Project List Update

First off, I hope every had a Merry Christmas. I received a nice haul of games and DVDs this year so I'll be writing up the Initial Impressions for those after I try them out. BUT FIRST! First, I want to get caught up on what I need to write reviews for before playing the new ones. Otherwise I fall into the trap of getting hooked on the good ones and getting further behind.

I also plan to add a new section to the blog for a little side project I've been doing for fun. I take official wallpapers from various games and such, attack the silhouettes of Mike and the bots from Mystery Science Theater 3000, and have them riff on the image for a little additional fun when admiring the wallpaper.

Top Priority Reviews:
Martian Successor Nadesico (Anime TV)
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (XBox 360)
Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)

Initial Impressions:
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3)
Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (DS)
Lego Indiana Jones 2 (XBox 360)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
Pac-Man Power Pack (PS2)

• Pac-Man World 2
• Pac-Man World 3
• Pac-Man World Rally

Press Your Luck 2010 Edition (Wii)

Other Reviews:
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (Anime TV)
Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman (Anime OVA)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)

Top/Bottom 10 Lists:
Bottom 10 Elements of an English Dub
Top 10 Climactic RPG Moments (Events leading up to a major battle, final boss, etc.)
Top 10 RPG End Credit Songs
Top 10 Hardest RPGs
Top 10 Recurring Enemies (Monsters etc. that appear in nearly every game in a series)
Top 10 Emotionally Powerful Anime Moments

A Classic? Yes. A Great Classic? Debatable.

Wow, talk about a bare-bones month for this place so far. The two main reasons are due to lack of time and lack of motivation due to life issues, but thankfully the games I'm currently working on are long enough to keep me from falling behind on reviewing my most recent completions.

In the start of my effort to get caught up on a series of RPGs that I'd known full well about, but did not own any of the titles from until the release of Tierkesis on the DS, I begin at the original starting point with the PS1 classic, Suikoden. Full review here.

Despite the Re-Hash, the Arm Remains the Same.

Don't let the title of the post fool you into thinking that the remake of Bionic Commando isn't worth checking out, it's more to mean that the functions of Nathan "Rad" Spencer's bionic arm remain the same as they ever were and, frankly, I'm glad (despite there being times I cursed the necessity of uber-precise timing when using it in several spots). Full review here.

No EXTREEEEEEME!! Jokes... D'oh!

I picked Space Invaders Extreme up as a means of helping pass the time while I'm waiting for things and it served it's purpose quite well. And since it will be a quick review compared to the two others I need to write, I've decided to get it done first. Check it out here.

Initial Impressions - Taito Legends 2 (PS2)

Been a while since I've posted anything. The main reason for that is I've spent the past two weeks working on older, unfinished titles to get my Unfinished count down to 200 on backloggery. Of course with buying this new compilation, that just shoots that number back up, except for the titles that are on it where I've already beaten the original. I did beat Bionic Commando Rearmed during this time so a review of that is upcoming.

Taito Legends (PS2)

• Lunar Rescue: Reverse Space Invaders!
• Balloon Bomber: Cheezy with annoying music.
• Crazy Balloon: They weren't kidding about precise. The balloon pops even if the string touches the wall.
• Qix: Not just for breakfast. I wouldn't want it though.
• Alpine Ski: Isn't Skiing supposed to go downhill? First one I've ever seen where you move towards the top.
• Wild Western: Catchy music but gets old fast.
  
• Chak'n Pop: Now I understand some of the origins of Bubble Bobble characters.
• Front Line: Not much different than Wild West. The tank portion is much better than on foot.
• The Fairyland Story: Pretty fun Bubble Bobble clone. Just needs a continue option.
• The Legend of Kage: Still a classic.
  
• Kiki Kai Kai: Nice to play the original of this series.
• Kuri Kinton: Like a mix of Kung Fu Master with the arcade Spider-Man.
• Syvalion: More fun than the name suggests.
• Bonze Adventure: Isn't that the name of a dog treat? The Taito Ghosts & Goblins.
• Nastar Warrior: They stole the Pac-Man font! Hilariously fun in a way.
  
• Raimais: Strange Pac-Man clone and- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT HAIRY THING!
• Cameltry: What does the name have to do with tilting a maze? Pretty fun though.
  
• Don Doko Don: Another Bubble Bobble-style one only with Wrecking Crew-like characters.
• Insector X: Kinda like Gradius, only without the Konami code.
• Violence Fight: Beat-em-up style fighting game, kinda... It didn't thrill me.
• Growl: Beat-em-up with an animal rights message. Pretty fun actually.
• Gun Frontier: Better shooter than Insector X, but still worse than others I've played.
• Euro Football Champ: Less than decent overall. 'Course I'm not much of a sports fan.
  
• Liquid Kids: A Bubble Bobble-style platformer. I kinda like it.
• Majestic Twelve: Great Space Invaders upgrade, but '95 is still my favorite.
• Metal Black: Another horizontal shooter, and the best one in the set so far. Listen for Fozzie Bear's "Wokka wokka wokka!" when continuing.
  
• Grid Seeker: Another vertical shooter. Edged out over Metal Black.
• Arabian Magic: Nice Arabian Nights-styled beat-em-up. I love the music.
• Dungeon Magic: Played through this several times on arcade. I love Cisty.
• Darius Gaiden: Now we're talking! Best shooter so far, definitely.
• Elevator Action II: Definitely more merciful than the original.
• Space Invaders DX: Fun, but like Majestic Twelve, not as good as '95. I do like Parody Mode though.
  
• Cleopatra Fortune: A fun and original puzzle game concept. Quite catchy music.
• Gekirindan: Best vertical shooter in the collection so far.
• Bust-A-Move Again: It's Bust-A-Move. It needs no introduction.
• Space Invaders '95: Best. Space Invaders. Ever.
• Raystorm: These shooters keep getting better and better. Especially after the first lousy few.
• Puchi Carat: Classic block breaker. I love these. Not to mention a nice character selection too.
  
• G Darius: Definitely the best horizontal shooter in the collection and quite possibly the best shooter in the collection period.
• Overall: 39 games for $13. I'm not going to complain.
  

Initial Impressions - 6 New

I bought these about two weeks ago, but opted to wait until I'd finished a good chunk of my Completathon on backloggery before trying these, as I feared they'd draw my attention away from that project. I was right.

Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Seras Island (Nintendo DS)
Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! (WiiWare)
Nostalgia (Nintendo DS)
Raiden IV (XBox 360)
Raiden Fighters Aces (XBox 360)
Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga (Wii)

OBJECTION! Wait, I did it again...

Another game in the series, another all-nighter to complete it. And Bust-A-Move 2 claimed to be addictive back in the day, but it has nothing on Professor Layton. Full review here.

Cleaning up from the Inside Out

Upcoming first in a pair of DS game reviews is the third entry in the understandably popular Mario & Luigi series. As for whether or not it held up against its predecessors is to be seen. Full review here.