Your 2016 Gaming Diary

Unfortunately this is a US version of the game which I'm trying to play on a UK 3DS which has lead to all sorts of issues, mainly game freezing every now and again during battle, but it has also rendered the Game Corner unplayable which means I cannot get the TMs which you can get from there, I would like to have Thunderbolt on Ampharos rather than Discharge...

The DS is region free, so that's not what's causing these issues...

There's a good chance that you bought a counterfeit copy. Unfortunately DS counterfeit games are now super common on eBay

I did consider that it might be a counterfeit, but after comparing it to other US game cartridges that I own I can't see too much out of the ordinary in its design, so if it's a fake it's a well made fake.

I feel a little like I'm playing with fire

Several years ago, I was making my way through Illusion of Time on SNES for the first time. It seemed like it was going to be quite a long game but I made plenty of progress, probably at least half way, before taking a little break from it of a few weeks. When I returned in the hope of finishing it, I was horrified to discover that my save data had disappeared. After turning the console off and on again in the hope of it magically reappearing, I was gutted to realise that it was gone forever

This wasn't unprecedented due to it also happening with Super Metroid not long before it.. and that was basically right at the end of the game! I did, however, jump straight back into Super Metroid and cleared it within a couple of days. There was always that fear that the data would disappear every time I turned the SNES off, though

Anyway, being on a bit of a SNES binge lately, I've decided to return to Illusion of Time I once again hoped that when I turned the console on, my previous save data would miraculously be there but sadly it wasn't to be

I've made some decent progress so far, though still some way off my original save file, and I'm hoping to get pretty far during my week off work I'm absolutely terrified of getting burned again with the save data, though, as I'm not convinced I could accept it again..

Managed to work my through a couple of games over the weekend, mostly smaller titles, and finish them. Firstly, Saints Row: Gat Out of Hell. This one is one of this month’s free games on PS+ and while I haven’t played any of the recent games in the series, I have played bits and pieces of the first two titles. Admittedly, from the sounds of things, the third and fourth games seem to go way out in terms of differentiating themselves from the likes of GTA compared to the first two. Still, what I played of those first two games didn’t really click with me in the same way as the aforementioned franchise. Perhaps it was because they tried to replicate that feel and style of that. So I was hesitant about whether this would click with me or not.

And to be honest, now that I’ve finished it (I’ve still plenty of side objectives to go back to and get 100% but that may wait for now) I’m still not sure where I stand on the games. I liked that it just went hell for leather and did its own thing to a degree with the setting (though the story was throwaway and the humour wasn’t really up to much) and some of the gameplay mechanics but underneath, it still felt like it was trying to find its feet and grab some air from drowning in repetitive mission objectives. Obviously, they use the collectible thing as a bit of a joke with regards to collecting souls and such, with little quips from the characters about it, but the missions lack variety to make for a more meaty experience. I get that it’s an expansion/off shot of the main games but it felt held back by the limited ideas on offer.

I enjoyed being able to fly about the place but the gunplay felt stale and sluggish (I see this hasn’t changed much from the earlier games) and while there were some fun weapons to make use of (the gun that fires exploding frogs for example, or the hazing paddle), they were let down by how the game handled.

All in all, it’s a short game that’s beset by some poor mechanics not properly tuned and sloppy mission design and there’s really not more to be said than that. It’s not something that’s enticed me to check out the more recent Saints Row titles and to be honest, getting it on PS+ is probably the only way I’d have played it. Maybe under Deep Silver now, Volition can bring things together a bit more and create a stronger title in the way that Sleeping Dogs managed to set itself out. We’ll see anyway.

Next up, is Type:Rider. Just released on PS4 and Vita, it’s a short 2D platformer originally released back in 2013 on mobile but has made its way to consoles bringing with it what the developer has described as typographic platforming. The game centres around controlling a colon around a series of 9 or 10 levels based around various key points in the development of various typographies and human language. It’s an interesting premise for sure, with the developer’s hope of getting people interested in the subject, but as a platformer, it makes for a rather middling experience that is short on highs and beset of any discernible characteristics to set it out from other platformers.

As said, the game centres around playing through levels based on different typographies, with examples being Gothic, Helvetica and Futura fonts. Don’t worry, there is a Comic Sans level thrown in there as a secret level at the end for you that is perhaps the highlight of the game purely for the fact that it is just a troll level complete with actual troll face and a cat with lasers coming out of its eyes chasing you. But that’s only one level tucked away that you can choose to play or not, the actual levels you’ll have to play through are pretty run of the mill platforming with a few extras thrown in, such as a DKC style mine cart section, a wild west section where you have to keep moving or you’ll get shot by an on screen reticule and a section where a cursor is trying to close pop-up windows you’re moving across.

These flourishes are few and far between and don’t really afford the game much to set itself apart as you make your way through the levels collecting the letters of the alphabet (and one hidden ampersand symbol) as well as asterisks which provide some history on the particular font, the people behind it and the era it came from. These are purely optional to collect, though you’ll rarely end a level without having the complete set due to how easy they are to catch. Some mid and end stage interludes have you trying to move a white glass dot into a lock to help move on but again, the “puzzle” elements to these are very straight forward and more or less disrupt the flow of the platforming.

As a mobile game, I can see its appeal in providing something more befitting those platforms: short but succinct platforming levels to work through while potentially learning something. But translated to the big screen, it’s perhaps lacking a level of content and definition that many would expect. It’s fine, not terrible, but not a necessity.

And finally, I started and played through Adr1ft on Saturday. I’d been interested in this since I first saw it in trailer form during one of the VG Awards a couple of years back I believe and was happy that it finally got a release without having to wait for the PS VR to come along.

You play as Alex Oshima, the commander of a space station in orbit known as Northstar IV where you’re undertaking various experiences on plant grow in space and oxygen by-production as a result, amongst other things. You pick up at the start of the game floating away in space with the station having been ripped apart and as the story starts to unfold, it quickly becomes clear why things have happened and who’s to blame.

Your objective is to manually start the necessary procedures to power up and allow you to activate the emergency pods to get you back safely to Earth. This overall objective suitably serves its purpose but the activation of the 4 necessary areas is a bit drawn out and repetitive. Yet despite this, I found it to be a captivating experience as I floated from broken corridor to broken corridor, with interludes of floating through debris fields, unravelling the story and learning more about the character, her drives and her fellow co-workers. Particular mention has to go to the depth of the character backstories here as you begin to understand their viewpoints, their struggles as their pictures are built up. It really is some fantastic writing to do this despite never meeting these characters, at least not in a talkative state.

The game manages to instill a constant state of fear in you, for the character, for the danger that the surroundings present and for the loss of oxygen. Due to an oxygen leak in your suit, you’re constantly losing oxygen as you play through this and through normal breathing use. But due to malfunctioned thrusters, you’re also expending oxygen to move about. There is a genuine fear you feel when you have to move over long distances that you might not make it there and if you do, where is the nearest oxygen resupply. There are, however, plentiful oxygen canisters you can use floating through space and the remnants of the station as well as oxygen resupply stations as well so while the fear is there, you’re never really in danger of dying.

Keeping track of your orientation can be a tricky business, as expected with no discernible markers or heading to travel towards (though a click of the right thumb stick highlights objects of us and headings), but manoeuvrability is well handled and being able to stabilise with the click of the left thumb stick certainly helps if you find you’re heading or orientation is making it more difficult than it should be to get around.

It’s an experience that I thought closely mirrored elements of last year’s Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, particularly in how the story unfolds and the characters are revealed to you but one that I really enjoyed. It tapped into that childhood idea of being an astronaut and was captivating from start to finish, at least for me as I know reviews have been middling for it. It’s definitely something I’d love to try in VR should they update the game when that is released for the PS4.

So far, this month I have beaten Furi, several diseases on the highest difficulty in Plague Inc. Evolved and completed co-op mode and most of the singleplayer in Dangerous Golf.

Still playing Call of Duty: Black Ops III - Multiplayer and Overwatch regularly. Also started to get back into competitive action in Rocket League.

Began playing Saints Row: Gat out of Hell, too. It's mindless but still fun

Think I'll focus on getting the Platinum in Dangerous Golf and occasionally doing some progress with Saints Row: Gat out of Hell.

I'd love to get the Platinum for Furi but I'm still not in the mood for mastering a game.

While in the process of revamping my SNES collection, a slight restructure of my games left a gap to fit in a GBA title. I managed to fill it on Monday with Kuru Kuru Kururin, a game I always thought I would enjoy but never picked up, and I've been playing a few stages every now and again for the past couple of days. Due to playing it on my DS Lite, though, I felt i may as well fill the DS cartridge slot as well as the GBA slot at the bottom

Nipping down to see my parents yesterday, I decided to revisit a game that I'd never quite managed to finish due to what felt like absurd difficulty.. Mario Slam Basketball.

I have never heard much criticism of the difficulty of the game over the years so it may just be me but I couldn't for the life of me beat the extra round at the end of the Rainbow Cup in Hard Mode. I got hammered so consistently by the team of Final Fantasy characters that I figured it was never meant to be.. until now

I went through training to remind myself of how to play and returned to this final challenge after several years away from the court. The pursuit of victory was relentless and I had to deal with some serious frustration along the way, not least on the occasion where I lost the lead with 4 seconds to go or the time I lost the match by a single point with the anger intensified due to having a shot right at the end which bounced off the ring a couple of times

For me, it was all about staying within touch of the opposition in the hope of stealing it towards the end as any time I would take the lead, the CPU would have this amazing knack of scoring no matter how many seconds remained or how well I attempted to defend. It was infuriating and managing to score points of my own appeared impossible due to a lack of opportunities and the ball's ability to consistently hit the ring without ever dropping in. Eventually, though, I finally beat it and my mood for the day has suddenly become more joyous

Mario Slam Basketball is a game that is actually pretty good and one that I remember enjoying before it became an absolute nightmare. Hopefully I will return to it some day to experience some of those better moments rather than be left with the bitter taste that had threatened to ruin the game forever for me : peace:

Dangerous Golf Platinum get!

Great game Can't wait to see what the devs have planned next.

Edit: Beat an Enter the Gungeon run for the first time just now. With half a heart left on the final boss...intense as fuck

Two more games to add to my completion list which I finished up earlier through the week. First of those is Shadow of the Beast on the PS4, which I was about 2/3rds of the way through when I last update my completion list and swiftly put the last couple of levels to bed not long after. I always get Shadow of the Beast mixed up with Altered Beast as I could have sworn that I’d played the original but turns out that it wasn’t the case and so this was my first experience with a Shadow of the Beast title. I was a little unsure what to expect but I’d been interested in what I’d seen of this and the recent digital sale meant that it was worth giving a go.

The overarching story settles on playing as Aarbron as you break free from capture from your oppressors and seek to gain revenge on the being who turned you into the ravenous beast you are, Maletoth. From what I gather, it supposedly follows on from its predecessor but not having the experience with that original Amiga title, I couldn’t say. The details are fleshed out through breaking hidden glowing orbs in the levels, which add additional information or new timelines to the story telling alternate events, and through simply completing levels and encounters. In the end, though, the story isn’t force feed to you. It’s there in the background should you wish to explore it or not, allowing you to focus on the action.

Despite going full 3D visuals, the game plays on a 2 dimensional plane, with the majority of levels providing a linear progressive track left to right to get from start to encounter to finish. Some added verticality in levels as well as some nooks and crannies in stages does change things up a little and some shadow portals in a handful of levels allow for a depth of field effect to add an additional layer to the levels. It’s sufficient to sit alongside the short length of the game and means that repeated playthroughs on levels if you’re trophy hunting becomes considerably easier as you know where things are but the lack of depth and variety is very much apparent in such a small selection of levels and perhaps some more complex platforming sections would have been better, especially with the penultimate level which serves to have you fight through waves of enemies.

The gameplay focuses on combat more so than the platforming, though there is a bit of the latter and it’s handled reasonably well. You’ll be slashing, blocking and parrying your way through waves of enemies in encounters and as the levels progress and enemy variety changes up, simply spamming your attack button won’t do you good as you’ll be swamped left and right and be dead in seconds if you don’t start utilising the latter two techniques. Some additional flourishes in the Wrath of Aarbron attack (which unleashes a row of spikes shooting out of the floor to kill enemies instantly), the Beast attacks (that allow you to regain health, generate more blood to unleash these attacks and such) and a Rage Chain attack (that allows you to chain insta-kills on enemies bypassing their defences should you be able to keep up with the speed of the QTE-esque button presses). It’s surprisingly deep, affording you the ability to rack up multipliers through use of stuns, throws and attacks on top of the bigger attacks which you’ll need to reach the top of any leaderboards should you be up for that challenge.

A smattering of puzzles are presented alongside the combat, the best of which involves the use of a light source and having to line up shadows with wall patterns, but their inclusion is few and far between and more simplistic than that example when they are presented. That’s not exactly a bad thing as it allows for some down time between encounters but they don’t strengthen the experience and more feel as though they are there to supply something to do in-between the encounters.

Boss fights are a big part of the game but like the puzzles, most follow a simplistic formula that is easy to nail down and work around, meaning that they don’t really pose any threat to progression. The final boss takes a different turn, with it turning into a shoot’em up which feels very out of place.

Replayability is there in the form of better times, better score and finding secret encounters, timelines and talismans in the levels but once you’ve run through the game, bar a slightly different ending, there isn’t much new to experience. The inclusion of the original game is a nice bonus to supplement what’s on offer however.

All in all, I thought it was an ok experience. I enjoyed what I played up until that penultimate level and would have definitely liked a bit more substance but ultimately, at the sale price it was worth it (and I’ve definitely paid more for worse and less content than this).

Second up is Trials of the Blood Dragon, which I had completely forgotten had been released back at E3. I’ve not played any of this set of Trials games before, and truth be told I think the last one I actually played was the original when it was a flash game. So I thought I’d jump in on this one even though what I’d seen had shown additions which would means it didn’t play fully like the main Trials titles.

The game mixes some of the Blood Dragon formula from the Far Cry 3 spin-off with Trials to make a game with a story which is convoluted but provides some amusing instances and some plays on popular films or games. The main stay of the Trials games, as in biking from point A to point B as quickly as possible and with as few faults as possible, is still here and makes up the crux of what’s on offer and though there isn’t a massive number of levels, what’s on offer is done well with some good moments and well designed levels. Special note has to go to the mine cart levels (one of which plays through an Indiana Jones inspired set of missions) which feel like DKC but giving you more control.

But the game throws some left hooks to spice things up, not always for the best though. There are a handful of levels which take you off of your bike and present themselves as platforming levels, which would be fine is the controls weren’t so loose for the characters when off bike. Some gunplay in a couple of these is there to add some depth but having this be controlled with the right stick while trying to navigate some of the levels is a bit over the top, not in the Blood Dragon way, and makes things a little frustrating. Some particularly frustrating sections involving flying about in a space suit while carrying a warhead and having to make use of a grappling hook further drop the enjoyment level of the experience.

It’s a shame as the biking is done well, although it could definitely use a little bit of tightening in the handling department with regards to how your weight shifts on the bike, but these other elements don’t hold up well in the overarching scheme of things. Highlights such as the section where you’re feeling the effects of a drug and driving down the side of a building and gravity is being manipulated do make things better but these standout moments are few and far between.

Perhaps using this as my first Trials to jump in on wasn’t the best idea but I did enjoy the biking levels, the pure ones shall we say. More of them with the over the top theme would have been much better than the mixture of what’s on offer here.

Unravel

I've been following this game for a long time, since it's official reveal at E3 with the guy who almost cried on stage because he was so happy, nervous and excited at once.

Firstly, it's clear to see that an awful lot of love went into this game. I love the storybook feature that appears at the end of each chapter, as are the pictures are appear in the book and the forgotten images that appear throughout the level in the background. Secondly, the visuals and music are absolutely outstanding. Beautiful to look at and listen to. It's really well crafted.

I had an amazing time playing through the game. There were a few odd moments here and there where some of the puzzles could have been improved or were a bit fiddly. But, on the whole, the vast majority were great. There's a fantastic puzzle with a well, bucket and birds that appears later on which is pretty damn clever; a fantastic moment which shows off what the mechanics can achieve.

Overall, I'd highly recommend giving it a go. If anything, just for the gorgeous visuals, sound and level design. I loved it.

Games of 2016

Flower - Finished

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - Finished

The Unfinished Swan - Finished

Grim Fandango Remastered - Finished

Race The Sun - Finished

The Wolf Among Us - Finished

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Story Finished

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

Ico - Finished

Tokyo Jungle - Finished

Grand Theft Auto 5 - Finished!

Batman: Arkham Asylum - Finished

Batman: Arkham City - Finished

Life Is Strange

Uncharted 4

Heavy Rain (PS4 Version)

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

Unravel

I finished playing Kuru Kuru Kururin (GBA) today

I cleared the last few stages of the adventure yesterday but had to go back to several of the levels to find the remaining birds and unlockables.

For some reason, I didn't enjoy the game quite as much as I perhaps expected to despite it being addictive and fun for the most part. With that in mind, I don't feel that desire to go through the frustration of trying to get the best times and stars for every single stage.. but maybe I will some day

I did, however, spend part of today doing exactly that in the challenge mode The fact that the challenges were short and snappy made it more enticing to me to set high scores rather than the longer stages of the adventure.

In addition to my GBA escapades, I feel like I'm getting close to the end of Illusion of Time on SNES, praying that the battery in my cartridge doesn't give up on my again

trying to get the best times and stars for every single stage..

I did that. I got the best times and stars for every single stage...that was 15 years ago, in 2001 when the game was released.

I also remember that I managed to escape most of the levels' boundaries Man, I was addicted to Kuru Kuru Kuririn.

Holy shit, time flies.

Have been playing Alienation with a mate recently. I created a new character and it's been a lot of fun Also managed to reach Hero Level 75 with my "main". 25 more levels to go for the level 100-trophy I really hope I'll get a 12-slot legendary weapon soon...this is a requirement for a trophy and RNG hasn't been kind, yet. (found an 11-slot weapon...)

Glad to see you enjoyed Unravel, @Fierce_LiNk. It's a beautiful little game that, as you say, has it's downfalls in some of the puzzles (the one that sticks with me in terms of frustrating was the one where you had to open a water gate to fill an area move across the water on a twig) but it's hopefully something that they'll work on tightening for the inevitable sequel now that they've signed on for another game with EA.

One more game to add to the completion list. Managed to swiftly finish off Song of the Deep the other day. Seemed that I was slightly closer to the end than I thought as I only had 2 sections to do and then I was done, leaving only a couple of smaller trophies to mop up. I’ve played a few Metroid-vania style games this year and though this one doesn’t exactly break new ground, it’s certainly up there as one of the most memorable, and this is in spite of some of the frustrations that arise through play, though this mainly centres on the controls more than anything.

It's a beautiful game with gorgeous 2D visuals and a great soundtrack that sets out a fairy tale-esque story that is moving and captivating but the general gameplay, while decent, doesn't really do much new to the tried and tested formula. That's not to say that it's a bad game, far from it as I very much enjoyed it from start to finish and would definitely recommend but it's just some of the more interesting aspects that are brought to the game, feel under utilised.

Still, as I say, I really enjoyed the experience and I'm slightly saddened that it's over after about 6 hours (and that's with mopping up all of the trophies). Much like Unravel and Firewatch, it has its flaws but it's perhaps one of the more interesting and endearing indie titles I've played this year.

I finally got around to completing BOXBOY! this week, I bought the game when it came out and really enjoyed it but just stopped playing it so I thought it was about time I knuckled down and finished it. A really fun little puzzle game with a tonne of content, it was well worth the purchase and I'm sure i'll check out the sequel when i've cleared some more of my backlog.

Another game that it's taken me a long time to get around to playing is Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It's a game I've always intended to buy, but because I'd never played DKCR on the Wii there was a weird logic in my brain telling me that I couldn't play it yet. It was my birthday a couple of weeks ago though and because it was so cheap I thought it was a good idea to ask my parents to get me it, so I got stuck into it this week.

In terms of presentation its right up there with the Mario Galaxy games, it oozes charm, with wonderful music and it looks fantastic. It took me a couple of levels to really get into the game though, as I'd been playing 3D World and Galaxy so needed to get used to the different platforming mechanics. Once I was used to them though I was really enjoying it, there are some really challenging levels and boss fights and although I made it through the main game in a relatively short time, there are still plenty of items and puzzle pieces that I need to collect. There are also some alternate routes in levels that I've yet to discover, so I'll definitely go back and explore to try and unlock everything.

There were a few gripes that I had with the game however, the load times are overly long - especially when you start the game up. It was frustrating having to wait a couple of minutes after launching the game before I could start playing, and the load times for each level felt quite long too. I also found myself getting frustrated with one or two of the barrel rocket levels which marred my enjoyment and caused me to hold off on playing the game for a while because I anticipated getting angry at the game again.

Retro Studios have made another classic though and have shown how adept they are at creating a varied, challenging and enjoyable 2D platformer. As with most people I would dearly love for Retro to return to the Metroid franchise for their next game, but if they do continue to produce Donkey Kong games instead then we'll be getting a pretty good consolation prize.

I tried to get into 'Peace Walker' but its bitty nature frustrated me so I think i'll restart and finish Silent Hill before I tackle some more of the bigger games on my list.

Glad to see you enjoyed Unravel, @Fierce_LiNk. It's a beautiful little game that, as you say, has it's downfalls in some of the puzzles (the one that sticks with me in terms of frustrating was the one where you had to open a water gate to fill an area move across the water on a twig) but it's hopefully something that they'll work on tightening for the inevitable sequel now that they've signed on for another game with EA.

 

Haha! I struggled big time with that water puzzle and @Eenuh kept saying that I was making a mess of it. I'm glad to see that somebody else shared my pain. There's a few odd puzzles here and there, but the good far, far outweighs the bad, thankfully.

I notice you've played Adr1ft and Firewatch. Both are games I'm interested in. I saw that you compared Adr1ft to Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, which is another game that I enjoyed. How long is it, roughly? Not sure whether to wait for a deal later on in the year.

Illusion of Time (SNES) is complete

I never thought I'd get here given the loss of my save data a few years ago but I took a chance and it paid off

The story wasn't particularly interesting and I find myself typing this while the ending crawls to a climax I did actually enjoy the game, though, and it makes Illusion of Time my fourth cleared SNES game in July!

I notice you've played Adr1ft and Firewatch. Both are games I'm interested in. I saw that you compared Adr1ft to Everybody's Gone To The Rapture, which is another game that I enjoyed. How long is it, roughly? Not sure whether to wait for a deal later on in the year.

Adr1ft isn't massively long, if I remember correctly I was done in about 5 to 6 hours so not too bad. There were collectibles which I missed but those ones (essentially hard drives/memory sticks) in particular don't really add much to the overarching narrative from what I gather. I know reviews for it have been middling to poor but I enjoyed the experience. I liken it to Everybody's Gone to the Rapture on the basis of how elements of the story/backstory are given to you. You find audio recordings throughout the station and drifting through space, as well as emails, that build up the characters, their relationships and the events which have happened. EGttR manages this better and gives a stronger narrative but I think this does a decent job.

Firewatch provides a different kind of experience. While Adr1ft/EGttR are about building exposition from audio logs or echoes of interactions, Firewatch is more about the burgeoning relationship between two characters who've never met and how they find comfort in each other and through being able to talk about their problems. It's a much tighter experience than Adr1ft in that respect and although you could arguably say that it's funnelling you along a path to get to conversations, it doesn't feel like that. It doesn't feel forced, but feels more natural and being able to choose your responses in certain instances gives a bit more control of some of the interaction. There's slightly less interactivity in terms of gameplay in this than Adr1ft but both are more about the experience and narrative than anything else.

I'd personally say that Firewatch was the better game, edging out Adr1ft slightly, but I give Adr1ft props for the atmosphere of isolation and fear that it instils as a result. The former is currently on sale I think on the PS Store while the latter is £15.99 at the moment. I'd say maybe wait a little on Adr1ft for a sale if you're a little hesitant and in the mean time give Firewatch a go if it's something you're interested in, though I'd either play it with Eenuh together or make sure you play it away from each other to experience the story.

I'm trying my best to like Unirally but it has become increasingly frustrating

My brother got it a number of years ago one day he was over in Scotland and I've always been meaning to get around to it. I dipped my toe into it a couple of times before but only to quickly see what it was like as it was a game we strangely coveted when we were younger, though that may have been down to it being one of the only games I ever remember seeing in the Index Catalogue

I figured that when I would eventually start getting into it properly, I'd probably have a good time. So far, I have been sorely mistaken

I've spent more than a couple of hours with it today and breezed through the bronze challenges and some fo the silver but I'm attempting to do one of the stunt levels for a gold medal and it's driving me up the wall! I'm not sure whether it's because I conditioned myself to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater over the years before eventually getting to grips with the 2D OlliOlli on Wii U but I just can't seem to get the hang of Unirally. If I see 'WIPEOUT' appear on screen again tonight, my SNES controller is gonna end up in bits

I'm trying my best to like Unirally but it has become increasingly frustrating

God tier game right there and a bit of a hidden gem. I have many fond memories of playing this game with my brother and my friends.

@dazzybee you're also a fan of this gem, aren't you?

God tier game right there and a bit of a hidden gem. I have many fond memories of playing this game with my brother and my friends.

 

@dazzybee you're also a fan of this gem, aren't you?

Oh boy yes, incredible game and same, the hours me and my mate put into this!!

God tier game right there and a bit of a hidden gem. I have many fond memories of playing this game with my brother and my friends.

 

@dazzybee you're also a fan of this gem, aren't you?

I'm not feeling the love just yet

Do either of you have any tips regarding the stunts? I only have the cartridge so it's possible I'm missing something from the manual that would help..

Do either of you have any tips regarding the stunts? I only have the cartridge so it's possible I'm missing something from the manual that would help..

Sorry, but my memory ain't that good. I haven't played it since it originally got released, which was around 20 years ago!

I've been playing through Silent Hill over the last couple of nights and hoped to finish it earlier today, but due to my lack of health and ammo the final boss is absolutely impossible to beat so, and I feel really terrible about this, I have instead watched a Let's Play covering the end of the game. It's really frustrating because I totally wanted to finish the game but the only other save slots I have go too far back and it would have just been a chore to slog through most of the game again and try and hold onto some first aid kits and ammo.

What I did play of it though, which I guess is 95% of the game, I enjoyed for the most part. The controls were a nightmare though and the game is pretty much impossible to play with an analogue stick so it felt weird moving around in 3D space with a D-pad. The graphics have obviously dated quite badly but the game still offers a tense and creepy atmosphere - mostly thanks to the great sound design. I also thought the voice acting was pretty decent for a PS1 game, the nurse Lisa was especially good.

As I said, I'm absolutely gutted that I wasn't able to finish it maybe I'll go back to it one day and be able to converse more items until the final boss. After my first taste of the franchise, I'll definitely be checking out 'Silent Hill 2' though at some point. For those that have played both, is it worth playing the HD remaster? Or was it so botched that I'd be better off playing the PS2 original?

I've been playing through Silent Hill over the last couple of nights and hoped to finish it earlier today, but due to my lack of health and ammo the final boss is absolutely impossible to beat so, and I feel really terrible about this, I have instead watched a Let's Play covering the end of the game.

As for the HD version, while the PS3 version got a patch to fix things up a bit, you are better of playing the original PS2 version of the game.

Still playing HeartGold although I am only really training for the battle against Red right now so given the massive level jump between the last gym leader and Red I am currently grinding levels in Mt. Silver against wild Pokemon to get my team up to Level 70.

While I was doing that, I came across this:

Only the second shiny (Red Gyarados not included) I've ever found in the wild.

Also been playing Metroid Prime Blast Ball and it's a pretty fun game, although getting the ball to where you want it to go is definately hard work. Then again I haven't really figured out everything you can do properly and I've found myself scoring multiple own goals...

Sorry, but my memory ain't that good. I haven't played it since it originally got released, which was around 20 years ago!

That's unfortunate as I could really do with the help I had another shot at it tonight and I just can't get anywhere near the qualifying score most of the time. My best has been 232 when I need at least 270 to beat it. Unfortunately, repeating tricks diminishes the scores to the point where they are completely worthless and I can't seem to figure out what other tricks I can perform to get any decent points after the first 15-20 seconds. I must be missing something important

I think I'm going to have to leave it for now as I'm just so frustrated with it. It's not fun right now With all of the retro love recently, I think I'll move onto something a little more recent next.. though I haven't decided what, yet

I've been playing through Silent Hill over the last couple of nights and hoped to finish it earlier today, but due to my lack of health and ammo the final boss is absolutely impossible to beat..

Silent Hill is great but you've just highlighted the problem I have with all of those types of games, including Dino Crisis and Resident Evil. The main fear I have with returning to Code Veronica on Dreamcast is that I'm so scared of using ammo in case I leave myself too short later on. This often makes the game needlessly difficult as I'm putting these limitations on myself that may not be necessary