort of. Not the proper ending, methinks.

A quick search of the internet, and it seems I needed to be in Castle B, not Castle A for the proper ending (and have some specific items equipped). So off I went, only to find the hole in the floor sealed. I didn't have all the parts of Dracula, apparently. Eventually found his missing eye (nice), and tried again. Hurrah! I was in!

Then there was Maxim to kill again (he was even easier then), and finally Dracula. Well, not Dracula as such, a Dracula Wraith (who was so easy I didn't even get hit), followed by a second Dracula form. Who was also easy. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Dracula was in fact the easiest boss in the entire game. Tch. So much for my millions of High Potions...

And that was the REAL actual proper happy ending! Completed!

Guitar Hero (PS2)

ROCK ON!

Two player SUPER ROCK OUT this evening, as my friend Chris and I twin-axed through some tracks.

That makes it sound about a million times better than it actually was, but in reality it was crap because I lost every single one. Rubbish.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

Grr! I'm stuck again! I've explored everywhere I can, and even though I now have the smash-through-walls whip attachment, I have exhausted every area there is.

I have killed a couple more bosses (including a Giant Merman), and found a load more HP/MP/heart Max power-ups, and have explored 125% of the castle(s) now, but I have no idea where to go next. There are loads of doors still locked, a hole in the floor that is sealed, and at least three rooms I can't navigate as I can't jump high enough...

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

After half an hour of searching, and finally resorting to watching the first part of a speedrun on YouTube, I eventually found somewhere I could reach but hadn't been to yet. And so, I had opened up a huge new area!

In fact, my exploration status went from about 65% of the castle, to 102% in this evening's play. No, that isn't a mistake - it turns out there are two castles. Cripes.

Both are effectively the same layout, but with slightly different graphics and enemies. Sort of like the light and dark worlds of Link to the Past. Yeah, so not content with stealing Metroid's raison d'etre, Konami have nicked bits of Zelda too. ACE! :)

Anyway. I have killed loads of bosses now. There seem to be hundreds of them in this game. Got rid of a giant slime, a giant skeleton, a giant Peeking Eye, and a few other things which were not all giant things. Also pushed a huge Guardian Armour into a clock mechanism, mincing him and spitting out a load of Guardian Armour items I could wear, improving my stats considerably. I've also come across Maxim again, who is now slightly less scary than he was previously, and Death, who I couldn't kill as he ran away.

I'm on about level 26 now too, and have collected a pile of items for Juste's room. Yeah, he has a room in the castle. I don't know why. It's all a bit Pokémon, actually.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (GBA)

Hmm. Some of the flaws are starting to show in this game now. The map isn't as easy to navigate as in Circle of the Moon, especially in the way that there are rooms which serve no purpose than to slow you down. No baddies, no spikes, just a poorly laid out room to navigate. They're not hard, just annoying. Then there's the structure of the bosses. You don't seem to have to do them all in a specific order, and you don't get an extra move power-up after each, meaning you wonder why you bothered killing them.

The graphics aren't as good as Circle either, mainly due to the drab caves, busy bone caverns, awful psychedelic swirly nonsense, and strange character after-effects. Then there's the problem of not being able to use sub-weapons and spellbooks.

I mean, it's still good, but it should have been better, really.

Anyway. I've killed a couple more bosses (which aren't that great either, to be honest), and have explored 61% of the castle. I'm totally stuck now though, as I can't find anywhere to go. Locked doors, sealed holes in the floor, platforms I can't reach (even though I now have the double-jump power-up) and walls that are clearly breakable (but I can't break them) block every route. Bah.