Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

At the risk of these entries becoming little more than just updates into how many stars I now have, I'd just like to say "108 Stars!".

Thing is, it's hard to describe what levels I've done to get those stars for two reasons: the first being The Spoiler Problem, and the other is because when you play the game it all blends into one gooey fuzzy lovely experience, and I forget which planet was in which galaxy and stuff.

I'm running out of "normal" stars now though (that is, the first three for each galaxy). There's a few left in the Engine Room and Garden, but pretty much everything else is a hidden or comet star.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I'm running out of game. That's not right. Can't we have 2,000 stars instead? As it stands, I'm up to 104 after today's play (a couple more Purple Coin collecting levels taking up most of the game time), and I'm starting to think about it almost all being over.

And that makes me sad. Bah.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

100 stars get! A couple of Purple Coin collecting ones today and then the hardest star I've had yet - Bouldergeist with the Daredevil Comet.

He's the only boss I'd had difficulty with, and lost several lives to him even with full energy, so having to kill him again, only with no energy? Erk. He took 14 of my 15 lives before I beat him!

Also killed a giant mole on Gusty Garden, and completed some more stars on Freezeframe Galaxy.

Halo 3 (360)

Ssh! Don't tell anyone, but I played this for over an hour and a half this evening. And not all of it was rubbish! Of course, I was playing with lots of people from ugvm, and all on multiplayer modes that weren't co-op campaign, so it was all pretty good.

Well, I wasn't. I held my own for a few games when there were only four or five of us, but then more people turned up and I was demoted to whipping boy. Pff.

We played Slayer for a few games, then had a go at a few other modes. Rocket Thingie was most bizarre, as we were set up in four teams of two, me paired with co-crap-player Lufferov, and my jeep thing (it's probably not a jeep but named after some sort of animal - I don't know) wouldn't turn right. We got nil points. In the next round, we got THREE! Sadly, this still put us in last place.

Then we played Ninjaball, which I was (again) crap at, but I did managed to kill SomethingWitty about a million times, totally unnecessarily as he didn't have the ball at the time. Here are some pictures of me beating him to death:




I'm the one in green, by the way.

After that, it was Capture the Flag, and my team lost. Not because of me though, oh no. I was was more ace than everyone else put together. Maybe.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Finished off Melty Molten Galaxy today (amongst other things) which included a Daredevil Comet Run (which was really hard) and a Purple Coin Collection "mission" which was also really hard, as some were floating over the top of the lava and those long crouch-jumps were required to get them else your bottom got burnt. A lot.

And it did.

But I've got 93 Stars now - only 27 left! Actually, that's not quite true, apparently...

Portal (360)

Advanced is too hard.

FACT.

Bah.

Team Fortress 2 (360)

How is it possible that I faired even worse than last night? It was still fun and all (and I even got a neck-stab in with a spy - yay!) but I always seemed to be on the losing team.

I was usually the best player on the worst team, mind. Clearly not my fault then!

Team Fortress 2 (360)

I'm not really a big fan of multiplayer vs shooters, and team based ones even less so, but Halo 3 put me in the mood for some and since I have what many consider the best of the genre in the form of Team Fortress 2, I gave it a go.

And? I was pleasantly surprised. It's all cartoony, which is a plus for me, and the variety in the characters you can play as is great too. I didn't do particularly well (although my team managed to win a few round on Attack/Defend), but that didn't matter.

It's just a shame some of my games were horribly lagged, but joining another game sorted that out.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Got a few more stars, taking my total up to 83. That's just 37 remaining now (although most of those done are the early ones, so it's mainly tricky ones left). Found the final Green Power Star, which opened up a few more "odd" galaxies, like another Ray Surfing one, and a Monkey Ball type one.

And Melty Molten Galaxy is amazing.

Halo 3 (360)

It was decreed that after work today, Halo 3 was to be played on two system-linked 360s and huge projected screens. And so it came to pass, and there was much shooting of each other and baddies as we three played some Slayer (I came second) and some co-op until it was time to go home.

And ye, Halo 3 still isn't fantastic but verily in a group Slayer is much fun.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I'm now up to 77 stars. Most of today's play was spent getting the purple coins on the water ring level, which actually involved totally avoiding the water and Bee Mario-ing from cloud to cloud stopping off at trees on the way.

Also had another race with a Boo, as Boo Mario, and collected loads more purple coins in the bone yard place. And killed a giant rock! And defeated a mole in a cannon up a tree!

AMAZING.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Now up to 71 stars! Had a difficult purple coin run on Battlerock, and a sedate purple coin run on Honeyhive - which took ages as there were a few coins that were difficult to reach.

Also found a hidden star on the Beach Bowl level (Ice Mario wall-jumping up waterfalls! AMAZING) and completed another Haunted Mansion level which was a race against a Boo. I've done all of the first two observatories now - hurrah!

Portal (360): COMPLETED!

That's two games in one day! Amazing!

After test 18, you managed to escape from the testing chambers, although I won't say how or what happens afterwards, but when you finally defeat the end of game boss (with hilarious running commentary from the boss itself), you get the credits.

Credits with the best ending song ever. Which I can't say as it's a spoiler. But AMAZING.

And! CAKE! Yay!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): COMPLETED!

You might say "What? Already? What a short and/or easy game!", and you'd be wrong. You see, like Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine before it (in fact, like virtually every Mario game, actually) just beating Bowser at the end is The End as such. You only need 60 stars to do that, "win" the game and see the credits. So with that many, I beat the boss and completed the game.

But that's only half the stars! Now there's the task of mopping up the rest of them, mainly from alternate goals in galaxies I've already completed, and also some more in galaxies not yet unlocked. I went back and did some more (including collecting 100 purple coins on an ocean level, which took aaaages as I kept killing myself accidently...) and now I have 66 stars.

Portal (360)

No, I have no idea why the "The Orange Box" box goes pink when you resize it to the thumbnail you see on the left. Most odd.

Since I don't want to complete Mario Galaxy too quickly, I've decided to play something else for a bit. Yeah, I know I have Phantom Arsegas and Shadow of a Colostomy on the go at the moment, but, well, this arrived yesterday and everyone says it's ace and I'm weak.

What I don't remember anyone saying, however, is how hilarious it is. The computer voice taking you through the "training"? Fantastic! The fake concern for me, the lies, the promises of cake! It's brilliant.

And the game? Braneaching. Yes, that's a word. I just wrote it, so it must be.

If you don't know what it entails, then imagine a gun that fires holes that stick to walls, floors and ceilings. One hole is blue, the other, orange. Walk through one, and you come out the other. Easy! But there are puzzles, you see, and they make your brain melt.

And I'm only on puzzle 17!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

46 stars! And so many things that I found ace! I can't even begin to begin... and I don't want to spoil things for people as they come across stuff for the first time, because everything is so special.

But I will say that finding Luigi was amazing. The giant toy robot? Amazing. The Bowser boss battles with the Mario 64 boss style levels (and music!) - amazing.

Look, the WHOLE BLOODY GAME is amazing. If you disagree (and only two people on the entire planet do, and they haven't played it) then you have no soul.

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

I am now 23 stars in, and, so far, I haven't had a single thing I didn't like. I did worry that the whole gravity-on-small-planets thing might detract from the game in some way, but it really doesn't - it just feels like a natural progression from Mario 64. An extra dimension, if you will.

And it's all just so... fantastic!

Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

AMAZING.

Perhaps you'd like a bit more in the way of detail? You don't need any - that covers it. I have 7 stars, have played for a few hours, and love it.

Although I love Mario Sunshine, it never really felt like a proper follow-up to Mario 64. Too much of it was removed from the former game - the location, the Piantas, the shines-not-stars, the FLUDD, and so on. It was a great game, and I'll have none of you haters saying otherwise, but it wasn't a sequel.

Galaxy however, is.

It feels just like Mario 64, only with More. Which is a Very Good Thing.

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

Two more ColossususuueusuzezZ slaughtered today. First up was a flying one, which although ACE to actually kill, was a real pain to get on the back of. Not because he was hard though - just because he's flying around a lake, and you have to swim to bits that you can stand on before you can attract his attention. Thing is, swimming is slooooooow, so the fight took ages (as I fell off a few times).

Next up was a big beardy baddie, and yes! You climb his beard! Amazing.

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

A good thing about this game is that it's perfectly suited for short gaming sessions. I've killed four Colossi now, and none of them have taken very long (as can be seen by my 1h17m play time so far, and 15 minutes of that was trying to find Colossus number 4).

Number 4 had me scratching my head for a while (long enough for Spooky Disembodied Voice to give me a useless clue), but then I realised he would try to look for me in the underground warren bit near where you find him, so I could sneak up behind him and climb his tail. Head stabbage!

The horse riding bits are pretty crap, and the sword-direction "compass" is fantastically vague, but the actual giant slaying bits are pretty epic. I was kind of expecting the colossusususeses to bit much bigger than they actually are though. Hmm.

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)

Amazingly, this arrived just a few days before I completed Ico, so I thought, while I'm waiting for Super Mario Galaxy to arrive, I'd give it a go. Also, I'm more likely to spot any subtle links between this and Ico if I play it now rather than in six years time...

So far, I've watched the lengthy opening cinematic(s), and killed myself a couple of Colossi (which I'm not certain is the right word for multiple Colossuses but my spellchecker didn't complain and it's what the game calls them, so anyway...). This has put my save at around 40 minutes, so I'm not really that far in yet.

First impressions are, generally, more positive than they were with Ico, but I can see this possibly becoming dull if all the fights are this similar. The graphics are (mostly) of lower quality than Ico too, and although the giants are well animated, the main character jerks around like he's got some sort of muscle disorder. Controlling the horse is a right pain too, and I'm not overly keen on the "use the sword to find where you need to go" thing, but that's a minor point.

Mario's Super Picross (Wii)

These 20x20 puzzles really make my eyes bleed. Managed five of them before giving up, in case my eyeballs exploded or something.

Viva Pinata (360)

But only briefly, so as to send some Pinatas, money and stuff to my brother's girlfriend now she's on Xbox Live.

Slapped Seedos around a bit too. He loves it.

Some XBLA Demos (360)

Namely, Switchball and Word Puzzle.

Switchball:
Well, it's no Marble Blast. Seems competent enough, but suffers from three things: 1) screen tearing, 2) it's slooooow, and 3) CRATE PUZZLES. The latter of these is unforgivable, so I won't be buying it.

Word Puzzle:
Timed wordsearches? NO.

Bomberman Live (360)

Played quite a few games of this with my wife this evening. Although she didn't win any matches, she did win some games.

Played with pretty much everything on Random, but seemed to get the map where there are brown sticky splodges on the floor appeared to crop up half the time, which is a pain as I hate that one!

Ico (PS2): COMPLETED!

Having redone the bit after losing Yorda, I found there wasn't much of the game left. There were some more platformy bits (oh, and I figured that you can pull the block around while you swim with the O button), and then I found a new sword that gave me the statue-moving powers of Yorda. Then, I ended up back in the room you start the game in, with loads of shadow things to kill.

It was then that I realised something - the shadows are all horned too - just like Ico. And they all came from the "pods" like the one Ico was in at the start. So they must be all the previous horned boys from times past!

Killed them all anyway (one swipe of this new sword does it) and then it was off to kill the queen, who was pretty easy (once I'd figured out what was going on, anyway) and that was the end of the game! Well, except for the bit after the credits which I won't mention as it's a spoiler. My completed save says 7 and a half hours, but redoing sections means it's nearer 10.

What did I think overall then? Well... it was good. Much better than I expected, and certainly better than it started. I didn't like having to drag Yorda round all the time, there are problems with the controls, fighting, camera and such, but the story and atmosphere and the actual puzzles and platforming make up for it.

Now, if they'd make a game without all the annoying bits and more of the good bits, that'd be ace!

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

Firstly today, I set off to get hold of a cannon for my ship. This involved taking a long route around an island because Link seems incapable of hopping over a small fence.

With the cannon, I could then reach the north-west map area, although I came across the Ghost Ship and got lost in some fog. So I adjourned to an island in the south-west corner where I hope to find a way to get through the fog. Something about digging where lines between stone tablets cross or something. But I have a spade!

Ico (PS2)

Finally managed to get past all of the waterfall section, and then it was all easy for a while. Made it into the West Idol place, where the puzzles to get the reflector working were much easier than in the East Idol place, and then there was a short section before returning back to the main gates.

Yorda opened them, but sadly, our rush for freedom was cut short by the shadow queen woman, and I ended up losing Yorda, my sword, and seemingly fell to my death.

I wasn't dead, of course, but I am stuck. I've made it into a big flooded area where I need to get a block from one side of a river to the other, but I can't seem to figure out how to do this. Worse still, is that I can't save my game at this point, so I had to switch off knowing I need to backtrack somewhat. Bah.

Phase (iPod)

Considering it is "just" an iPod game, Phase has had quite a bit of media attention this week. The main reason being it's been done by none other than Guitar Hero and now Rock Band developers Harmonix, and it's basically more of the same.

OK, so you only have three buttons (although there's also "slide around the controller" sections), but it's the same thing in essence. You also get to use your own music! To do this, just add tracks to the automatically-created "Phase Music" playlist in iTunes, and resync your iPod. Some tracks work better than others, though, and I've found ones with strong beats (bass or drums) are particularly successful.

Good:
Processed Beats (Kasabian)
Caught by the Fuzz (Supergrass)
Not Still Over (Yaida Hitomi)
The Legendary Theme (from Gitaroo Man)
Dare (Gorillaz)

Not so good:
Remote Control (Beastie Boys)
Life on Mars (David Bowie)

Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)

With Phoenix Wright (sadly) over and done with, it's time to move on to this. I played it for a short while when I bought it a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't even set sail from the first island yet.

Today, I went to the Temple of the Ocean King, and had to do an annoying section where your health drains constantly, and then got a map and rescued Linebeck, who let me use his boat. With that, we went to another island where I had to free a fortune teller, who then let me into the fire dungeon (or whatever it's called), which was brilliant.

Unfortunately, having killed the (very easy) boss, I had to return to the first island and go back in the Temple of the Ocean King and do another stupid section which was both timed and required stealth. I hate stealth sections in games. Grr!

Anyway, I managed it.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS): COMPLETED!

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. There was about an hour of game left, and it really did feel like the end of an epic story. I can't really say much else, in case I spoil it for you, the reader of my diary.

I will say this though: I'm really excited for Apollo Justice - the next game in the series, and the start of what I hope will be an equally amazing trilogy.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

It seems I was a bit wrong when I said there can't be long left now. I played solidly for three hours tonight, and still there's more!

This time, however, there really can't be much left. I know who did it. Everyone has testified everything. All I have to do is prove who it was.

I have to say, I've been throughly gripped throughout the whole final case. It has been huge, yes, but well worth playing through. All the loose ends from the entire series are being tied up, and it truly feels, well, epic. Not bad for what is essentially a game of multiple choice!

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

Ah! I've just realised - Iris didn't fly over the bridge at all! When Larry saw it, he was upside-down, so she actually fell from it!

Of course, it doesn't help that Iris couldn't physically be in two places at once, nor that although I found that Dahlia is her twin, so it could happen, Dahlia is in fact dead. Oh.

Anyway, most of today's play (at least two hours!) was spent on investigating some more around the scene - this time as the now-recovered Phoenix. As expected, this case is typing up everything together. And I mean everything. Misty Fey, Morgan Fey, Iris, Dahlia, Mia, Maya, Edgeworth, Franziska von Karma, Larry...

So now I'm back in court, and am cross-examining Iris. Can't be long left now...

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

Well. That was bizarre. Edgeworth was clearly somewhat confused the whole way through the first day's trial, but I've managed to finish it with things just even more complicated now than they were previously.

Most confusing was the picture that Larry ("Laurice"? Pff) drew - It appears Iris can fly. Er, yes.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

I was right - I didn't win. There's a bit of a plot hole left now too, as Dahlia's poison from the first case was around a year beforehand, and she's killed three times now. Hmm. Anyway, Case Closed!

And then, Case 5? So much for everyone saying there were only four. Tch.

And it's a big wrap-up case too. I can see it - there's more about Misty Fey. Dahlia isn't dead (even though she's been banged up on death row) and seems to be in a "channeling dojo" where Phoenix, Maya and Pearl have gone. Larry is back again, there's another murder, and the dojo is next door to the bridge from the previous case. Dahn dahn daaaaaahn!

And! Maya and Pearl are missing, and Phoenix is in hospital! So who is representing the defendant? Miles Edgeworth. No, really. That's who I am at the moment. And! Franchesca von Karma is prosecuting - at Edgeworth's request?!

WHAT

Ico (PS2)

Gnngh! Although it looks amazing, and the puzzles are great, some of it is far too frustrating to be fun. For example, today I reached a waterfall, and there's a door which is locked. Ico can scale a wall and climb over, but Yorda can't, so Ico has to find a way to open the door. So I left Yorda, wandered round looking for a switch, and got so far from her she got nabbed by shadow thingies and Game Over.

So I tried again, and found a switch just the other side of the door hiding off-camera.

It is also annoying that sometimes you can go miles from Yorda and she's fine, and other times you just leave her in one room, then seconds into the next room she's been kidnapped. And you have no way of knowing if she'll be safe or not, or how long for, or how far you can go.

Also at the waterfall, there's a chain you have to jump onto, but the camera means you can't judge when you're in line with it, so you invariably fall to your death. And have to go back miles and try again. And again. And again. Seriously - my saved game progressed from 4 hours to 5 hours today, but I played for more than two hours. ANNOYING.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

Well, this case certainly seems a lot shorter than I was expecting for a final case, which is a shame. Of course, there's still a chance for a twist at the end, but I'm not sure how there can be one.

I've exposed the girl's true identity (which was blatantly obvious, but only to the player as the cases in this game are played out of order), and I know she did it, but the thing is - I know that I can't win this case. In a previous case, Mia says she didn't win her first case (which is this one), and the prosecutor is Edgeworth (in his first case too), and in the first Phoenix Wright game Phoenix was the first person ever to "defeat" Edgeworth. So I must lose. Anyway, Fawles has taken the stand now, so we'll see...

Ico (PS2)

Having to redo the last bit no less than SEVEN times because I was one millimetre too high or low on the chain I had to jump from didn't really help endear this game to me any further.

However, I will persevere more. After all, it can't be as bad as Kameo, and I completed that.

Thankfully, the next section was much more enjoyable. I came across a tower with a reflector behind it, and had to solve some puzzles to open three huge doors in the tower to allow the light from the reflector through, so as to activate one half of the main gate for the castle. It was a bit of a pain having to leg it back from a switch as Rubbish Yorda had been nabbed by shadow things again, but never mind.

I do have a sword now, though, which makes it easier to kill them! Sadly, it didn't save me from them knocking me off a ledge to my death some ten minutes after the tower was complete and I'd made it back to the room where I'd blown up a bridge earlier in the game. So I'll have to do all that again. Grr.

Phoenix Wright 3: Trials and Tribulations (DS)

Case Closed!

I was right with who was the killer, and the reasons why. I was half expecting Violetta to come in at the last minute as a witness though, but that didn't happen. Surely she's got to turn up again later in the game? All that story about her and her mafia family surely needs to be explored further?

Now I'm on to Case 4, which, if the conversations on ugvm and rllmuk are to be believed, is the final case. And... I'm Mia again. Not only that, but it's her first case, and her mentor in it is not entirely unlike Godot. Hmm.

So far, we've established that a guy who was sent down for murder five years ago (11 years ago really, if you're on "current Phoenix time", as this case is 6 years ago in the game...) escaped, and the police woman who testified against him was murdered - in the same place as the previous murder. I can see some holes already (from the bridge where the murder took place to where the police picked up the defendant takes 30 minutes to drive, yet that would have left no time for the actual murder, if it happened when it appears to have done), but I can't see how to present the evidence in a relevant matter.