I've not even touched on the level 9 and level 10 events, but I can't rank up any more. Hooray. I don't think I'll ever perfect every event, but I'm aiming to at least get a medal on everything in order to complete this.
Oh, and I played online. I am rubbish.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Mr Driller Drill Spirits: hitting the bottom
I completed the 1500m stage! I broke my last record of 1150m with three lives left, and lost my first life at 1250m. The last 50m were an urgent rush as air ticked down and I wasn't sure I'd make it ... but I did.
So, 2000m? Hmm.
So, 2000m? Hmm.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Burnout Revenge: getting there ...
See? That's only six more perfect events and one star from somewhere else ...
Having said that, it's getting a bit tricky now. I'm playing through the level eight stages, and they're making my eyes hurt with their speed.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Invalidity gaming
I've not only played on Burnout Revenge. Other things I've been playing are:
Boom Blox (Wii)
A late Christmas present, due to HMV delivering it late. It's great in multi-player, and some (but not all) of the single-player modes are good fun as well. I'm not too keen on the shooting gallery ones, but the throwing games, in particular the mining games, are very clever. For mining, you're given a set arrangement of blocks, and you have to firstly blow a hole inside using a bomb, then throw a rubber ball to hit as many blocks as possible. Effectively, you've got to use a highly explosive device to blow up as small as hol as you can, then throw the rubber ball into that hole ...
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Xbox 360)
Hmm.
I love Tomb Raider games, in general. I don't ever recall them being quite so fiddly to control though. Maybe it's the 360's control pad, but When I played Legend on the GameCube, I don't recall getting stuck on ledges or not being able to turn around properly.
And as a minor clautrophobe, the fact that this is all set underground, so far, is a bit freaky. Plus it's so dark. The puzzles are clever enough without the designers hiding the switches in the gloom!
Having said all that, it's a good Tomb Raider game, so far. The opening level, teaching the controls, was done well, with Croft Manor being set alight and Lara having to escape. I do like the fact that Lara's house in the games has been redesigned to look like that of the films.
I haven't played Tomb Raider: Anniversary yet, but I did complete the original Tomb Raider on the PlayStation, so I'm not too worried about that ...
Loco Roco (and Loco Roco 2) (PSP)
Another Christmas present was LR2, which I've opened and tried but since I've not completed LR1 I'll not start properly just yet. I've played a few more levels of LR1, now up to 5-4, but the battery in my PSP seems to last no time at all any more so I may need to replace that before I can finish this ...
Mr Driller Drill Spirits (DS)
I still haven't completed the 1500m stage of this.
Mr Driller Online (Xbox 360)
Using the items makes this much easier. I think I've got most of the realistic achievements now.
Pop (iPhone)
It's like the Wii game, but better. I can see me playing this a lot over the next year or so.
Skybound (iPhone)
There's a minigame in WarioWare: Touched where you have to draw a line under a ball to make it bounce upwards constantly. This game is almost the same as that, but with a bit more finesse in the presentation and mechanics. Another ideal hospital waiting room time waster. Something I've needed a lot!
Boom Blox (Wii)
A late Christmas present, due to HMV delivering it late. It's great in multi-player, and some (but not all) of the single-player modes are good fun as well. I'm not too keen on the shooting gallery ones, but the throwing games, in particular the mining games, are very clever. For mining, you're given a set arrangement of blocks, and you have to firstly blow a hole inside using a bomb, then throw a rubber ball to hit as many blocks as possible. Effectively, you've got to use a highly explosive device to blow up as small as hol as you can, then throw the rubber ball into that hole ...
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Xbox 360)
Hmm.
I love Tomb Raider games, in general. I don't ever recall them being quite so fiddly to control though. Maybe it's the 360's control pad, but When I played Legend on the GameCube, I don't recall getting stuck on ledges or not being able to turn around properly.
And as a minor clautrophobe, the fact that this is all set underground, so far, is a bit freaky. Plus it's so dark. The puzzles are clever enough without the designers hiding the switches in the gloom!
Having said all that, it's a good Tomb Raider game, so far. The opening level, teaching the controls, was done well, with Croft Manor being set alight and Lara having to escape. I do like the fact that Lara's house in the games has been redesigned to look like that of the films.
I haven't played Tomb Raider: Anniversary yet, but I did complete the original Tomb Raider on the PlayStation, so I'm not too worried about that ...
Loco Roco (and Loco Roco 2) (PSP)
Another Christmas present was LR2, which I've opened and tried but since I've not completed LR1 I'll not start properly just yet. I've played a few more levels of LR1, now up to 5-4, but the battery in my PSP seems to last no time at all any more so I may need to replace that before I can finish this ...
Mr Driller Drill Spirits (DS)
I still haven't completed the 1500m stage of this.
Mr Driller Online (Xbox 360)
Using the items makes this much easier. I think I've got most of the realistic achievements now.
Pop (iPhone)
It's like the Wii game, but better. I can see me playing this a lot over the next year or so.
Skybound (iPhone)
There's a minigame in WarioWare: Touched where you have to draw a line under a ball to make it bounce upwards constantly. This game is almost the same as that, but with a bit more finesse in the presentation and mechanics. Another ideal hospital waiting room time waster. Something I've needed a lot!
Burnout Revenge: massively overpowered
Since I came back from Australia, I've had a bad problem with my ear, to the extent that I get dizzy if I stand up, feel nauseous if I bend over or move around too much, and therefore can't really do anything except sit and watch TV - or play games. Not so much the Wii games, mind you, since that would be far too much exertion.
I've just finished a session on Burnout Revenge, which, if you remember, I've played quite a bit before. It's not that difficult a game, though my personal goal of perfecting every event makes it a lot harder. In previous posts I complained about the checking traffic system, and while I still think it's a bad idea, it's maybe not the utter disaster I first thought it was. You do slow down by hitting cars a little, enough to cost you time on the hot laps and speed run events. And there's a certain strategy in hitting cars into the path of your rivals to score a takedown.
I'm now the tenth rank, "dominator", which I believe to be the penultimate rank before you complete the game. I've got to collect 122 stars before I do that though. I've completed (fully) the first two ranks, and have only a few stars at most on the next four. I've just started the event on the eighth rank. I've noted that the events I have trouble getting perfects for are those where you're racing the clock, not other cars. I'm obviously a good tactical driver, but not a very fast one.
One thing that has helped my progression was the completion of challenges on one of the locations - I managed to drive an entire race without crashing, which means I've not got one of the game's supercars. The EA racer, in fact, with a boost speed of 209mph, meaning I can catch up to rivals pretty quickly. Maybe too quickly - when you're in sixth with half a lap to go, it shouldn't really be possible to win the race ...
I've just finished a session on Burnout Revenge, which, if you remember, I've played quite a bit before. It's not that difficult a game, though my personal goal of perfecting every event makes it a lot harder. In previous posts I complained about the checking traffic system, and while I still think it's a bad idea, it's maybe not the utter disaster I first thought it was. You do slow down by hitting cars a little, enough to cost you time on the hot laps and speed run events. And there's a certain strategy in hitting cars into the path of your rivals to score a takedown.
I'm now the tenth rank, "dominator", which I believe to be the penultimate rank before you complete the game. I've got to collect 122 stars before I do that though. I've completed (fully) the first two ranks, and have only a few stars at most on the next four. I've just started the event on the eighth rank. I've noted that the events I have trouble getting perfects for are those where you're racing the clock, not other cars. I'm obviously a good tactical driver, but not a very fast one.
One thing that has helped my progression was the completion of challenges on one of the locations - I managed to drive an entire race without crashing, which means I've not got one of the game's supercars. The EA racer, in fact, with a boost speed of 209mph, meaning I can catch up to rivals pretty quickly. Maybe too quickly - when you're in sixth with half a lap to go, it shouldn't really be possible to win the race ...
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Braid: completed!
As it turns out, there are no new abilities to take back with you, just some very clever puzzles. Like, for example, using the table in one of the jigsaws as a platform in the level, allowing a jump over a massive gap, and getting the monster down onto the ground level, or rewinding time while stood on a time-proof platform so that keys move themselves to other sides of barriers, or using fast rewind to get back somewhere before a platform arrives.
The end of the game is pretty clever. You start at world 1-4 and go backwards to 1-1. The whole world goes backwards in 1-4 to 1-2, and then in 1-1 you see the princess and have to flee a wall of fire. Monsters go backwards but the princess goes forwards. She runs along the top, you run along the bottom, and it's pretty tight to get through some of the gaps before the fire burns you. And then at the end you stand on a time-proof platform and the princess goes to sleep on her bed - and I spent ages trying to work out what to do then. It turns out you have to rewind the entire level. I think I missed some nuance of story.
Sorry if I've spoilt it for you.
Good game, especially for the price, but I won't be going back to get the speed-run achievement, I don't think. There was far too much waiting around in the game (for things to rewind, and so on), which would be frustrating.
The end of the game is pretty clever. You start at world 1-4 and go backwards to 1-1. The whole world goes backwards in 1-4 to 1-2, and then in 1-1 you see the princess and have to flee a wall of fire. Monsters go backwards but the princess goes forwards. She runs along the top, you run along the bottom, and it's pretty tight to get through some of the gaps before the fire burns you. And then at the end you stand on a time-proof platform and the princess goes to sleep on her bed - and I spent ages trying to work out what to do then. It turns out you have to rewind the entire level. I think I missed some nuance of story.
Sorry if I've spoilt it for you.
Good game, especially for the price, but I won't be going back to get the speed-run achievement, I don't think. There was far too much waiting around in the game (for things to rewind, and so on), which would be frustrating.
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