The Unfinished Swan: balloons

Most balloons have colour to them, but some are white and so are easy to miss.  I've not missed any yet.

I've now completed the second chapter.  Again, read no further if you want to experience it yourself.

Flower: completed!

The tower was indeed the key to the sixth level, and indeed the whole game.  Winding up through the city, lightening the buildings and swings, I entered the mass of girders and destroyed as many as I could as I was blown ever upwards.  There were few flowers inside the structure, but as I reached the top I had a huge number of petals following me.  The tower fell, and a tree grew.  End of game.

I've found three hidden flowers on the first level, and one one every other level.  I'll be back to play this again.

Flower: purple and pink

By level five, it's getting a bit fraught.  The flowers and the wind do have an enemy, it seems, in the shape of electricity pylons.  Getting too close to these sets fire to accompanying petals, and smoke trails follow the wind for a while.  The pylons seem to be broken and falling, but at the same time they're a menace to the world.  Chiming with blue flowers at the base of pylons turns them from black and rusting to silver, but they remain no less broken.

By the end of the fifth level, this had turned from being a happy and cheery game, to being dark and depressing.  The flower given for finishing the level is wilted and dying.  I almost didn't carry on to the sixth level, but I'm glad I did.  The petal and wind are stronger here, and can break through the pylons - something I found by chance after trying to avoid them for ages.  Destroying pylons brings colour back to the world, and I find myself in an overgrown city with repairing buildings and roads.  The centre of the city seems to be a huge tower of pylons, and maybe that holds the key to getting past this level.

But I've been stuck on the road system for six minutes, trying to make sure I'm colouring the whole city, and I've not got there yet.

Limbo: into the haze

I now own Limbo on three formats: Mac, Xbox 360, and PS3.  I've only even played it to the first encounter with a big spider, which I found to be intensely annoying since I died jumping over the bear traps over and over again.

On the 360, I seem to have a little more control.  Certainly I was able to get past the spider not just once but a number of times (including being caught in its web, urgh), and have found some people who seem to want me dead.  I've been killed many times but have progressed a lot further than I ever did before.  Recent progress has been down into caves where it's even darker than normal, and everything is hazy.  I'm a bit claustrophobic.

The Unfinished Swan: feet

The Unfinished Swan is an experimental game, in a number of ways.  It's an experiment on the part of the developer, who have included a number of different gameplay mechanics from the first level onwards.  It's an experiment in terms of playing it - it requires the player to try and work out controls and where they are, with no instructions other than a brief story.  It's an experiment on the part of Sony, who are increasing the exposure of more artistic games such as this and Journey.

Warning: if you want to play this game yourself (and I recommend you do) I recommend reading no further.

Super Mario Galaxy: lost

Arriving at the hub world, I was given five lives by a toadstool who shuffled over, breaking the cobwebs that had bound him. Peach had sent me a letter, despite being in captivity. I'm sure she's thinking that she'll never escape.

Rosalina asked me if I wanted to go to the special place. There was a sense of longing in her voice, as she pointed out I now had enough stars to go and rescue the princess. Longing and perhaps disbelief, that the hero had returned after all these years to complete the job that he had left unfinished.

But no. I spent a few minutes reacquainting myself with the space station, and found a chubby star thing (what are they called? Lumia? Or is that a Nokia phone?) who showed me a map. Where can I go to get new stars? It's not entirely clear. But there's a new galaxy in the engine room.

It took a while to find the engine room. Despite years of neglect, the robot inside was still whirring away, carving his trails into the mountains of dust. I jumped to the central star, and found that as well as the new galaxy, I had only collected one star from the toy-themed one. I elected to go there.

Mario meets Mario. The last part of the stage was a Mario-shaped floor with disappearing tiles. In order to get there, I had to navigate a complicated shape collecting jump star pieces, which took a while given the fact I couldn't remember how to ground pound. I was expecting the screw mechanism encountered half-way through to have rusted up, but someone's been keeping it oiled.

Onto the Mario floor, and I died several times as the yellow tiles flipped over and left me with nothing to jump from. Luckily there was a 1-up near the start. I had to collect five silver stars, which then became a gold star and was positioned at the start of the Mario floor. Unfortunately, I'd stepped on the tiles around that and they'd disappeared. Fortunately Mario has a long jump.

So I collected one more star. After I saved, as I turned the console off, I'm sure I heard a whisper. No, I won't forget, I'll be back.

Batman Arkham Asylum: completed!

It was indeed the finale. I fought the henchmen in the hallway, I fought the two titans in the main room, and then I was worried that Joker was going to be a boring boss battle of just another titan charging around the room. Oh no. The last parts on the rooftop were tricky, and I had to restart twice before I finally defeated him, with a sliver of health left.

Overall, this has been a great game. I'm not really interested in the whole superhero universe, but this game took the established characters and made them into something really interesting. The setting is pretty creepy at times, and it felt a very solid world (even if the rationale for the batcave was a bit flimsy). It wasn't too long, but if I wanted to get more out of it there's a number of extra modes which I've not touched, plus the main game on a hard difficulty level. For now, though, I'm done.

Batman Arkham Asylum: riddle me this

Up to what I presume is the finale now, where I've been invited to the Joker's party. Before I went in, I was clearing up the Riddler's puzzles; this exercise was made easier by the fact that I'd already found each of the maps which indicate the general location of each puzzle - with the exception of the Joker's teeth, which were annoying to find in a couple of the buildings.

After much exploration, all the puzzles had been collected - I had to cheat and go online to find out the location of the last Chronicle of Arkham, since that didn't show on any map, and though I guessed who it was that was being referred to I saw no real link to the location - and I've gone in to see the Joker.

He killed me, and it was late, so I'll come back to that.

Mario Kart 7: time trialling

I've managed to get at least one star on every grand prix now, so my name is displayed with a star on online races.  Interestingly, I got a star for the Lightning Cup on mirror mode when coming second overall, while I'd previously won the series and hadn't been awarded a star at all.  I'll still play the grand prix from time to time, but for now I've been concentrating on time trials.

Mario Kart 7 has a great implementation of time trials, where you get shown the worldwide distribution of times plus are presented with a number of ghosts across the spectrum.  You can then choose to race against seven ghosts randomly chosen from the ones surrounding you, or any specific ghost at all.  These are updated any time you connect to the Internet via SpotPass.  In addition, you get sent time trials via StreetPass of people you meet in real life.  The only thing I've not seen is whether your friends are included in the ghosts anywhere - since I have no MK7 friends.

Sad face.

Anyway, I've been playing the time trials trying to beat the median time for each course.  Some have been easier than others, but there are a few which have oddly-shaped distribution curves with two peaks where there's a trick to the track, such as boosting over a certain corner and ramp.  To compete on these I've been trying to find the shortcuts myself but also following some of the faster ghosts to work out the strategy.

The track I most hate is Kalamari Desert.  You have to avoid the train going around the track through use of two different ramps (to get to which you have to use a boost over rough ground first.  But you have to line yourself up to the first ramp and commit to it before you can even see if the train is going to be in the way.  It took a lot of experimentation to find that you have to use the second ramp for the first two laps and the first ramp on the last lap, but if and only if you've been closely tracking the best times.

I'm ahead of the median on all but two tracks now.

Picross e: completed!

I have very little willpower. This has become even more apparent as I've worked my way through the puzzles in Picross e, making increasing use of the game's feature which highlights which rows and columns have a possible move in them.  While I am able to say "no" at the start of each puzzle, when it asks if I want any hints (meaning it doesn't fill in a random row and column to start), I find it hard to not press the shoulder buttons to reveal the the row and column highlighting as soon as get remotely stuck.  This is made worse by the fact that I try to do it even on the puzzles where it's not available.

There wasn't anything particularly difficult, though I did work out a new technique (thanks to the row highlighting) which allows you to put a blank in space 2 if space 3 is filled and the sequence starts with a 1.  The end pictures were normally quite evident from the outlines, but I did struggle to understand what the pelican was until the name appeared.

More please.

Batman Arkham Asylum: taking over the island

I was stuck in one room for ages.  There were seven (I think) armed guards, and I could only ever lure two or three to their deaths under a gargoyle before the others spotted me and gunned me down.

I got past in the end more by luck than judgement, as the enemies kept on walking around in a circle underneath me.  It was very tense gliding down to take the last one out.

Now Poison Ivy is making plants grow all over the place, so I have to find her.  I should have captured her when I had the chance.

Mr Driller Drill Spirits: reminiscing

Last year, I played Peggle.  At the time, I vowed to never again play Peggle, due to the unfairness of its randomness and impossible goals.  of course, its randomness and impossible goals are one of the things that makes it so compelling, and I've played it many times since.

But screaming and shouting at a console is not the way to remember Owen, and so this morning I played Mr Driller instead.  I'm rather rusty at it, but after fifteen minutes or so I was back into the rhythm the game demands, dodging under fused X blocks, dashing for air across the screen, and rushing to the two-colour stages which give a break from the action to some extent.  I played the 2000m stage, it being the only one that's not completed yet (other than the moon, which has items so is a bit of a variation from the pure Mr Driller experience).

Mr Driller remains a fine game, and the DS version is probably still the best version available to me.  Drill Land requires the GameCube to be set up (with Freeloader), and its unique modes are mostly multiplayer.  Mr Driller Online has virtually nobody online.  The Dreamcast version of the original works well but is hampered by the controller.

Of course, a 3DS download game which is always available could be better still.

Batman Arkham Asylum: creeping

I've now collected the sequencer from the head warden, which means that I can override the security doors dotted around.  There are lots of places to go back to at some point, but I'm being driven on through the story.  Harley Quinn is running away but it's only a matter of time until I catch up with her.

It'll be a while, though, since I'm off to Kuwait for a week tomorrow.  Joy.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter: completed!

I went back to it finally, and have finished the story.  It was a bit far-fetched, as is the Layton way.  I then went back and searched for the 10 puzzles I'd missed.  I completed the fish games, and the train games, and have downloaded the weekly puzzles, all of which are completed.

The only thing I've not finished are Layton's challenges, and also working out what the hidden door is for.  The first of these will be this weekend's task; the second may require Google.

A great game, as always.  I'm not overly tempted by London life, though.  I don't have 100 hours to spare at the moment ...

Batman Arkham Asylum: over the shoulder

The time requirement for F1 2010 proved too much, so my F1 fix will come from F1 2011 on the 3DS while I move onto something else in my short morning babysitting slots.  I bought Arkham Asylum a while ago after hearing that it was amazing and excellent; my time with it so far is consistent with this.

Each time I start playing it, thought, it takes me a few minutes to get used to the over-the-shoulder view; the camera is ajust a little too distant from Batman, making me feel a bit divorced from his actions. This is particularly odd when the camera shifts during fight scenes to be more behind him; it's just a littel too dynamic.

I'm having trouble following the story, because the sound on the TV is kept very low in order to not wake Nicholas.  It's obvious that the Joker has taken over the asylum though, and Batman is working his way around the island in order to regain control.  I've reached a Batcave now, which was put in place many years ago just in case.  What foresight.

F1 2010: rules confusion

I don't really watch F1 on TV, though I used to a few years ago.  Having seen F1 2010 in the Game sell-off for £2, though, I thought it could be interesting to see how things had progressed since F1'97 on the PlayStation.  They've progressed a lot.

The game looks stunning. A lot of this is down to the high-definition display, of course, but there's such attention to detail on the cars that it's difficult to not just stop and stare when you're driving up behind them.  Driving up behind them is something I'm doing a lot, since my qualifying positions are well down the pack and I have a tendency to brake late.  My first two races went OK other than the fact I had a penalty applied at the end for "causing a collision".  It wasn't me, it was the other car stopping in front of me.

I'm using many driving aids, and it's almost as if the car's driving itself at times, but at least this means I have a hope of getting somewhere through the game.  I may need to turn off the automatic braking though - that just feels a little too hand-holding.

The other thing about the game is the investment of time it requires.  Each race takes ages, through the practice sessions then qualifying, then a ten-lap race.  Since most of my gaming time is in half-hour chunks while Nicholas is asleep on the sofa next to me, this is hardly ideal ...

King Kong: completed!

You may be feeling as if you've gone back in time to March 2007, as I completed this game then as well.  It's rare that I will play through a story-driven game such as this more than once, but I remembered really enjoying it and when I had the opportunity to buy a copy for the Xbox 360 for £2 I jumped at the chance.  High definition should be a bonus ...

I remembered the game as graphically accomplished with recognisable characters and beautiful locations. Maybe that was a standard definition illusion, as when played on the 360 it looks pretty basic. It's stunning to see how far games have come in the last five years.  Not only does it look rough, textures are repeated far too often and a lot of the game is just too dark.

Yes, she is meant to be attractive.

I also remembered the game as varied and well structured. It's varied to some extent, with levels split between controlling Jack and Kong, but there are limited puzzles and enemies, and by the time I was 75% through I was getting pretty bored. The chapter system works OK, but games have developed more elegant checkpoint and save systems now - in fact, they had developed them back in 2002 with Halo, but that's by the by.

Most of all, I remembered the game as good.  And it still is, though the difficulty is all over the place and if it went on any longer than it does it would soon turn into a grind.  As it is, it's a good fun short game that's starting to show its age.

Limbo: big spiders

Limbo is a black and white game, with the main character's eyes shining more than anything else in the world.  It's a game full of danger and death.  I have died many, many times - and not every death has felt like it's my fault.  I'm getting a bit past pixel-perfect jumping, which seems to be required to get past some of the traps.

I got to a big spider, who impaled me on its legs.  After a couple of deaths, I realised that I could push one of the traps under its feet and it would lose its leg.  I did this a couple of times, but kept dying in the trap as I jumped over it.

Bah.

Bit.Trip Saga: bopping along

I really enjoy some of the games on this compilation.  Runner is undoubtdly the star of the show, even if I'm not vey good at it.  Beat gets hard to quickly and makes my eyes go funny.  Core is just too tricky from the start.

The 3D isn't used very well at all, though.  It's much easier to play with it turned off, which is very disappointing indeed.

Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition: completed!

My commuting game of choice over the past week or so has been the 3DS conversion of the GBA game that was included alongside Link to the Past.  The 3DS game has the benefit of being adapted so you can play it in single-player modes, rather than being restricted to only playing when there's someone else with a GBA and link cable around.

Nintendo evidently realised that such time would be few and far between, so Four Swords actually has relatively little content.  There are three main "dungeons", with three or four levels each.  In the new version, you control two Links, switching between them with a shoulder button, and puzzles have been redesigned so simultaneous actions aren't needed.  It's been really well done.

There have been a couple of times where puzzles have left me stuck for a few minutes, and I only died (properly) once - there were a few deaths along the way but they were paid for with rupees so no progress was lost.  The final boss had a few different forms, but died pretty quickly.

A nice freebie from Nintendo!